BambooHR, a cloud-based human resource platform headquartered in Draper, has released its annual study of worker sentiment concerning compensation, revealing that 40 percent of salaried workers haven’t received a salary increase. For the 60 percent who did, the average increase was 3.6 percent, marking a continued decline from 4.6 percent in 2023 and 6.2 percent in 2022 — a 42 percent decrease over two years.
The annual BambooHR report is titles “The Great Pay Divide: Compensation Trends for 2025.”
“When basic needs outside of work are put at risk, you’ll start to see employees lose focus on the job and even search for opportunities that can help them better stay afloat,” said Anita Grantham, head of HR at BambooHR. “While it’s not uncommon for savvy business leaders to cut costs in difficult economic times, that has to be weighed against the strain the business might experience if you lose high-performing employees due to stagnant wages.”
Further analysis of compensation data shows discrepancies continue across various populations, like manager versus individual contributor:
- One-third (33 percent) of employees feel dissatisfied about their current financial remuneration— an increase from 23 percent last year — and 50 percent struggle to make ends meet due to rising costs.
- Fifty-six percent of individual contributors feel senior employees lack an understanding of living on a typical wage.
Forty-two percent of C-suite employees feel extremely valued by their company, whereas only 12 percent of individual contributors feel the same, while over half (55 percent) of employees think their company’s CEO is overpaid.
Men are more likely to receive raises, receive bigger raises, and feel more secure and satisfied regarding their compensation. Sixty-four percent of men received a salary increase in the past year, compared to 55 percent of women. Men’s average increase was 4.8 percent compared to women’s 2.7 percent.
Employees in different stages of their careers have differing expectations and attitudes toward compensation, reflecting other multigenerational workforce trends. Despite lower overall compensation, Gen Z workers report the highest satisfaction rates at 79 percent, compared to 70 percent for all other generations.
Sixty-two percent of millennials report actively seeking new job opportunities, followed by Gen Z at 54 percent, Gen X at 48 percent and only 31 percent of baby boomers.
“The Equal Pay Act requires workers to be given equal pay for equal work, regardless of their gender or identity. Today’s workplaces thrive on transparency and fairness and nothing erodes team cohesion faster than discovering unequal pay for the same work,” said Alex Bertin, director of total rewards at BambooHR. “With modern compensation software and benchmarking readily available, companies have all the resources they need to ensure fair pay across their organization. Leaders who choose not to use these tools leave themselves open to wage gaps.”
