Majority Give Pay Hikes; Average Raise Slightly Lower

John Wolz

What percentage pay increase, if any, did your company give employees in 2003? What percentage pay increase, if any, is planned for employees in 2004?
A 58.3% majority of fastener companies gave pay raises in 2003, up slightly from the 57.8% of companies increasing pay in 2002 but well below the 66.7% mark set in 2001.

However, the average raise was 4%, just under the 4.1% increase in 2002 and well below the peak of 5.6% in 1999.
The overall figure was more than 20 percentage points higher than the 35.6% of participants who planned to increase pay in 2003.

About 52% anticipate giving an average raise of 4% in 2004, while 33.1% remain undecided on pay increases.
Just over 63% of manufacturers increased wages in 2003, compared with 55.4% of distributors. The average manufacturer raise was 3.7%, while distributors increased wages an average of 4.3%.
In 2004, 51.2% of manufacturers plan to increase pay, while 50.6% of distributors predict wage improvements.

\ �2004 FastenerNews.com