Dive Brief:
- More than 2,800 workers in a new Robert Half survey were nearly split on whether they feel underpaid (46%) or adequately compensated (49%); only 5% of respondents said they're overpaid. Robert Half released the survey as part of its 2019 Salary Guides for workers in the accounting and finance, legal, creative, technology and administrative fields.
- In a breakdown of the survey results, the staffing agency listed San Diego and Miami as the cities with the most (62%) and least (33%) underpaid workers, respectively. Older workers (those older than 55) were more likely than those between the ages of 18 and 34 to feel they were fairly compensated, while women (49%) were more likely to feel underpaid than men (44%).
- Paul McDonald, Robert Half's senior executive director, said in a statement that salary dissatisfaction may stem from employers' failure to keep up with market-demand shifts as well as their reliance on old job classifications. The agency also cited "word of mouth" between employees and friends or other recruiters as a potential factor.
Dive Insight:
Stagnant wage-growth trends over the past several months have left many workers with the impression that they are underpaid. And little change is expected in annual wage increases for 2019, according to research by Willis Towers Watson and Mercer.
Employers are keenly aware of conditions in the current talent market; workers frequently leave their current jobs for higher-paying positions with better benefits, flexible work schedules and development opportunities. With more than 25% of workers reportedly hunting for a new job and 80% open to new employment opportunities that come along, employers are being challenged to step up their employee engagement and retention efforts.
With pay being the top motivator for employees and job seekers in finding and accepting job offers — and with some of the largest job listing providers promising to estimate job salaries if employers fail to provide that information — HR managers may need to review their compensation practices to compare pay ranges with updated salary information.
