Workers have received big raises during the last couple of years, but that may fade soon amid economic uncertainty, according to a survey released Monday.
Nearly half (49%) of 600 business leaders surveyed this month by ResumeBuilder.com said they won’t give cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) to employees next year, and 26% said they either won’t or may not give any kinds of raises at all. Of those who are giving COLA, 48% will give a bump of 3% or less. Additionally, more than half anticipate layoffs in 2024.
This could be bad news for workers as they continue to catch up from more than two years of scorching inflation that ravaged their paychecks. Even though wages rose sharply for many over the past two years, helped by a labor shortage, those increases were mostly gobbled up by inflation. Only recently, as inflation has cooled, have workers started to regain lost purchasing power, but that looks like it may change again. Nearly three-quarters of business leaders said the job market has shifted back to favor companies, ResumeBuilder.com said.
“Cost of living raises are incredibly important to the majority of the workforce who may already be underpaid and whose wages have not kept up with inflation,” Stacie Haller, ResumeBuilder.com’s chief career advisor, said. “Although the inflation rate has slowed down to 3.6%, any increase that is less than 4% is not an increase to one’s earning power and wages.”
What is a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA?
COLA is an adjustment…
