Survey: Only Executives Expecting Pay Raises
The economy may have been shaky in 2010 but corporate profits were up and CEOs reaped the rewards in their compensation packages. How much? BNET's Kimberly Weisul reported "median CEO compensation rose an impressive 35 percent, according to a preliminary survey from Governance Metrics International," while the New York Times just announced the results of a review of executive pay conducted for the paper by Equilar which found "the median pay for top executives at 200 big companies last year was $10.8 million. That works out to a 23 percent gain from 2009."So whether the figure is 35 or 23 percent, C-suite compensation definitely soared by double digits. How is the rest of America doing? If you were looking for feel good news, stop reading now. Twice a month the American Pulse survey asks 5,000 Americans about their financial fortunes. When the pollsters hit the phones in early June they didn't hear much optimism. Commodity prices may be surging (OK, here's a more serious link on the subject) but Americans in general, unlike top executives, are not set to see pay rises to compensate.
A whopping nine out of ten of those with jobs don't expect a raise next year.
So how are squeezed consumers handling a simultaneous stasis in pay and increase in expenditures? By economizing, of course. Respondents told American Pulse they were,
- Only buying necessities: 70. percent
- Driving less: 63.4 percent
- Spending less on clothing: 58.9 percent
- Comparison shopping: 53.1 percent
- Sticking to a strict budget: 50 percent
- Buying more store brand/generic products: 49.9 percent
- Spending less on groceries: 42 percent
Read More on BNET:
- Chopped: CEOs Who Axe the Most Employees Make the Most Money
- The Old American Dream Is Dead. What Will Replace It?
- New Grad Hiring: Low Volume, High Salaries
