Tuesday, August 4, 2009

No Raises (or Worse) for Nearly 40% of Employees in 2009

Over 1 in 3 (39 percent) U.S. employees reports that, due to economic downturn, they either have not received a raise or that their compensation actually has decreased in 2009, according to a new poll.



The ComPsych Corporation poll asked employees “Has the economic downturn impacted your work? If so, in which area have you experienced the greatest impact?” The most frequent response—cited by 39 percent of employees—was that they’d either not received a raise or that their compensation had decreased this year. Another 20 percent replied that the economic downturn had created more stress and/or conflict among coworkers. Meanwhile, 11 percent indicated that they were doing more work due to layoffs in their organization, while another 10 percent said they were working more hours and unable to take as much vacation as usual. Only 1 in 5 respondents (20 percent) said that the economic downturn had not impacted their work.



“We continue to see increased call volume from employees who need help managing their finances in this challenging environment,” said Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz, Chairman and CEO of ComPsych, a provider of employee assistance programs.


“Our customers, realizing the need for supporting and educating employees with financial information, have been promoting the EAP-Employee Assistance Program as a place to turn for help as well as scheduling personal finance seminars for their workforce.”