Welcome to the Business Journal Archives
Search for articles below, or continue to the all new BusinessJournalDaily.com now.
Search
Nearly Half of Workers Don't Negotiate Job Offers
CHICAGO -- Failure to negotiate a job offer means many workers are leaving money on the table, says CareerBuilder. And while 45% of employers are willing -- and expect -- to negotiate salaries for initial job offers, 49% of those they hire accept the first offer extended.
Who is most likely to negotiate? A new hire's willingness to negotiate the first job offer usually comes with more experience, finds a CareerBuilder survey. Fully 55% of workers 35 and older typically negotiate the first offer, a figure significantly higher than workers ages 18 to 34 (45%). Men (54%) are more likely than women (49%) to negotiate first offers.
Professional and business services workers (56%) are in the field most likely to negotiate salary, followed by information technology (55%), leisure and hospitality (55%) and sales workers (54%). "Many employers expect a salary negotiation and build that into their initial offer. So when job seekers take the first number given to them, they are oftentimes undervaluing their market worth," Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, said in a prepared statement. "Not every hiring manager will be able to raise the offer, but it's never a bad idea to negotiate -- especially if you have experience and possess in-demand, technical skills."
If unable to meet the job candidate's salary requirements, a majority of employers are willing to provide alternative benefits. Employers said they would offer:
- Flexible schedule, 33%.
- More vacation time, 19%.
- Telecommute at least once per week, 15%.
- Pay for a mobile device, 14%.
- Nothing, 38%.
While 11% of employers include wage or salary information in their job listings, 24% said they don't reveal what the position pays until they extend the job offer. Nearly half, 48%, will discuss salary during initial conversations or during the first job interview.
About one-third of employers keep track of what competitors pay comparable employees via job postings (33%) or market average reports (34%), but 35% don't factor in external compensation at all. Haefner notes that this can hurt employers competing for skilled labor. "Forty-nine percent of hiring managers surveyed said job candidates have refused offers due to salary," she noted. "It's critical that recruiters and hiring managers are armed with up-to-date compensation data. If you offer premium talent below market rates, it can be very difficult to fill vacant positions."
When it comes to salary trends for the rest of this year and next, for current employees, 51% of employers expect salary increases of less than 5% while 16% expect to grant increases of 5% or more.
The survey also asked employers about expected average compensation increases for current workers and new hires; 23% expect no change.
Of those employers who expectto grant increases in salary, 55% said it would be a standard cost of living adjustment. Other reasons offered:
- Rewarding employee tenure, 28%.
- Combatting voluntary employee turnover, 21%.
- Smaller staffs are handling heavier workloads, 19%.
- Competitors are offering more money, 18%.
- Customer demand has increased, 16%.
Some 54% of hiring managers and human resources professionals reported that they are willing to negotiate salaries on initial job offers in the next year. For offers extended to new hires, 34% of employers say the average change in compensation is expected to grow less than 5% in 2014, and 16% expect increases of 5% or more. Another 34% anticipate no change while 3% expect decreases.
Among employers expecting to pay new hires more, 39% say the hikes are to entice skilled applicants to apply, and 25% say increases are coming because job offers were turned down because of low compensation.
For both new hires and current employees, information technology hiring managers were nearly twice as likely as the national average to provide salary increases of 5% or more. Sales hiring managers were also significantly more likely than other areas to see increases of 5% or more.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our free daily email headlines and to our twice-monthly print edition.