PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the seventh consecutive year, senior executives who changed jobs received double-digit compensation increases, reports retained executive search firm Salveson Stetson Group. This increase applied to every industry and functional area.
Salveson Stetson Group, which places senior-level executives at corporations and nonprofits, analyzed compensation data from a representative sample of the firm’s senior placements in 2016. It found that the average compensation increase for a senior-level candidate grew slightly from the prior year – 20.1 percent in 2016 compared to 18.44 percent in 2015. Compensation packages refer to base salary and bonus.
The firm’s results reflect the tightening of the U.S. labor market as unemployment rates in 2016 held steadily below 5 percent. “In an environment approaching full employment, it’d be surprising if we didn’t see this upward pressure on executive compensation,” said Donna DeHart, Vice President at Salveson Stetson Group and member of its Human Resources Practice.
These executive-level trends also seem to be prevailing throughout the entire workforce as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 2.3 percent increase in compensation costs. Sally Stetson, Co-Founder, Principal and Human Resources Practice Leader of the firm, states, “Trends that started in 2015 appear to have increased over the past year as more workers are participating in wage growth we've seen at the executive level.”
Employers’ willingness to pay more for talent are clear, according to John Salveson, Co-founder and Principal at Salveson Stetson Group. “We are seeing the same type of free-for-all for talent that we experienced in the years prior to the Great Recession. U.S. corporations must not only pay employees competitively, but must offer a work culture and career development opportunities that outweigh better compensation packages offered elsewhere.”
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About Salveson Stetson Group
Salveson Stetson Group is a multi-specialty retained executive search firm based in suburban Philadelphia. Specializing in enhancing leadership capacity, Salveson Stetson Group places senior executives at a wide variety of organizations ranging from high-growth ventures to Fortune 500 companies to non-profit entities.
The firm is a member of IIC Partners, one of the top ten retained executive search groups in the world with 52 offices in 34 countries.