Few Salary Increases Expected

Only three of the 24 locations surveyed in the 1997 Towers Perrin worldwide total remuneration study--Mexico, Venezuela and Shanghai--project double-digit salary increases for 1998. The reason? Companies are putting more emphasis on variable, performance-based pay at both the lower and the executive levels. There is also a growing emphasis on stock options and other long-term incentives, says Robert Freedman, leader of Towers Perrin's international compensation consulting practice.