Most Companies Plan Small Raises in '26

More than a third of companies are budgeting for 2026 salary increases of less than 3%, a new survey shows.

Responding to a set of compensation and hiring questions from Endeavor Business Intelligence, the research division of IndustryWeek parent company EndeavorB2B, one in seven of the nearly 330 respondents said their organizations are planning increase their salary budgets by 2% or less. On the flip side, 12% of those surveyed said their businesses will increase total salaries by at least 5%.

Between those two relative extremes sit more than 40% of business leaders who think their organizations will grow their salary pools somewhere between 2% and 4%. Another notable data point from the EBI survey—which drew more than half of its responses from people working at firms with fewer than 50 employees—is that uncertainty is widespread around compensation just as it is around expansion and investment plans. Nearly 20% of respondents said they are not sure yet what their organizations will do around pay in 2026.

“The overall picture suggests a cautious stance toward pay growth,” EBI analysts wrote in their report. “Ongoing evaluation by a notable share of employers also points to continued uncertainty as businesses weigh economic pressures and talent needs heading into 2026.”

EBI’s small business-focused data is roughly in line with similar figures for large companies from The Conference Board. That organization’s research team recently unveiled its 2026 forecast based on a poll of some of its members—who typically have well north of 1,000 employees—with the main takeaway being that employers expect an average salary increase in 2026 of 3.4%. That is the same growth rate they’re on pace for this year.

A factor that may be playing into salary debates more than in recent years is that healthcare benefit costs are expected to rise strongly in 2026: A recent report by Mercer calculated that health benefit costs per employee are expected to jump an average of 6.5% next year. If that increase materializes, it would be the largest increase for the measure since 2010.

To download the EBI report, which polled readers from the audiences of IndustryWeek and eight other Endeavor brands, click here.