Reinvention

One In Six U.S. Workers Unlikely to Get a Raise in 2021

A third of companies surveyed say they've cut how much they're willing to spend on payroll.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Weaker financial results and uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic is driving some companies to abolish pay raises for employees next year — or hand out smaller increases than initially planned.

Roughly one in six U.S. workers won’t get a raise in 2021, according to the results of a survey late last month by human-resources consulting firm Willis Towers Watson Plc. About a third of the 705 companies that participated said they have reduced the money budgeted for pay increases for next year.