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Article | Beyond Data

Compensation across all global industries

2024 pay trends to watch

January 10, 2024

Explore insights into what organizations across all industries around the world are planning for this year.
Compensation Strategy & Design
Beyond Data

Attraction and retention remain challenging for organizations worldwide

Organizations grapple with sourcing talent for major roles at every level

Average voluntary attrition rate among key markets worldwide. Source: WTW 2023 Global Compensation Survey Reports
Location Average voluntary attrition rate
Brazil 8%
Taiwan 11%
United Arab Emirates 7%
United Kingdom 12%
United States 11%

Major roles employers plan to hire for in the next 12 months
Percentage of organizations recruiting for key roles in information technology, engineering and sales in key markets. Source: WTW 2023 Salary Budget Planning Report
Location Information technology Engineering Sales Technical skills trade
Brazil 57% 54% 47% 52%
Taiwan 51% 57% 58% 38%
United Arab Emirates 56% 58% 50% 45%
United Kingdom 61% 51% 43% 37%
United States 64% 51% 35% 45%

Salary budget increases continued in 2023

Because salary impacts an organization's ability to attract and retain talent, this pattern is expected to continue in 2024, but employers will be cautious about allocating their salary budget.


Organizations also granted higher bonus payouts for 2023, and are expected to repeat it in 2024.


Employers (60% or more) in every industry worldwide have taken or are considering taking the following measures:
  • Compensation review of specific employee populations
  • Full compensation review for all employees
  • Targeted increases for specific employee populations
  • Hire people higher in relevant salary range
Top 3 functions at professional level (P3) with the highest pay across all industries
Top 3 functions at professional level (P3) ranked according to pay across all industries. Source: WTW 2023 Global Compensation Survey Reports (August-September 2023)
Rank Brazil China United Kingdom United States
1 Geosciences
Data Science and Business Intelligence Legal IT Development
2 Research
Legal
IT development Business Consulting
3 Product Development IT development Business Consultancy Research

A few skills will receive the highest pay premiums across regions
Skills that will demand the highest pay premiums across regions. Source: WTW 2023 Global Compensation Survey Reports
Region Skills Pay premium (median in percent of base salary)
Asia Pacific AI/machine learning frameworks 15%
Europe, Middle East and Africa AI/machine learning frameworks 20%
Latin America Cryptography, distributed ledger development, smart contract programming 15%
North America Cryptography, distributed ledger development, smart contract programming 15%

3% increase in the number of unique organizations participating in WTW’s 2023 general industry surveys, and a 5% overall increase in data submissions.

Trends expected to shape 2024 rewards decisions

  1. 01

    Economic volatility and uncertainty could lead to lower investment levels and economic growth, which will force organizations to review their workforces and be more cautious about increasing salaries (among many other things).

  2. 02

    Organizations will look beyond pay and take a holistic view of total rewards to create employee experiences that attract and retain the talent needed to drive business objectives.

  3. 03

    To effectively compete against industry peers, compensation and HR professionals will seek a more sophisticated understanding and application of data in their strategic total rewards practices and policies.

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