Economy

A recent poll has revealed that a number of U.S. employers plan to give out raises in 2010. The poll was released by Hewitt Associates Inc. in Lincolnshire, Ill. both salaries and merit increases may show signs of improvement next year.

According to the poll, of 555 large U.S. employers polled in Oct. 2009:

• 83 percent said they will give out raises next year (only about half did in 2009).
• No companies anticipate pay reductions next year (about 10 percent gave pay reductions in 2009).

Also, companies anticipate raising salaries in 2010 by an average of 2.5 percent, which is the second-lowest year on record aside from 2009. Some experts say that base salaries are unlikely to return to pre-recession levels anytime soon.

According to a Hewitt representative, the 2 - 3 percent range for increases is where we're likely to sit for a while because companies have finally gotten their cost structure under control and won't want to adjust it anytime soon.

The poll also revealed that many firms plan to lift their hiring freezes in 2010, mainly because many top employees are starting to leave their companies. Nearly half of the companies polled said they plan to reverse their freezes within the next six months, while 93 percent said they anticipate making offers to new hires by January.

However, experts say not to expect great salaries as a new hire. In fact, temp workers who are hired on permanently should expect the same pay rate they received as a temp.

The good news is that companies plan to hire again and even plan to give raises, so is the trade-off of not-so-big starting salaries or smaller merit increases bad? What do you think?

Depending on who you ask, the range of alternative investments during the recession may appear to be limitless. The moves you can make change daily as everything from gold prices to retail earnings are in a state of perpetual flux. Despite this, there are some sectors that have performed better historically than others.

In general, strategic investing during rough economic times will always yield better results as traditional stock investments are likely to suffer losses.

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