Pay Trends for Small Companies (0-99 employees)
Updated April 5, 2012
2012: Earnings for workers at small companies were flat in Q1 2012, but strong growth in 2011 helped to create year-over-year growth of 0.7 percent for the first quarter of 2012. Wages at small companies are lagging, overall, compared to the medium and large company earnings tracked by The PayScale Index.
2007-2011: Earning trends for workers at small companies ran consistently below national averages throughout 2007 and 2008, perhaps reflecting their greater sensitivity to the growing recession. By Q4 2008, when small company wage growth reached its peak, it was about 1 percent below national trends.
Earnings for workers at small companies dropped sharply in 2009, then rebounded a bit at the end of the year, gaining back 1 percent and effectively meeting national wage trend levels. Through 2010, small company wages declined a bit, eventually settling into a constant level, once again 1 percent below the national trend. Wages then grew modestly, ending 2011 up 0.7 percent year-over-year.
