The annual Compensation Best Practices Report (CBPR) from Payscale — now entering its 16th year — is the most comprehensive report on compensation management, revealing key trends and best practices. The 2025 edition promises fresh and diverse insights, as we gather survey responses from HR leaders, compensation professionals, and anyone overseeing compensation within organizations.
The 2025 Compensation Best Practices Survey is now open until the end of December 2024. With 105 questions, the survey takes 30 min to an hour to complete. It covers standard compensation practices as well as hot-button topics such as responses to the labor market, artificial intelligence, and investment in DEI. This survey data is essential for producing industry-specific insights by organization size, sector, and other criteria, making the CBPR a uniquely valuable tool for HR and compensation teams.
The survey incorporates skip logic and tracking, allowing participants to return any time before the survey closes to change their answers provided they use the same link.
Sections of the survey for the 2025 report include:
- Labor conditions and HR priorities
- Pay increases
- Pay communications and transparency
- Compensation strategy and structures
- Preparedness to manage compensation
- Salary data and market pricing
- Compensation metrics and reporting
- Pay equity and DEI
- Total rewards
Hot topics change every year. Although some questions remain the same for year-over-year analysis, many have been changed to reflect topical issues in the HR space or to get more detailed information on a focus area that wasn’t covered in recent years.
Key questions this year explore expected pay increases, attitudes towards AI, the role of pay equity and DEI, and strategies around skills, geography, shift work, and promotions.
Here are just a few examples of questions from this year’s survey:
Q: Is your organization experiencing increased tension between ensuring fair pay for employees and optimizing spend on compensation in current market conditions (i.e., efficiency, controlling costs)?
- Yes
- No
- Unsure
Q: Is your organization utilizing outside labor more than in previous years to reduce payroll costs?
- Yes
- No
- Unsure
Q: In your personal opinion, should equity remain a central pillar of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)?
- Yes
- No
- Unsure
Q: Are you moving toward a skills-based hiring and talent management strategy?
- Yes
- No
- Unsure
Q: Are you losing talent over return-to-office policies?
- Yes
- No
- Unsure
Q: Is your organization replacing workers with automation/AI?
- Yes, we are doing this now
- No, but we are considering this in the future
- Unsure
Publication and benefits for participants:
In January 2025, Payscale’s research and data science team will analyze the survey results and prepare a report packed with data, charts, and analysis of findings for release at the end of Q1.
Participants will gain first access to the report and contribute to data that informs compensation strategy for countless organizations. Those who complete the survey may also enter a drawing to win a $200 gift card. The report is free to download for everyone, but we encourage a high volume of participation to allow for segmentation of the data, particularly by industry.
Industry coverage for the 2025 CBPR will include:
- Agencies & Consultancies
- Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation
- Construction
- Education
- Energy & Utilities
- Engineering & Science
- Finance & Insurance
- Food, Beverage, & Hospitality
- Government
- Healthcare & Social Assistance
- Manufacturing
- Nonprofit
- Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology (new this year!)
- Real Estate, Rental, & Leasing
- Retail & Customer Service
- Technology
- Transportation & Warehousing
The 2025 Compensation Best Practices Report will examine the survey data by industry and provide analysis when there is an interesting differentiation. We’ll also provide “expert briefs” that give insights on areas of interest that are most differentiated by sector. For examples of last year’s briefs by industry, check out the following:
- CBPR 2024 Brief: Agencies & Consultancies Edition
- CBPR 2024 Brief: Food, Beverage, & Hospitality Edition
- CBPR 2024 Brief: Education Edition
- CBPR 2024 Brief: Healthcare & Social Assistance Edition
- CBPR 2024 Brief: Manufacturing Edition
- CBPR 2024 Brief: Retail & Customer Service Edition
- CBPR 2024 Brief: Technology (including software) Edition
Whether you’re focused on compensation or broader HR practices, your input in this year’s survey will help shape the compensation strategies of 2025 and beyond.
Ready to participate?
Click this link to begin the 2025 Compensation Best Practices Survey today!
Participants will also automatically receive notice when the report is released.
