Compensation Trends for Comp Professionals

FLSA exemption rules 2026: What changed on January 1st and what HR needs to know

January 1st wasn't just New Year's Day — it was the day six states raised FLSA salary thresholds. Miss the memo? Your exempt employees might now be overtime-eligible.

The state of the tech job market 2025

The hottest jobs in tech aren't vibe coders or FAANG software developers. While AI Engineers receive the media headlines, Payscale brings you the tech jobs with the highest and lowest salary growth in 2025.

What is stagflation lite and how should HR prepare?

Economists predict "stagflation lite" will grip the economy in 2026. Slow growth meet persistent inflation. HR faces a daunting challenge: raise wages too much, costs spiral. Too little, top talent walks. Here's how HR can strategically navigate this squeeze.

Job hugging: dealing with a demotivated workforce

Employees are "job hugging" — clinging to positions they'd prefer to leave because opportunities are scarce. This demotivated workforce costs you in productivity, morale, and future turnover. Here's how to address it now.

Last chance to participate in the Compensation Best Practices Survey

The clock is ticking. Take the Compensation Best Practices Survey today! Enter for a chance to win a $200 gift card.

Ringing in the raises: 2026 minimum wages changes you need to know

Minimum wage laws are getting a New Year's makeover. Twenty states are raising rates on January 1, 2026, along with many U.S. cities. Time to budget accordingly.

Survey participation is time-consuming and costly. Here's what you can do about it.

HR teams burn weeks wrestling with spreadsheets, tracking deadlines, and fixing submission errors. At $4.86 per manual entry, survey participation isn't just painful. It's expensive.

Employers brace for health benefits spike

Health benefits are breaking records with renewals climbing by 10-15%. Employers can't afford to do nothing. Here's how to control skyrocketing healthcare costs without breaking employee trust.

Will pay transparency make every employee's salary the same?

Pay transparency requires justifying pay differences, not giving employees identical salaries. Discover how pay equity differs from equality and how to prepare for the impact of pay transparency laws.

Forget HR mission statements. What you pay is more important than what you say.

Pay equity has been an unfulfilled promise since the 1860s. With DEI on the retreat, we're still waiting. Companies issue diversity pledges while women and people of color still earn less for identical work. Want to prove your commitment to equal pay? Pay your people with transparency.

Wage growth slows for many workers, while some industries see salary spikes

While the U.S. labor market wobbles and wage growth slows nationally, some industries are defying gravity. Oil & Gas leads with 8% salary spikes, with Electronics and Construction follow close behind — proving averages don't tell your industry's story.

Breaking your own rules (the right way): managing exceptions during pay increases cycles

Exceptions are inevitable during annual pay cycles. Learn how to identify common exception scenarios, document decisions systematically, and spot patterns that signal deeper compensation problems requiring structural fixes.

Compensation trends: Modern perspectives on pay