Wisconsin Workers Can Expect to See Fatter Paychecks in 2022

Friday, February 18th, 2022 -- 9:01 AM

(AP) Many people in Wisconsin can expect to see their paychecks get a little fatter in the coming year as businesses that are desperate for workers compete to attract new talent, the latest Wisconsin Employer Survey found.

The survey, commissioned by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, found more than 80 percent of companies expected to increase their wages in 2022 by three percent or more.

Its president and CEO, Kurt Bauer, put it plainly, “Wages are rising much faster than they have in recent memory. Wisconsin does not have enough people to fill the jobs we have available, and that creates an aggressive competition for talent.”

Bauer also noted that companies aren’t just using higher wages to get people to come on board. He also points to other strategies, including sign-on bonuses and greater work flexibility.

While the three-percent figure demonstrated the breadth of companies turning to higher wages for recruiting, researchers described the number of respondents saying they would increase pay by at least four percent even “more notabl(e).”

Roughly a third of employers responded they planned to raise wages by four percent or more this year. That more than triples the nine percent who checked the same box in the survey taken at this time last year, the WMC points out.

It did add that the pressure for finding new workers was heating up last year as the days got warmer. By the time its Summer 2021 survey rolled around, approximately a quarter of employers were ready to raise pay by that much.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.