{"id":5062,"date":"2026-08-07T04:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T04:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5062"},"modified":"2026-08-07T04:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T04:42:08","slug":"over-a-third-of-employers-handed-out-peanut-butter-raises-this-year-now-a-quarter-of-bosses-admit-theyre-losing-top-talent-because-of-bad-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5062","title":{"rendered":"Over a third of employers handed out \u2018peanut butter raises\u2019 this year\u2014now, a quarter of bosses admit they\u2019re losing top talent because of bad pay"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Around 36% of U.S. companies say they gave out standard, across-the-board pay increases this year, according to a recent Payscale report. These \u201cpeanut butter raises\u201d\u2014which are spread out evenly to all staffers, regardless of their performance\u2014have been dolled out as companies grapple with economic uncertainty. And those who work in industries like government and education are often on the receiving end; the report notes peanut butter raises are more common among sectors with huge workforces, hourly staffers, and step-structures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Are you committing tax fraud? New York Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s about to find out, all thanks to the pied-\u00e0-terre tax rollout<\/a><\/p>\n

But dishing out weak raises is doing more than bruising the ego of hard-working employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Now, some staffers are jumping ship when they realize their pay bumps don\u2019t align with their efforts. Around 25% of companies admitted they were losing talent in 2026 due to insufficient wage increases, according to the Payscale report.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeanut butter pay is often framed as the fairest approach because everyone receives the same increase,\u201d Ruth Thomas, chief compensation strategist at Payscale, tells Fortune. <\/em>\u201cBut employees don\u2019t typically judge fairness by whether everyone got the same\u2014they judge it by whether they were rewarded appropriately for their individual contribution. High performers want to know their extra effort mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen pay increases fail to reflect differences in impact, organizations risk sending the message that performance doesn\u2019t make a difference, and that\u2019s where motivation starts to erode,\u201d Thomas added.<\/p>\n

Employers are forking over more of their budget for high-performers in 2027<\/h2>\n

Peanut butter raises are a contentious issue among workers. On the one hand, the flat pay bump structure mitigates bias and allows all employees to receive a monetary boost, which can be a lifeline for many professionals amid America\u2019s cost-of-living crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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But on the other hand, others argue that peanut butter raises are \u201cdemotivating\u201d for workers putting in the extra effort\u2014because no matter how well they do on the job, they\u2019ll be rewarded the same as those who trailed behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, looking ahead, employers do plan to reward their top-performing employees. Around 32% still plan to distribute peanut butter raises next year, but the report found that merit increases will account for 3% of the 3.5% total payroll budget for 2027, representing the largest chunk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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And while economic uncertainty may have stifled performance-based pay bumps, more companies are realizing the importance of competitively compensating their star staffers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cOrganizations may receive more applications overall, but attracting and retaining people with the right skills remains challenging,\u201d the chief compensation strategist said. \u201cCompetitive, well-informed pay is still one of the strongest signals that an employer values the contribution those employees make.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Why employers are giving out peanut butter raises: economic uncertainty and dwindling budgets<\/h2>\n

There are a few reasons as to why peanut butter raises are popular with employers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s long been the norm to award raises based on workers\u2019 merit, which Payscale described as a \u201cbest practice.\u201d But peanut butter raises may be employers\u2019 attempt to alleviate financial headwinds for workers who earn the least. Plus, as Payscale noted in a report earlier this year, peanut butter raises \u201calleviate administrative burden and reward workers equally,\u201d taking some weight off their shoulders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As companies rethink their payroll budgets amid economic uncertainty, a flat, standardized raise may look like the best option.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many U.S. companies have held their average salary increase budget steady around 3.5% in recent years, but there\u2019s even a sizable cohort who have planned to scale back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Around a third of businesses planned to lower their pay-increase budgets this year compared to 2025, according to a report from Willis Towers Watson. Employers say that a looming recession, dwindling financial performance, and desire for more control over costs are stifling their payroll allowances\u2014which could explain why they\u2019re forking over smaller \u201cpeanut butter\u201d pay bumps to compensate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more U.S. puts $25 million bounty on new leader of Mexico\u2019s most powerful cartel<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around 36% of U.S. companies say they gave out across-the-board pay increases this year\u2014and experts warn it\u2019s killing motivation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[189],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compensation"],"yoast_head":"\nOver a third of employers handed out \u2018peanut butter raises\u2019 this year\u2014now, a quarter of bosses admit they\u2019re losing top talent because of bad pay - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5062\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Over a third of employers handed out \u2018peanut butter raises\u2019 this year\u2014now, a quarter of bosses admit they\u2019re losing top talent because of bad pay - 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