While more than two-thirds of Canadian employers expect wages to increase in 2025 compared to last year, more than half (57 per cent) fear it won’t be enough to prevent employees from leaving for better wages and benefits elsewhere, according to a new survey by the Harris Poll on behalf of Express Services Inc.
The survey, which polled more than 500 employers and more than 500 employees, found half (51 per cent) of workers expect overall wages will stay the same in 2025 compared to 2024, while 37 per cent expect wages to increase and 13 per cent expect wages to decrease.
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Women (60 per cent) are more likely than men (44 per cent) to expect wages to remain stagnant, while generation Z employees (22 per cent) are more likely to believe wages will decrease than millennials and baby boomers (11 per cent each) and generation X (10 per cent).
A fifth (18 per cent) of employees said they haven’t received a raise or promotion or haven’t received one within the past two years. Among workers who have received a raise or promotion, the most common reasons were meeting individual accomplishments (34 per cent), positive feedback from colleagues (34 per cent), receiving positive performance evaluations (32 per cent), long-time service with the employer (31 per cent), a long period between their last raise or promotion (27 per cent) and positive company performance (26 per cent).
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The majority (69 per cent) of employees who received a raise or promotion report their employer proactively gave it to them, while only 31 per cent said they proactively requested it.
Interestingly, gen Z were the most likely to say their employer did it proactively (79 per cent, compared to 68 per cent for millennials, 65 per cent for gen X and 76 per cent for baby boomers) and the least likely to say they requested it (21 per cent, compared to 32 per cent for millennials, 35 per cent for gen X and 25 per cent for boomers).
By comparison, employers said raises and promotions at their company are determined mainly by performance evaluations (47 per cent) and individual accomplishments (42 per cent). Just a fifth (21 per cent) said they take account of an employee’s desires in decisions around raises and promotions.
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