Employers still giving raises, mostly to high performers

U.S. employers will hand out pay raises averaging 2.5% across all employee categories in 2010, according to the annual WorldatWork 2010-2011 Salary Budget Survey. But in most cases, the size of the raise will depend on how well employees have performed. Employers "are no longer averse to withholding merit increases for poor performers so they can afford to grant meaningful increases to better performers,” says Anne C. Ruddy, president of WorldatWork.