Survey Editor Says Lower In-House Pay Hikes Are ‘the New Norm’
Pay increases for in-house counsel averaged 2.6 percent in the year ending in March, setting a “new norm,” according to the editor of the survey data.
The newly released figures show the average base salary across all in-house job levels was $174,000, Corporate Counsel reports. The numbers come from the 2010 Law Department Survey by Hildebrandt Baker.
More than half the companies surveyed reported salary freezes this year. Survey editor Lauren Chung told Corporate Counsel the lower pay hikes follow the boom years of 2004 to 2008, when annual pay increases averaged 5 percent to 6 percent.
“I think this is a new norm,” she told the publication. “Getting an annual increase is really not the standard anymore. It’s almost a luxury.”
But the figures aren’t all bad. Median bonuses increased by 10.2 percent after decreasing by 7 percent the prior year. The average cash bonus for all in-house lawyers was $57,000.
