Survey: 47 Percent Of Pittsburgh Workers Say They Are Underpaid
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Are you getting a year-end bonus?
If not, here's a figure that might surprise you.
"Seventy-three percent of organizations in Pittsburgh specifically plan to offer some sort of year-end bonus to their employees. And most people found that to be a staggering number -- 73 percent," Andrew Sassaman, a workplace expert at Robert Half, told KDKA money editor Jon Delano on Thursday.
A local survey of 2,800 senior managers at companies with 20 employees or more conducted by Robert Half, a global human resource consulting firm, found year-end bonuses to be widespread among all levels of employees.
"We have found that it comes from everything from hourly employees, now up through senior and executive management," Sassaman said. "It's not just the CEO that is getting the bonus anymore."
Sassaman says savvy employers are using bonuses as a tool to keep good employees.
"With unemployment being at a 50-year low, more job openings than ever before, it's more difficult to find — and even more difficult to retain — your best employees. So they are using this as a retention tool and a way to show their appreciation," Sassaman said.
But suppose some at your organization get a bonus, but you do not.
What should you do?
"Talk to your manager about what's going on," says Sassaman, "about why you may or may not have received a bonus. And most importantly, what you can do to try to achieve one next year."
And if your company gives no bonuses to anyone, should you complain?
"You need to understand what's going on in your organization," Sassaman said. "If, for example, your company is happening to take a loss this year or profits are stagnant, to use your word, complaining — never a good idea. It's not going to put you in good standing."
But bonus or not, some Pittsburgh employers do short-change their employees.
"We're talking to people all the time that feel like they are underpaid and they are not as valued as they should be," says Sassaman.
Obviously, if you are not getting a bonus and feel undervalued by your employer, look for another job, says Sassaman
Nearly half of Pittsburgh workers — 47 percent — describe themselves as underpaid — and a third of Pittsburgh's workers say they will look for another job in 2020.
That's worse than the national average.
As for cities where employees are happiest with compensation, Sassaman cities Austin, Charlotte, New York, San Antonio, San Diego, and San Francisco.
