According to a recent article in one of our favorite online publications, Xconomy, the raises for tech executives are the lowest they have ever been, even lower then the bubble burst of 2000-2001.
The Compensation Study sited in the article was conducted by an executive search firm and Ernst & Young, with some assistance from the Harvard Business School. The net-net of the study is that base salaries, (they did not look at bonus compensation for the percentage increase as it is far to variable), only increased .8 percent (that's point 8% if you missed the decimal!) between 2008 and 2009 for non-founding tech executives. Sound small? Well, if you compare it to the 4.7 percent increase between 2007 and 2008 it seems even smaller!
Another interesting finding, and maybe one that will get us all through this economic roller coaster we are riding, is that founders and executives did see a slight increase in their retained or granted equity. And that is saying a lot, since the survey focused on private companies many of which are venture backed.
Both the article and the Comp Study are worth checking out.
