Salary negotiation remains one of the most powerful yet underutilized tools in professional development. Despite knowing its importance, two-thirds of people never negotiate their compensation—a decision that costs individuals roughly $1 million over their careers. The gap between understanding negotiation's value and actually engaging in it reveals a critical truth: mastering salary negotiation isn't just about strategy—it's about mindset. READ MORE
Is your salary competitive? Average earnings by age group
Once you've settled into a new job, you might find yourself focused on the day-to-day, filling your time with meetings, tasks, and projects that keep you busy. You might not think much about how your paycheck stacks up against others'—until you start wondering whether you're being paid what you're worth.
But stepping back to ask a simple question—how does my income compare to others my age?—can give you a better sense of your career trajectory. READ MORE
Jeff Bezos capped his Amazon salary at $80,000: ‘How could I possibly need more incentive?’
Jeff Bezos is the world’s third-richest man with a current net worth of $266 billion. But the Amazon founder said his actual salary was much lower than that.
During the early years of the now $2.61 trillion online retailer, Bezos said he asked the board “not to give me any comp,” beyond a modest base salary of just $80,000. READ MORE
New Executive Order Seeks to Limit Stock Buy Backs and Executive Compensation for Underperforming Defense Contractors
The President’s January 7 Executive Order (EO) gives broad discretion to the U.S. Secretary of War to designate underperforming contractors.
The EO also directs the Secretary to, within 60 days, include similar provisions in new contracts and contract renewals, and to put other limits on executive compensation. READ MORE
Double-digit compensation hikes in 2 years for risk managers
North American risk management professionals have seen double-digit compensation increases over the past two years, according to a study Tuesday from the Risk and Insurance Management Society.
The median annual base salary for risk management professionals in the United States has risen steadily over the past 10 years, reaching $160,000 as of June 1, 2025, up from $115,000 in 2015. READ MORE
Boring remote jobs that pay at least $100,000 a year and employers can’t fill fast enough
You can love money and still want a pretty low-drama workday.
Maybe you’re past the point of chasing a “dream job.” You just want steady remote work, a solid salary, and tasks that don’t leave you emotionally drained at the end of the day. A job that looks plain on paper but quietly funds your life. READ MORE
How Median Salaries are Shifting by U.S. State
Salaries across the United States continued to rise in 2024, but where you live still plays a major role in how much you earn.
While national wage growth has remained positive, the gap between the highest- and lowest-paying states remains wide. Regional economic structure, industry concentration, and cost of living all contribute to these differences. READ MORE
Nvidia’s Huang says AI boom will create ‘six-figure salaries’ for those building chip factories
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said the AI boom will create “six-figure salaries” for those building the factories supporting it — becoming the latest leader to recommend skilled trades as AI hits office jobs.
Huang, one of the foremost voices on artificial intelligence, struck an optimistic tone on its impact on the labor market in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos Wednesday. READ MORE
Salary budgets have stabilized as employers focus on pay strategy for 2026
US salary budgets for 2026 are expected to remain stable at 3.4%, the same as the actual salary budget increase for 2025. Inflation expectations have regulated across many economies, reducing the need for reactive pay increases and instead allowing organizations to plan proactively. This is according to the latest Salary Budget Planning Survey from leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, WTW (NASDAQ:WTW). READ MORE
Four strategies for negotiating value-based compensation
New year, new pay bump?
Experts say that the best time to ask for a raise is when you’ve earned one (i.e., your role/responsibilities have changed, your work has resulted in a notable impact, etc). However, January is usually when a new fiscal year starts. It also often directly follows annual performance appraisals (usually completed in December). After a positive performance review and/or after your organization’s budget has been allocated, is as good a time as any to ask for a wage increase. READ MORE
SMBs hiked year-end bonuses 11.5% in a signal of ‘optimism’
A new report has found that the average year-end bonus for 2025 was much more generous and widespread than the previous year within the nation’s small business sector.
The 2025 Year-End Bonus report from Gusto, which manages payroll, HR and benefits needs for small businesses, found that the average bonus paid to employees at U.S. small businesses increased 11.5% in December 2025 compared with December 2024. This figure well outpaces inflation, which hovered around 3% for most of the year. READ MORE
Men Are Revealing Their Jobs And Salaries, And I'm Actually Stunned By What Some Of Them Are Bringing Home
A while back, we wrote about the various salaries people were earning from their work. Then, a TON of readers shared their own, and it was just as fascinating. Here are some of those responses from our male readers: READ MORE
Why you might get a "peanut butter"-style pay raise in 2026
Your 2026 pay raise could be a "peanut-butter"-style increase, with new research from compensation expert Payscale finding more than four in 10 companies are opting to give identical, across-the-board hikes rather than merit-based raises.
This year, 44% of companies plan to rely on the peanut-butter approach — a method of evenly spreading pay hikes across the workforce — according to a new report from Payscale. READ MORE
2026 Board Focuses: Comp Design, Proxy Roles, Governance, AI and More
As 2026 kicks off, corporate boards of directors face a governance environment defined by rapid change and heightened complexity. Economic volatility, regulatory developments and technological disruption are reshaping the expectations placed on directors. To navigate this evolving landscape, consulting firm WTW identified five priorities that merit focused attention as boards of directors prepare for the year ahead. READ MORE
How tech billionaires spurred an exodus from California
In late December, White House official and tech investor David Sacks made a cryptic post on X: “Message received,” he wrote, above a photo of anti-billionaire demonstrators gathered in front of his San Francisco mansion.
The post made public what Sacks and other billionaires had been planning privately: They were plotting to leave California in protest of a proposed wealth tax that would impact the state’s richest residents. READ MORE
Apple CEO sparks outrage after report uncovers staggering truth about salary: 'That's kinda surprising'
Apple CEO Tim Cook's compensation highlighted the widening gap between the rich and middle class, according to Fortune.
Cook scored $74.6 million in 2024, which is 18% more than he landed in 2023. It included $58.1 million in stocks, $12 million in performance bonuses, and $1.5 million in other recompense. At that rate, he made the annual salary of the average American within seven hours. READ MORE
Colorado May Have Sparked a Push for Salary Transparency
Colorado cracked open the culture of secrecy around salaries when it started forcing employers to include pay ranges in job postings. It also sparked an international trend.
Since the state’s rule took effect in 2021, about a dozen other states across the US have adopted similar requirements, and the European Union will follow suit later this year. READ MORE
Sophisticated TSR-Based PSU Valuation in Executive Compensation
In today’s governance landscape, 95% of S&P 500 companies now utilize Performance Share Units (PSUs) in their executive compensation frameworks—a substantial increase from 76% in 2012. This shift reflects the market’s demand for stronger pay-for-performance alignment, with PSUs now constituting approximately 60% of the average CEO’s long-term incentive mix. Particularly notable is the widespread adoption of Total Shareholder Return (TSR) metrics, with 72% of S&P 500 companies incorporating relative TSR in their long-term incentive plans [1]. READ MORE
AI is turning Big Tech into a superstar economy
Silicon Valley is sending a clear message about how staff should perform, and how it wants to pay them.
Instead of obsessing over punishing the bottom of the stack, Big Tech is increasingly choosing to shower rewards on the top: READ MORE
What CHRO Compensation Tells Us About a Firm’s Human Capital Strategy
The growing importance of human capital continues to elevate the role of the Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO). However, the title alone does not indicate how much influence or strategic weight the role carries, as the scope and decision-making authority of the CHRO role vary widely across companies. READ MORE