The good news is: you don't have to guess anymore. The real-time data is here, and the trends are clear. While others are reacting to compensation surprises—you can get ahead of it all. Your competitive advantage starts with knowing what's coming next, now:
Companies are still budgeting for growth, but thoughtfully. While median merit increase budgets are holding steady, many organizations are consolidating to fewer merit cycles—cutting waste from ad-hoc adjustments and unplanned bonuses. The payoff? More strategic spending and tighter budget controls heading into next year.
AI and ML engineers aren't the only jobs with growing pay premiums. Other jobs driven by AI-enhancements are surging: Forward Deployed and Go-To-Market (GTM) Engineers are prime examples. Start making space in your budget for these roles with real-time data from Pave.
Employee turnover is down. At private companies we see a small dip in attrition, but public company turnover is down 26% over the past 2 years. Are your people staying because they want to, or because they're waiting for better options in a turbulent job market? Retention doesn't mean loyalty, and the difference may cost you in 2026.
The trends are clear. Get the insights into how peers are approaching 2026 budgeting and headcount planning:
Equity practices are growing more conservative, with early career employees getting less equity, and ‘Below Expectations’ performers receiving no equity during 2025 merit cycles according to an analysis of Pave clients using our planning software. The direction is simple: equity is no longer a free lunch.
If you're not including pay ranges in your job postings, you may be losing out on strong candidates. With EU Pay Transparency laws looming, companies need to start scaling their global job pricing programs now to be ready to publish compliant salary ranges.
