How Much Does It Take to Keep an Employee?

• Position: SALARIES

Good talent is hard to find, and the tight labor market is leading some employers to wage bidding wars over talent, but how much money is enough to convince an employee to turn down a job offer and stay with their current employer?

In a survey, Express Employment Professionals, Oklahoma City, Ok-la., posed that question to job seekers and asked employers how much they would be willing to offer a star employee to stay with the company. On average, employees want more than employers are willing to offer. Overall, 57% of employees indicate they would want a raise of more than 10%, while only 30% of employers said they would be willing to offer more than 10%, even to a star employee.

Terri Greeno, an Express Employment Professionals franchise owner in Crystal Lake, III., says she tells companies that, no matter what the law says the minimum wage should be, in effect, the "new minimum wage" is $11 to $12 an hour due to high demand.

Greeno stresses that even employers who do not raise wages in this competitive labor market are "paying for it one way or another" in the form of high turnover or additional overtime.

In Michigan, Janis Petrini, a Grand Rapids franchise owner, verifies that wages have continued to increase over the last year. She explains that she has witnessed the most-pronounced increase for...