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big 4 raises

This is in response to the question about raises.....
" I was told by an EY recruiter that they usually give raises between 8 to 15%. Does that sound correct?"

The recruiter at that firm is correct, but it's not just EY, it's the big 4...and maybe even the smaller firms....although 15% sounds a little high. That only might happen due to market corrections, which occurs once every few years. Sure, the raises are higher than at normal corporations, because the path upwards in the big 4 is so structured. Trust me though, as much as the raises are nice, big 4 employees work much more on average than most corporations. So, really, by the hour, it's not that different if you do want to look at it that way.
Back to raises, depending on your reviews, raises could range between 7-14%. Market conditions(a survey apparently gets passes around the firms to get a gauge as to how much they are paying) play a role in the percentages. No firm wants to be left behind in the salary race, since that is a huge factor for college students in their decision making process. People also "talk" informally amongst the firms, and try and get a feel as to what their competitors are paying. Technically, it is illegal to collude and decide salaries, if I'm not mistaken. If PWC comes out and says 8% on average, but EY then comes out and says 12%, a lot of rumors would fly within PWC, this information would get relayed to the partners, and if it is a real pressing issue, they'll issue a market correction a few months later to up the raise and match EY.
The standard verbage by the HR folk at all firms is that when you look at benefits, bonuses, school payments, etc. it evens out amongst the firms. Raise time is always a very controversial time period every year, people get angry or happy depending on the raises, people leave, and it goes on and on.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I just got a $18,000 raise.
notfordisplay said…
may I ask from what position, and the position you currently have?
Anonymous said…
I work in Canada as a CA articling student for a small firm. There is such a demand for talent here, and combined with my 6 years of experience in public practice, I got the bump from $45,000 to $63,000. So, needless to say my starving student days will be behind me soon.
Anonymous said…
That's a good bump. Sounds like they started you off too low to begin with, depending on what you did during those 6 years, but whatever, congrats. :)

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