• The Pay Trends Report warns that wage stagnation could threaten workforce satisfaction and retention. As inflation hovers near 2.7%, organizations must assess their pay strategies to ensure merit increases are not eroded by the rising cost of living.
• Tracking job-specific wage growth is essential for proactive compensation strategies in today’s market, as mission-critical roles will show the first signs of employee dissatisfaction.
• Roles in Healthcare, IT, and Finance show the greatest wage growth as they sit at the crossroads of strategy, operations, and risk.
  

BOSTON, Oct. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Payscale, the leading provider of compensation intelligence solutions, today released its Pay Trends Report, spotlighting the increasing importance of compensation strategies being able to keep pace with fast-moving jobs. The report leverages Payscale Peer, data sourced from Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) combined with AI-driven insights to provide a reliable and transparent understanding of how HR leaders price jobs and apply differentials in response to market trends.

The Pay Trends Report uncovers a correlation between the current low churn rate and slower wage growth, creating a job market that continues to favor employers. The report highlights prolonged wage stagnation can harm a company’s health as employees grow dissatisfied, and candidates exit the workforce.

The organizations at most risk of experiencing an increasingly dissatisfied workforce are not just the industries with known labor shortages, but also role-specific labor shortages. The findings of the Pay Trends Report highlight the need for compensation professionals to track hot job trends and modern methodologies for pricing jobs in fast-changing markets. Monitoring these shifts helps identify talent risks and ensure competitive, market-aligned pay practices.

Hot Jobs Driving Up Wage Growth
While overall wage growth is below 4% in 2025, some jobs are seeing wage growth well above the average. They include:

1. Utilization Review Coordinator - Average Wage Growth: 9.87%
2. Public Relations Representative IV - Average Wage Growth: 8.77%
3. IT Project Management Specialist - Average Wage Growth: 8.54%
4. Inventory Control Planner III - Average Wage Growth: 8.01%
5. Computer Operations Manager - Average Wage Growth: 7.48%
6. Compensation and Benefits Manager - Average Wage Growth: 6.39
7. Sales Manager - Regional (Division) - Average Wage Growth: 5.94%
8. Construction Project Manager III - Average Wage Growth: 5.60%
9. Recruiting Coordinator - Average Wage Growth: 5.35%
10. Auditor IV – Internal - Average Wage Growth: 5.11%

“The roles driving the fastest wage growth aren’t just jobs; they’re mission-critical positions at the crossroads of strategy, operations, and risk,” said Ruth Thomas, chief compensation strategist at Payscale. “When talent is scarce and stakes are high, employers are willing to pay a premium for employees who can deliver impact in complex, fast-changing environments. By tracking pay for hot jobs, professionals can identify flight risks where skills premiums or market adjustments may be needed to retain talent.”

Peer, Payscale’s dynamic, HR-reported data network, supplied this report with industry-specific wage growth data. With over 5,200 benchmarked jobs, 8.9 million incumbents, and 3,900 organizations represented, Peer data is refreshed daily and seamlessly integrated into Payscale’s compensation management solutions.

The full Pay Trends Report and its methodology can be accessed here.

About Payscale

Payscale is the original compensation innovator for organizations who want to scale their business with pay and transform their largest investment into their greatest advantage. With decades of innovation in sourcing reputable data and developing AI-powered tools, Payscale delivers actionable insights that turn pay from a cost to a catalyst. Its suite of solutions — Payfactors, Marketpay, and Paycycle — empower 65% of the top companies in the U.S. and businesses like Panasonic, ZoomInfo, Chipotle, Quest Diagnostics, University of Washington, American Airlines, and TJX Companies.

Create confidence in your compensation. Payscale.

To learn more, visit www.payscale.com.

Contact: Press@Payscale.com