About 80% of the 3,462 U.S. employees surveyed by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder say they are not getting the salary they hoped for. Meanwhile, 36% complain their pay is not even close to what they expected.
Despite this high level of dissatisfaction, 56% of workers say they don’t negotiate for a higher salary. That is mostly because they are uncomfortable doing so or worry about not getting hired.
For the more than 4,600 employers surveyed, 53% say they expect to get counteroffers and 63% say they feel compelled to shell out more to prospective hires with the market for talent growing tighter. Fifty-two percent offer less when negotiating to give themselves room to go up and 26% are willing to pay $5,000 or higher than their first offer.
The survey also finds that older candidates and men are more willing to haggle for higher pay than their younger counterparts and women.