In recent years, Nicaragua has characterized as the country with the highest wage adjustments in the region, even above inflation, averaging 6.8% a year.
Elnuevodiario.com.ni reports that "... Of all the countries in Central America the market wage adjustment made by make small, medium and large companies for their employees each year has been the highest in Nicaragua with an average of 6.8%, even above the projected inflation for this year which is 5.5%, according to a survey carried out by Pricewaterhouse Cooper. "
In Costa Rica civil servants earn on average 150% more than workers in the private sector, which contributes decisively to the growth of inequality and lowers the overall competitiveness of human resources.
Trade unionists who promote it, the officials who estimate it, the rulers who decree it, are not part of the legion of unemployed who surely would work for less than the official minimum wage.
EDITORIAL
The unemployed have no voice, in principle because they do not pay a sindical fee, and if they did have one, they would not raise it, because it feels devoid of the dignity necessary to do so, because they are used to adopting a very humble position in job interviews. Nothing further impoverishes the human spirit that lack of gainful income of one form or another.
The difficulties faced by companies in hiring high-profile executives are driving growth in the recruitment market in the country.
With the advent of more multinational companies in the sectors of logistics, banking and insurance, there is growing demand for qualified personnel to fill positions of managers, vice presidents or directors.
Performance bonuses and other variable compensation schemes weigh increasingly on the total compensation of senior managers.
In order to motivate and retain executives companies are tending more and more to compensate their executives with salary schemes where the variable proportion and that dependent on performance is increasing.
Paying with company stock, profit sharing from stocks or performance bonuses are some of the payment methods being used by companies for senior managers, as detailed in a report by consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
When vacancies arise companies fill them paying the new employee less than before, and give them even more demanding requirements.
A Manpower study outlined in an article in Prensalibre.com notes that in Guatemala "requirements are increased when new staff are hired, however the wages offered are not in line with the international market.
For example, one company had a manager with a profile matching a salary of up to $3,138, this person resigned and his place was taken by a underling who had a salary of $1,255 and who, after the change in position, was offered $1,632. This person got a better opportunity and resigned, shortly after which the company attempted to hire a new manager with the requirements of the first but with the salary of the second.
In Guatemala, telephony, retail sales, financial activities and services offer the best remuneration at managerial levels.
The survey Business System Salary Information by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), reveals that it is in the area of services where executives receive more economic benefits, equivalent to $5,350 a month on average.
Prensalibre.cvom reports that "Brenda Guzman, Organizational Development Consultant at PWC, said local managers in the industrial sector on average receive per month Q36,400 ($4,644) as a concept of economic benefits, including salary bonuses .
In terms of salary, knowing when to say no to the boss has its advantages.
In her article for CNNexpansión, journalist Ivonne Vargas analyses the results of an investigation conducted by the United States Management Academy.
"The study 'Do Nice Guys and Girls Always Finish Last?' conducted on 20,000 professionals in the U.S. and Canada, found that rude men earn 18% more than workers who always want to be seen as 'good' or nice.
A lack of qualified personnel, an aging population and legal obstacles preventing the hiring of foreigners are impacting on the competitiveness of businesses.
The problem, faced by all economic sectors alike, is causing an overall increase in wage levels.
"Just a few years ago, the list of professionals who were difficult to recruit in the labor market focused on bilingual accountants, civil engineers, logistics specialists and high-profile managers, eventually others have been added to that list such as domestic workers, sales executives, beauty technicians and foremen", reported Prensa.com.
According to a Price-Waterhouse Coopers survey for the second half of 2011, yearly executive salaries will grow by 8.7%.
According to the survey, Salary Information Enterprise System (SEIS), conducted among a group of 102 companies, 54 national and 48 multinational operating in the country, wage increases will be 8.9% for domestic companies and 8.3% for multinationals.
Good executives are scarce in Panama, so much so that national firms are imitating the classic payment compensation methods of multinationals.
Panamanian executive’s pay has risen by 8.3%, while those in middle management went up by 7.3%, according to a salary survey conducted annually by KPMG.
An article by Minerva Bethancourth in Prensa.com quoted Ailín Castrellón, a KPMG senior staff member, who said that "Domestic companies are catching up in their compensation packages for high profile staff in the face of the constant arrival of multinationals."
According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, from January to October 2010 the average annual compensation increased 8.1%.
Of the 501 companies surveyed, 65% granted salary increases to their executives.
The largest increases were in small businesses (10.1% average), followed by large and medium with 7.6%.
Guillermo Muñoz, from PricewaterhouseCoopers, told Elperiodico.com.gt, "the survey was a good indicator that executive salaries were not affected by the economic crisis."
Salaries in the labor market have increased 5.92% relative to 2009.
The preliminary findings of a survey into Panamanian salaries carried out by Price Waterhouse Coopers indicates that the increase relative to 2008 is 14.3%.
Multinational companies recorded the largest increase relative to last year with a rise of 9.6%.
"In addition to salary increases a new market has developed for specialist salary analysis, giving rise to new job opportunities," writes Prensa.com.
Bonuses to personnel must be balanced with the company’s short and long term perspectives.
Jorge Londoño, president of Grupo Bancolombia, explained how they applied the Shareholder’s Value Added System (SVA) in this bank, in such a way to prevent short term problems or distortions when applied.
Londoño remarks that “in our philosophy, the size of bonuses does not matter.
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