Women at work with small review raises should know this off-cycle pay number
If your review raise feels modest, the next hard part may be the conversation: asking how merit, promotion, equity and later pay dollars were applied.
By Maria Lee·
At 64% of organizations, workers have received off-cycle salary adjustments or may receive them in 2027, beyond planned 3% merit raises. Mercer reported the figures in its July 2026 U.S. compensation survey. But a woman who gets a small review raise still has to ask the hard question out loud: was this only merit, or were promotion, equity and later pay dollars considered too?
A small review raise may be only part of the pay picture
Mercer said employers plan average 2027 base salary merit increases of 3% and total salary increases of 4%. The total figure includes merit, promotions, cost-of-living and other adjustments, which makes the review number less simple than it can sound in a meeting.
Those planned increases are not framed as a sharp break. Mercer said they are roughly in line with actual increases employers reported in 2024, 2025 and 2026. For a worker hearing a modest raise, the practical issue is the category, not only the size.
The conversation can shrink if your voice does
The pay issue becomes a speaking issue when you have to ask a manager or HR partner to explain the decision. If your voice gets smaller, the question can come out as an apology instead of a request for facts. That is close to the everyday pattern people describe when they search for social anxiety voice change: the words are ready, but the sound does not feel confident.
Mercer also said economic uncertainty will keep shaping compensation decisions in 2027, with 57% of employers expecting at least a moderate impact. That gives the conversation a budget layer. You may hear an economy answer, a promotion answer or a timing answer before anyone explains the pay bucket.
Promotion plans are lower than in 2025
Mercer said employers expect to promote about 8% of their workforce in 2027. That is down slightly from 9% in 2026 and below 10% in 2025. Promotion money is part of the total salary-increase picture, but it reaches a smaller group than a broad merit cycle.
For women at work, that makes a better sentence than “Can I have more?” Try the category question: “Was my pay reviewed for merit only, or were promotion, cost-of-living and other adjustments considered?” Those are the categories Mercer used when describing the 4% total salary increase.
Why can the annual review feel incomplete?
The off-cycle figure explains why the annual review may feel like a partial answer. Mercer said off-cycle salary adjustments remain a regular part of compensation management, with 64% of organizations saying they have provided them or will provide them in 2027.
Mercer also reported that 70% of organizations have at least some automation in compensation, while only 1% said they have reached advanced levels of transformation. A manager may point to a system, but the decision can still require a human explanation.
Where merit budgets run higher and lower
Mercer named several industries at the high and low ends of planned 2027 merit budgets. High Tech was at 4%, while Consumer Goods was at 3%. A woman comparing her raise with a friend’s may be comparing different budget pools, not only different managers.
| Industry | Planned merit budget |
|---|---|
| High Tech | 4% |
| Banking | 4% |
| Energy | 4% |
| Insurance/Reinsurance | 4% |
| Non-Financial Services | 4% |
| Consumer Goods | 3% |
| Healthcare | 3% |
| Retail | 3% |
Industry merit-budget figures Mercer reported for 2027
What this means for you
If your review raise feels small, do not enter the conversation with only one question. Ask which bucket your increase came from: merit, promotion, cost-of-living, equity or another adjustment. Then ask whether off-cycle salary reviews happen at your organization and what would trigger one.
Write the sentence before the meeting. Keep it factual: “I’d like to understand whether my pay was reviewed only in the merit cycle, or whether promotion, equity and off-cycle adjustments were considered.” You are not trying to sound pushy. You are trying to make the pay process speak plainly.
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