“Wage increases are still low, and they are most likely to stay that way for a while,” said CUNA Senior Research Analyst Beth Soltis. “Some compensation experts think that this is the new norm.”

However, Soltis said variable pay (incentives and/or bonuses) will replace the low wage increases as a way of controlling the fixed costs of salaries and minimize risk for credit unions.

The CUNA survey found that incentives and/or bonuses continue to be a popular way to reward employees as a way to control the fixed costs of wages and benefits. Half of credit unions with $1 million or more in assets offer bonuses (after the fact monetary rewards for a job well done) to their full-time employees. About 30% of credit unions offer incentive payments (awards tied to present performance criteria) to their full-time employees.

Although credit unions with more than $1 million in assets remain cautious about increasing their fixed expenses by adding to their payrolls, about 20 percent of them planned to add full-time and/or part-time employees this year, which was similar to the percentage last year, according to the CUNA survey.

However, credit unions with larger assets are doing more hiring this year. For example, about half of credit unions with $100 million to $200 million in assets are hiring full-time employees this year and 58% of credit unions with $200 million to $500 million in assets are adding full-time employees, the survey found.