Private Practice Firms Increase Their HR Budgets

Nearly half (49.8%) of companies overall are planning HR budget increases of less than 2% for 2007, but private-practice firms such as law and accounting firms are more likely than firms in other industries to budget increases of more than 5%, according to the annual HR Department Management and Cost Control Survey conducted by IOMA for HRfocus. Overall, 34.2% of firms are planning HR budget increases of 2% to 5% for 2007, and 16.0% are planning increases of more than 5%. Following are the 2007 planned HR budget increases by industry.

Planned HR Budget Increases for 2007, by Industry

Industry Less than 2% 2% to 5% More than 5% Private practice 43.8% 18.8% 37.5% Health care 48.4 25.8 19.4 Financial services 41.9 29.0 16.1 Services 49.0 36.7 14.3 Wholesale/Retail 28.6 57.1 14.3 Manufacturing 46.0 38.0 12.0 Transportation/Utility 22.2 33.3 11.1 Government/Nonprofit 47.1 20.6 8.8 Tech/Communications 55.6 44.4 0.0

Source: IOMA

(HRfocus, July 2006, pp. 1, 13)