Despite the perceived gap in pay, employees listed several non-compensatory factors as reasons they remain at small businesses, including work/life balance (46.2 percent), commute (38.1 percent), loyalty (34.8 percent), their boss (31.4 percent) and relationships with co-workers (29.5 percent). Benefits and opportunities for advancement—in addition to pay—were cited as the advantages of working for large companies.

"While smaller companies may not have the financial resources of their larger counterparts, our research indicates that there are a number of non-compensatory factors through which small companies can compete for talent," said Chris Fusco, vice president of compensation and data operations with Salary.com. "Work/life balance, simpler hierarchies leading to fewer political battles and strong bonds between employer and employee are all important factors in attracting and retaining qualified employees."

"Our compensation data validates that small companies do typically pay less than larger ones," states Jeffrey Blue, director of marketing for Salary.com. "What’s important for small company owners and executives to stress in their recruiting efforts are the numerous advantages of working for a small company. This survey indicates that those advantages have meaningful value to employees."

The survey also revealed that employees' perception of advancement opportunities at large companies may be greater than actually exist. Of the respondents who have only worked for small companies, 75 percent believe they would have greater opportunities for advancement at a large company. However, only 45 percent of those who have worked for both small and large companies felt that their opportunities for advancement were in fact greater at the larger company.

Other Key Survey Findings

• Benefits – Survey results show that large companies offer more attractive benefit packages to their employees. Of respondents who have worked for small and large companies, 72 percent stated that their benefits were better with the large company.
• Other Attributes – Survey respondents claim that small businesses come out on top when it comes to most non-compensatory factors. Of respondents who had previously worked for a large company:
  • Politics: 62 percent thought politics were a more common negative influence at larger companies.
  • Loyalty: 55 percent said that loyalty was less prevalent at larger companies, while only 18 percent claimed it was more prevalent.
  • Culture: 42 percent felt that the company culture was worse at large companies compared to only 28 percent who thought it was better.

About the 2007 Working for a Small Business Survey

Salary.com surveyed 474 total employees representing both small and large companies across the United States. Of the respondents, 65 percent worked for companies with less than 200 employees and 75 percent worked for companies with fewer than 500 employees. In addition, 75 percent of the respondents had worked for a large company (defined as greater than 500 employees) at some point in their career. Prospective participants received an email containing the questionnaire and submitted their responses electronically. Salary.com compensation professionals reviewed the data for consistency and accuracy and excluded data that appeared to be invalid.

Learn about Salary.com Small Business Solutions.

About Salary.com, Inc.
Salary.com is a leading provider of on-demand compensation management solutions helping businesses and individuals manage pay and performance. Salary.com provides companies of all sizes comprehensive on-demand software applications that are tightly integrated with its own proprietary compensation data sets, thereby automating the essential elements of the compensation management process and significantly improving the effectiveness of its client's compensation spend. For more information, visit www.salary.com.

Contact:
Jared Jost
p: (781)464-7341
press@salary.com

• Events
• Awards
• Press Release Archive
• In The News Archive