February 22, 2026
When your raise buys half a sandwich
'Peanut butter' pay raises could cost companies their top performers
Workers rage as “peanut butter” raises spread everyone thin while execs feast
TLDR: Companies are quietly moving to tiny, equal “peanut butter” raises for everyone, which experts say could push high performers to quit. Commenters fire back that managers can’t spot top talent anyway, joke about executive pay, and warn that flat raises kill motivation while living costs keep exploding.
Companies are rolling out so‑called “peanut butter” raises – tiny pay bumps spread evenly over everyone, no matter how hard they work – and experts warn it’ll drive top talent out the door. But in the comments, workers are split between “this is unfair” and “lol, as if they ever knew who the top talent was.” One user dryly notes that firms are “absolutely lousy” at even spotting high performers, so equal raises might actually hurt less than a broken merit system.
Another self-described “top talent” says they put up with peanut-butter raises for years, not because it felt fair, but because housing near work was so insanely expensive that no raise really mattered – what they wanted was bad coworkers fired, not a slightly bigger crumb. Meanwhile, a crowd-pleasing jab hits the real nerve: show us the C‑suite packages, one commenter snarks, hinting that the only people not getting spread thin are the executives.
Older workers chime in with war stories from the ’90s aerospace bust: when you were just happy if your raise covered inflation. Others say flat raises have killed motivation at their companies: why go “above and beyond” for the same 3% as the slacker next to you? The vibe: everyone agrees the system is broken – they just disagree on which part is the bigger joke.
Key Points
- •“Peanut butter” raises are defined as small, across‑the‑board pay increases that are evenly distributed among employees, regardless of performance.
- •Payscale’s report shows 48% of organizations intend to keep performance-based raises, while 9% already use across-the-board raises, 16% plan to adopt them this year, and 18% are considering them.
- •Budget constraints and pressure to cut compensation costs are key reasons companies turn to uniform raises.
- •Merit-based increases tied to performance ratings face criticism for subjectivity and potential bias, leading some organizations to view across‑the‑board raises as more equitable, especially for frontline workers.
- •Experts warn that while uniform raises may seem fair and are easier to administer, they can demotivate high performers and risk future morale and retention issues.