Senior executives are enduring pay freezes with typically only finance directors enjoying a pay rise this year, according to Watson Wyatt’s 2009 Executive Reward Survey.

While finance directors benefited from a median increase of 2.9%,  the median salary increase for chief executives and other directors (excluding finance directors) was 0%. The survey also shows that firms are budgeting for zero executive pay increases in 2010 compared with a budget for other employees of 2%.

Sue Bartlett, a senior executive reward consultant at Watson Wyatt, says: “We are witnessing a departure from the long-running trend of executives’ salaries increasing at a faster rate than those of other employees.

 “This year the median salary increase for employees below management level was higher than for executives, at 2.5%, and the increases awarded to executives and others were lower than had been budgeted in the previous year. This shows the impact of the credit crunch and recession, and the expectations for 2010 are that salaries will not catch up for the lost ground.”