What does it say about me that I was low-key excited by the idea of free PB&J’s? Because apparently, “PEANUT BUTTER RAISES” are trending right now. (???)
According to a new report from Payscale.com, if you’re getting a raise in 2026, there’s a pretty good chance it’ll be the peanut butter kind. And no, sadly, it does not come with bread 🍞
A peanut butter raise is when a company spreads money out evenly across the staff — just like peanut butter on a slice of bread. Everybody gets a little smear… but nobody’s getting a thick scoop 😬
Meanwhile, merit-based raises — where top performers get more — are becoming less common. The reason companies give? They don’t want to look biased or like they’re playing favorites. Translation: “Thanks for all your hard work! Please enjoy this very polite amount of money.”
Now, it doesn’t mean everyone gets the exact same raise. Performance is still the biggest factor, so if you absolutely crushed it last year, you might get a chunky peanut butter raise instead of smooth 🥜😏
But here’s the number everyone’s side-eyeing…The average raise companies are planning for 2026 is 3.5% — which is basically just keeping up with the cost of living.
So yeah… not a bad year, not a great year, just a very spread-it-thin kind of year 😅
🥜💰 Would you rather have a small raise everyone gets… or no raise at all?
