The average promotion raise and promotion rate in 2026

How much of a pay rise should come with a promotion? And how many of your employees should you expect to promote each year?

Career progression is one of the biggest levers companies have for retention right now – 54% of companies say they're leaning on career development to keep their people next year, and 35% say a lack of career progression was the reason for losing the employees they didn't want to lose (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

Promotion rates reveal whether your company is delivering on career advancement expectations and, when benchmarked against your industry peers, tells you if you're creating enough growth opportunities to retain your top talent.

So, let’s take a look at the latest promotion data from Ravio's 2027 Compensation Trends report – exploring typical promotion raises and promotion rates, as well as how they vary across locations, functions, and company stages.

What is the average promotion raise in 2026?

The average promotion raise in 2026 is 21.8% (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

This is the median pay bump employees receive when promoted to a more senior role – a substantially larger increase than typical in-role salary adjustments to bring an employee's pay in line with their new level of seniority and increased responsibilities.

That's slightly higher than 21.2% in 2025 and 20.6% in 2024 – and roughly five times the typical in-role pay rise of 4.2%.

How does the average promotion raise vary across Europe?

The average promotion raise in 2026 ranges from 20.1% in Spain to 31.2% in France (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

France is the clear outlier this year. Its median promotion raise jumped from 21.4% to 31.2% – by far the largest promotion-based increase of any market.

Everywhere else, promotion raises sit in a tight 20-23% range, which is a good guide to what's "normal" for a promotion in European tech.

What is the average promotion raise in the UK?

In the UK, the average promotion raise in 2026 is 21.4%, slightly below the European median of 21.8% (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

How does the average promotion raise vary by job function and company stage?

Promotion raises are broadly similar across job functions, with most between 20% and 23%.

Operations (24.0%) and Commercial (22.7%) employees received the biggest promotion raises in 2026 (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

By funding stage, late-stage startups increased promotion raises the most this year, to 23.3% – while early-stage companies have held steady at 20.0% for three years running.

What is the average promotion rate in 2026?

The average promotion rate in 2026 is 2.7% (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

This represents the percentage of employees who received a promotion in the past 12 months (to Q3 2026) – where ‘promotion’ is defined as a pay increase of more than 15%, the minimum raise typically associated with advancing to a more senior role.

That's up from 2.4% in both 2025 and 2024 – a modest increase in the number of employees getting promoted, after two flat years.

How does the promotion rate vary across Europe?

Promotion rates range from 1.6% in France to 3.6% in the UK (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

Germany saw the biggest change, with its promotion rate more than doubling from a low base of 1.0% to 2.1%. Spain is the only market where promotion rates fell, for the second year running.

Put promotion rates and promotion raises side by side, and two different approaches emerge.

The UK promotes most often (3.6% of employees) with a promotion raise below the European median (21.4%). France is the opposite: the lowest promotion rate (1.6%), but by far the biggest raise (31.2%). Some markets promote more often with modest increases, while others promote less often but with bigger changes in base pay.

How does the promotion rate vary by job function and company stage?

People (3.1%) and Product (2.9%) teams had the highest promotion rates in 2026, while Operations had the lowest at 1.7% (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

By funding stage, late-stage companies saw the sharpest rise in promotion rates (from 1.8% to 2.7%), reversing a decline the year before.

Combined with their bigger promotion raises, late-stage promotions are both more frequent and more generous than last year – improved career progression being naturally associated with larger organisations with more roles and levels.

How many employees will be promoted next year?

In Ravio's survey of People and Reward Leaders (September 2026), 40% expect to promote 6-10% of their workforce at the next cycle, and 35% expect to promote 1-5% of their team.

That's well above the 2.7% promotion rate in Ravio's dataset – which may be partly because many companies count level changes that come with a raise below 15% as promotions, which Ravio's definition excludes. If you're benchmarking your own promotion rate, it's worth checking which definition you're using to ensure an accurate comparison.

Nearly half of companies (49%) aren't changing their approach to promotions this year.

Where they are, it's mostly about investing in career development (28%) and tightening who qualifies (27%) – very few are changing the size of promotion raises.

How do companies decide promotion raises?

Most companies don't have a fully structured approach to promotion raises – 78% decide case by case, though it may be that this (at least partly) reflects a structure which then flexes based on specific circumstances per employee.

Where there is a defined approach, the most common (13%) is to move everyone promoted to the bottom of the next salary band (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

Each approach to deciding promotion increase amounts has its trade-offs.

Amanda Moore, Senior Director of Reward, Performance & Analytics at Beyond ONE, warns against relying on band minimums alone.

"Moving everyone promoted to the bottom of the new band sounds neat, but it can mean a strong performer only gets a 5% bump while their peers doing the same job are paid 15-20% more," she says.

"It shouldn’t be the only way you consider doing it."

At Storyblok, Paula Aragon, Senior Total Rewards Specialist, works from a structured range with room for judgement.

"There should be an overall approach for promotion increases. We work from a set range depending on the type of promotion, with guardrails like a minimum comp-ratio in the new band and calibration to protect pay equity," she says.

"But every person comes from a different starting point and context, so on top of that range managers can decide to be more aggressive for a specific case. It's not pure improvisation, but it's not rigid either."

Putting it into practice: advice from Reward Leaders on promotions

Benchmarks tell you what's typical. Building a promotion process that's fair, consistent, and affordable is a separate job.

Here's what Reward Leaders we've worked with recommend:

• Base promotion decisions on a clearly defined levelling and career progression framework. Promotions should be justified against defined expectations for each level – scope, impact, autonomy, and expertise – not subjective opinion. If you don't have one yet, start with our guide to building a job levelling framework.
• Decide deliberately whether promotions belong in your pay review, or in a separate process. When promotions are bundled into the , they can start to feel like an automatic reward for high performers – and managers push to promote whole teams. Delivery Hero now runs promotions as a separate process, requiring both individual readiness and organisational readiness (the business actually needs that role at a higher level). "We wanted to make sure that the merit cycle is a merit cycle," says Saime Kütüklü, Director of Central Total Rewards at Delivery Hero, "and that promotions are in alignment with our business plan and organisation structure." More in our guide to decoupling promotions from compensation reviews.
• Check the gaps between your salary bands. Your band structure determines what a promotion raise can be. "Once you have the structure in place, make sure to also review the differential between each band and make adjustments to ensure fair promotion increases between each job level," advises Matt McFarlane, Director at FNDN. You don’t want bands so narrow or an approach so rigid, that high performing employees or those who have progressed well in their existing job level are left with only a small pay rise at promotion.
• Set a range with guardrails, rather than a single rule. As Paula's approach shows, a set range per type of promotion, a minimum position in the new band, and room for justified exceptions avoids both pure improvisation and the "5% bump" problem of bottom-of-band rules. Delivery Hero goes further and lands newly promoted employees at the average pay for their new level, not the minimum. "Whenever we hire new people, we align their salary with the average pay for that level, so we need to do the same for internal promotions," says Saime – which also avoids the pay equity gap that opens up when external hires come in higher than people promoted internally.
• Don't make high performers wait for the cycle. If someone at the top of their band is already operating at the next level, promote them. Some companies, like commercetools, support promotions at any time of the year rather than only during the review period – more on this in our guide to rewarding high performers at band maximum.
• Check promotion decisions for pay equity. Promotion decisions made "by committee" can widen pay gaps if one group is systematically rated more highly – and in Ravio's data, the gender pay gap is widest at M2 (Manager) level, at 15%, right at the step into line management. Bring pay equity data into your calibration sessions and check outcomes before they're final.
• Communicate the decision well. How a promotion (or a "not yet") is explained is as important as the decision itself – see the FAQs below, and our guide to communicating compensation changes.

FAQs

What is employee promotion?

Employee promotion is when an individual advances to a more senior role within their organisation, typically involving increased responsibilities, greater impact on the business, and a corresponding salary increase.

How much should a promotion raise be?

In European tech, the median promotion raise is 21.8% (Ravio Compensation Trends 2027), and in most markets promotion raises sit between 20% and 23%. Ravio only counts increases of more than 15% as promotions, so a raise below that is unusually low for a genuine move up a level. The right raise for an individual depends on where they sit in their current band and where they land in the new one.

Is a 10% raise good for a promotion?

A 10% raise is low for a promotion in European tech, where the median is 21.8% and most promotion raises are between 20% and 23%. It can happen when someone is already paid near the top of their current band, or when a company moves everyone promoted to the bottom of the next band – but it's worth checking where the new salary sits against market rates for the new level.

How do you calculate promotion rate?

The promotion rate formula is: (Number of employees promoted / Total average headcount) × 100. This gives you the promotion rate as a percentage.

For example, if 27 employees were promoted over 12 months and your average headcount during that period was 1,000, your promotion rate would be 2.7%.

The same formula gives you your internal promotion rate. Decide upfront what counts as a promotion – Ravio counts a pay increase of more than 15%, for instance.

What is a good promotion rate for a company?

A good promotion rate depends on your industry, company stage, and organisational structure. What matters most is whether your promotion rate aligns with strategic objectives and employee expectations – too low may signal limited growth opportunities, whilst too high could indicate an overly complex organisational structure or unsustainable pay progression.

According to Ravio's 2027 Compensation Trends report, the average promotion rate in European tech is 2.7% – ranging from 1.6% in France to 3.6% in the UK, and from 1.7% in Operations to 3.1% in People teams.

How do you communicate a promotion to an employee?

Communicating a promotion effectively starts long before the actual announcement – pay and progression should be ongoing conversations throughout the year, not one-off events. When employees understand your career framework and receive regular feedback on their development, promotions feel like natural progressions rather than surprises.

When it comes time to deliver the news, some effective tactics include:

• Have the conversation 1-2-1. Direct managers should deliver promotion news in a one-on-one setting, not via email or group announcement.
• Start with the positive news, then provide context. Clearly explain the new role expectations, increased responsibilities, and salary increase.
• Use your levelling framework to explain the decision. Show how their promotion aligns with your company's career progression criteria for fairness and consistency.
• Connect the promotion to their performance and growth. Reference specific achievements and how they've already been operating at the next level.
• Outline what success looks like at their new level. Help them understand how expectations will shift in their new role.
• Follow up in writing. Provide formal confirmation including new job title, salary, effective date, and any other relevant details.

How do you justify a promotion for your employee?

Justifying a promotion should be based on your company's job levelling framework and career progression criteria, not subjective opinion. Document evidence that the employee is already operating at the next level: their scope of responsibilities, business impact, level of autonomy, and technical expertise, and then compare their performance against the competencies defined for the target level.

What to do when an employee leaves after not getting a promotion?

Conduct an exit interview to understand their perspective and whether the decision could have been communicated better. Review whether your promotion criteria are clearly communicated to all employees, whether the employee received adequate feedback on what they needed to demonstrate for promotion, and whether your promotion rates are competitive with the market. If this becomes a pattern, it may signal a need to review your organisational structure, career framework, or promotion budget.

What to do when an employee refuses a promotion?

First, understand their reasons through an open conversation – they may be content in their current role, concerned about work-life balance, or worried about managing people. Sometimes managers weren't involved in the promotion decision, or didn't understand the employee's career goals. Respect their decision and discuss alternative growth opportunities that align with their preferences, such as expanding expertise, taking on strategic projects, or increasing compensation within their current level. Not everyone wants to climb the traditional career ladder.