Compensation and Benefits Managers
Business, Management and AdministrationO*NET 11-3111.00United States
Plan, direct, or coordinate compensation and benefits activities of an organization.
- Median annual earnings
- $149,243
- Projected change
- +5.7%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 22.06K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
85.7% of the workforce
Growing to 23.33K by 2035
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These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What compensation and benefits managers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Direct preparation and distribution of written and verbal information to inform employees of benefits, compensation, and personnel policies.
- Design, evaluate, and modify benefits policies to ensure that programs are current, competitive, and in compliance with legal requirements.
- Fulfill all reporting requirements of all relevant government rules and regulations, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
- Analyze compensation policies, government regulations, and prevailing wage rates to develop competitive compensation plan.
- Identify and implement benefits to increase the quality of life for employees by working with brokers and researching benefits issues.
- Manage the design and development of tools to assist employees in benefits selection, and to guide managers through compensation decisions.
- Administer, direct, and review employee benefit programs, including the integration of benefit programs following mergers and acquisitions.
- Mediate between benefits providers and employees, such as by assisting in handling employees' benefits-related questions or taking suggestions.
- Plan, direct, supervise, and coordinate work activities of subordinates and staff relating to employment, compensation, labor relations, and employee relations.
- Prepare detailed job descriptions and classification systems and define job levels and families, in partnership with other managers.
- Formulate policies, procedures and programs for recruitment, testing, placement, classification, orientation, benefits and compensation, and labor and industrial relations.
- Develop methods to improve employment policies, processes, and practices, and recommend changes to management.
- Study legislation, arbitration decisions, and collective bargaining contracts to assess industry trends.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $89,088
- 25th percentile
- $113,104
- 50th percentile
- $149,243
- 75th percentile
- $200,592
- 90th percentile
- $256,515
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $149,243 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+5.7%average or slower
202522,061 jobs
2035 projected23,326 jobs
1,265 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 85.7%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 14.3%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Field Reimbursement Managers1,689 postings
- 02Employee Benefits Account Managers1,627 postings
- 03Compensation Managers1,227 postings
- 04Benefits Managers1,211 postings
- 05Directors of Compensation843 postings
- 06Directors of Total Rewards636 postings
- 07Total Rewards Managers622 postings
- 08Directors of Benefits546 postings
- 09Pharmacy Benefit Managers537 postings
- 10Directors of Workers' Compensation377 postings
- 11Human Resources Benefits Analysts335 postings
- 12Directors of Employee Benefits332 postings
- 13Directors of Global Compensation300 postings
- 14Employee Benefits Managers298 postings
- 15Account Managers295 postings
- 16Compensation Business Partners293 postings
- 17Compensation and Benefits Managers290 postings
- 18Reimbursement Managers285 postings
- 19Access and Reimbursement Managers276 postings
- 20Benefits Account Managers276 postings
Top employers
- 01Insurance Office Of America524 postings
- 02Willis Towers Watson501 postings
- 03Sedgwick479 postings
- 04Marsh McLennan443 postings
- 05KPMG439 postings
- 06Hub International355 postings
- 07CVS Health331 postings
- 08McKesson300 postings
- 09Elevance Health284 postings
- 10Arthur J. Gallagher267 postings
- 11Otsuka America267 postings
- 12The Hartford249 postings
- 13Syneos Health244 postings
- 14GPAC228 postings
- 15W.W. Grainger222 postings
- 16GAF Materials Corporation196 postings
- 17Accenture180 postings
- 18Domino's Pizza174 postings
- 19inVentiv Health166 postings
- 20Rxbenefits158 postings
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