Friends,

I’m writing this sat in Gatwick airport on my way back from London after a whirlwind 48 hours across the pond to join DreamTeam for their ‘People with a view’ event.

And what a view it was. Not just of London city, but of a room full of some of the most incredible and progressive People professionals in the UK.

It never ceases to amaze me that, in what amounts to a domestic flight in Australia, I can go from the Tuscan region of Italy, to London. For what has been a 95% European-holiday 5% ‘would I ever live here?’ trip, I gotta say, the prospect of living in Europe is compelling…

Anyway, I’ll be in Sardinia by the time this lands in your inbox, for the final leg of my trip, and mere days away from the long haul back to Australia and to the last few weeks of 2026.

I don’t often leave a holiday torn about returning home, but I’ve really enjoyed my time in Europe (suitcase living aside). So I will absolutely be making more of an effort to get back soon.

Enjoy this week’s edition ✌️

Matt

Auror, the retail crime intelligence platform, powers safer communities across thousands of retail stores and law-enforcement teams globally.

By automating onboarding, workflows, and global processes, Auror replaced spreadsheets with one connected HR system.

Auror replaced spreadsheets and manual workflows with HiBob’s configurable platform — supporting teams from Auckland to Denver with ease.

Using HiBob’s analytics, Auror measured and accelerated their diversity goals (women and non‐binary representation at 54% and counting) and turned insights into action.

Interested in sponsoring the FNDN Series? Drop me a line!

Know a startup Head of People looking for answers 🙋 why not forward this to them for some instant karma? ✨

If you’re budgeting for 2026 comp, uncertainty is everywhere. But you’re not alone. So it’s timely that my friends at Pave have critical insights to share from their real-time market data, giving you everything you need to help you navigate one of the hardest times in the HR calendar.

Enjoy.

By Alex Cwirko-Godycki, VP of Marketing and Strategy, GM of Market Data at Pave

If you're finalizing 2026 budgets right now, you're not alone—and you're probably wondering if your numbers will hold up. Will a 3% merit increase be enough? Should you differentiate more aggressively by performance? Are pay transparency regulations going to force your hand? Here's the good news: You don't have to guess.

In partnership with Alpine Rewards, Pave surveyed 243 companies on their 2026 compensation plans—and we then combined those insights with our real-time compensation data to give you a clear picture of where the market is headed.

When you know what your peers are doing, you can make decisions with confidence instead of second-guessing every number. Let's dive into some of the key findings.

HR leaders know all too well the pressure to stay competitive on compensation in order to retain top talent. But how much budget should you allocate to raises? And given economic uncertainty, are raises at risk in 2026?

The survey data shows keeping calm and carrying on is a sound approach. Among the US-based companies, the average budget planned for company-wide merit increases in 2026 is 3.6% of base payroll. Interestingly, this is flat compared to Pave's analysis from this time last year, indicating that despite macroeconomic factors, companies are maintaining a business-as-usual outlook for 2026. (For those of you in places like Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, the same Pave survey revealed plans for average merit budgets around 3.5% in these locations as well.)

For HR leaders, this consistency is useful intelligence. It means your peers aren't pulling back on merit spend (yet), despite growing economic headwinds. However, plans could definitely still change between now and when most merit cycles occur in March and April next year.

While compensation leaders might be staying the course, employees aren’t taking such a “business-as-usual” approach when it comes to their careers. Instead of taking a risk in a volatile labor market, they’re opting to stay at their jobs longer to weather potential economic uncertainty. Historical data from Pave’s real-time dataset shows that turnover has slightly slowed at private companies, but it’s even more pronounced at public companies.

This trend is referred to as "job hugging" or "The Great Stay," and it's showing signs of continuing into 2026. For HR leaders, it's worth keeping in mind that retention doesn't necessarily equate to job satisfaction or performance. Revisiting your employee engagement strategies could be key for helping to motivate more tenured employees.

Another major shift revealed by the survey data? Companies are moving forward with pay transparency faster than regulations require. Among surveyed companies, 63.7% share pay ranges on job descriptions, regardless of state requirements—and another 19.7% say they're considering adopting this approach in the next 12 months.

Of course, pay transparency is trending outside the US, too. The EU Pay Transparency Directive goes into effect in June of 2026, and other global legislation is already in place to help close the gender pay gap.

If you have global operations, don't wait until June 2026 to get ready. A good place to begin is by auditing your compensation data for gaps, ensuring you have the systems to generate required reports, and addressing any disparities before they become compliance issues. By treating pay transparency as a strategic opportunity to strengthen employee trust, you can also benefit your employer brand in the process.

These are just a few of the trends shaping 2026 planning. Pave's full report digs deeper into what your peers are doing to stay competitive. Planning with confidence means knowing your numbers hold up against the market—not just hoping they do.

If you enjoyed this post or know someone who may find it useful, please share it with them and encourage them to subscribe.

When you’re ready, here’s three ways I can help you:

1. Tools & resources
Resources and tools that give you what you need to build your own startup compensation practices.

2. Comp consulting
I run FNDN, a global comp consultancy that builds compensation practices that are clear, fair and competitive for startups.

3. Startup People Summit
I run the Startup People Summit, a one day annual event focused on creating the playbook for startup people practices. Grab recordings from past events, or subscribe to the newsletter to join the next event.