Salary and hiring freezes will begin to thaw this winter.
Over the next six months, about half of the companies that froze salaries and hiring in the past year now plan to unfreeze them, according to a recent survey from Watson Wyatt.
An increasing number of employers are also planning to reverse reductions to 401(k) match contributions - the percentage that are reversing has increased to 35 percent, from 24 percent two months ago and only 5 percent in June, the survey found.
Summertime figures were bleak when only 17 percent of employers reported they were unlocking salaries, and only 38 percent were reversing hiring freezes.
Overall, 56 percent of companies have instituted a salary freeze and a hiring freeze since the economic crisis began, and 25 percent have reduced their employer match.
