The White House has long said that corporate tax cuts will trickle down to American workers and pad their paychecks. Then, as if on cue, just as Congress passed a bill to enact them, a handful of companies announced employee bonuses they said were proof of that.

But those one-time bumps, whatever really precipitated them, don’t mean higher wages are around the corner. Even the White House said it could take eight years for the cuts to boost wages much. And for now, employers are in no hurry to raise them.

For the past five years straight, employers have reported giving 3 percent raises to most workers—even as the economy has improved, the labor market has tightened, and unemployment has fallen. Only stellar performers get bigger bumps.