The Institute's pay decision guidelines emphasize continued development and expansion of skills, knowledge, performance, and the ability to be flexible. Our goals are three-fold: 1) to compete for qualified staff in an evolving environment, 2) to pay employees equitably and fairly, and 3) to be fiscally responsible.

MIT believes that it is important to consider both internal and external factors as pay decisions are made. Internally, importance should be placed on equity in relation to others in like job/positions, as well as an individual's skills, knowledge, performance, and job/position related experience. Externally, the relevant labor market will be monitored to determine market movement, keeping in mind its effect on employees and their respective pay. The external market consists of other academic institutions and general industry employers with whom we compete for employees with relative skills and experience.

As organizations strive to operate with more flexibility and efficiency, employees are being asked to think more broadly about their roles, their responsibilities, and their careers. MIT expects that employees will strive for excellence in their job/position performance and take accountability and ownership for their careers. It is essential that employees, either in doing their current job/positions or in preparing to take on new and different responsibilities, continue to develop and expand their skills to keep pace with change and ready themselves for opportunities as they become available. It is also essential that managers and administrators provide employees with opportunities to grow and learn.

However, learning new skills or broadening those that an employee already possesses may not always result in a pay increase, even if the employee moves to another job/position in his/her same salary level or range.

Human Resources, in conjunction with department managers and administrative officers, will watch the job/position market closely. Human Resources tracks the market by participating in annual salary surveys and, wherever possible, obtaining salary information on "industry standard" positions, typically referred to as benchmark job/positions; i.e., those job/positions that are typical in higher education and other industries and are easily matched and compared to job/positions at MIT. Results of salary surveys give us the range of pay found in the market for job/positions similar to ours. On the basis of these data, Human Resources will review salary levels and ranges annually to determine whether there is a need to adjust them, and will review job/positions within specific job/position families to determine whether we are paying "at market."

Job/Position markets vary for certain job/positions, depending on the recruitment pool, whether certain skill sets are in increasing demand, or whether there is a shortage of individuals with a specific expertise. Therefore, market pay levels for specific job/positions may increase slowly or aggressively.

effective August 1, 2001