Companies are planning to keep budgets for raises little changed next year while devoting more payroll dollars to performance-based pay, according to a survey of salary planning cited by The Wall Street Journal.

Unemployment is near 16-year lows and job openings are abundant, but companies are reluctant to grant big pay raises across the board, Ken Abosch, an Aon Hewitt executive who works on the annual survey, told the newspaper.

“Organizations are expressing reservations about the years coming and, for the first time since the recession, are signaling doubt or uncertainty about what they think their performance will look like in the coming year,” he said.

Two-thirds of the organizations will use merit pay to show workers who’s doing a good job, and who could stand to improve. Of the companies using performance-based pay, 40% will reduce or cut raises for employees who aren’t pulling their weight.

Some high performers may have to work even harder, with 15 percent of companies changing merit pay planning to set more aggressive targets for bonuses and incentive pay.

Wages in the Phoenix metro area rose more than anywhere else in the U.S. in the past year, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited by the Arizona Daily Sun.

Hourly wages grew 7.6 percent during the 12-month period ended in July, according to a release from the city of Phoenix using the latest labor numbers. The average hourly wage in Phoenix grew nearly $2 in the past year, from $24.87 to $26.75. Phoenix area workers earned slightly more than the national average wage of $26.36.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said that advanced industries have driven the wage increases.

“We’ve been laser focused on building a more innovation-driven economy that works for everyone, and we’re seeing great results,” Stanton said in a statement.

• Round of NAFTA Talks Ends Amid Resistance Over Mexico Wages
• Fed Survey: Job Seekers Willing to Accept Lower Wages