Despite a sluggish economy, persistently high unemployment, and pressure on corporate budgets, internal auditors are getting raises.

The Institute of Internal Auditors says its 2011 Internal Audit Compensation Study reveals that more than 90 percent of internal auditors at nearly three-fourths of organizations surveyed received a base-pay raise in the past 12 months, and many expect to give all audit staff a raise in the coming months. The survey provides data on more than 1,800 internal audit professionals at 230 organizations in the United States and Canada. The IIA conducted the survey, its third annual installment, to sell as a compensation benchmarking tool for human resources purposes.

Among U.S. organizations, 71 percent said that 90 percent or more of auditors in their organizations received increases in base pay. That's a big increase, IIA says, over levels seen in 2009 (54 percent of organizations reporting raises for most of the audit staff) and 2010 (47 percent). In Canada, 77 percent of organizations reported raises for 90 percent of the audit staff. The median increase for auditor raises in all organizations in the survey rose to 3 percent in 2011 from 2.5 percent in 2010.

A separate IIA survey suggests internal audit staffing levels are steady and rising in most corporate audit departments. A poll of 351 chief audit executives in North America revealed audit staff levels have remained the same since 2010 for about three-fourths of those executives, and one-fourth expect to increase staffing in the coming months.

IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers said in a statement that news of pay raises for internal auditors is reassuring. “It is an indication that boards and executive leadership recognize the need to appropriately value their key internal audit talent,” he said in a statement. Raises coupled with stable or growing staff levels suggests management and boards of directors want a strong internal audit function to drive strong governance, risk management, and control, he said.

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