NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Some employers are waiting a year to 18 months or more before granting raises as companies look for creative ways to curb salary costs in a sluggish economy, a newspaper reported Friday.

About 20 percent have delayed pay raises or are considering doing so, USA Today reported, citing a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The concept of yearly raises began in the 1950s, and non-unionized employers are not required to provide annual pay increases.

Companies most likely to defer raises include airlines, hotels, computer services firms, telecommunications companies, and some professional services firms, the paper reported. Ford Motor (F: Research, Estimates) for example delayed merit raises for nearly 50,000 salaried workers in the USA usually awarded in sprint until Aug. 1.

But even those who do get raises likely won't be getting as much as in previous years. Pay raises are at their lowest levels in nearly a decade, and projected raises for 2003 are falling below 4 percent, the paper reported.

Employers' overall budget for pay increases slipped to a projected 3.8 percent for 2003 from 4.4 percent in 2001, according to the Mercer survey of more than 1,600 organizations and 15.5 million workers.

Additionally, managers and executives averaged eight weeks of severance in the first quarter of 2002, according to outplacement firm Challenger Gray and Christmas, down from about 22 weeks in 1999.

And 40 percent of companies expected to substantially cut executive bonuses this year, the paper reported citing another survey by human resources consulting firm Towers Perrin. Ten percent are giving no bonuses at all.

However, companies are slightly more likely to use performance-based pay plans. Fewer employers will continue salary freezes in 2003 that were common this year.

Though raises are below 2001 levels, they are beating inflation.