A new study reveals how much the average company will be offering in terms of pay hikes (and other incentives).

The Towers Watson study, which included nearly 400 U.S. companies across a broad range of industries, found the average merit raise in 2011 will be approximately 3% (compared with 2.7% in 2010).

That represents the largest annual increase in merit raises since the financial crisis began back in 2008. Back in those days, companies averaged 3.5-4% merit raises a year, according to a recent CFOZone post.

What’s more: Companies are planning to hire, providing some much-needed relief to long-time employees, who’ve been forced to take on more responsibilities over the past few years.

Among the expected hiring trends:

• 42 percent of companies are planning to hire workers for positions that require critical skills
• 40 percent plan to add professional and technical workers, and
• 25 percent plan to hire sales professionals and hourly workers this year.

Despite all the optimistic forecasts, more than a third of companies claim they’re still having trouble when it comes to recruiting top performers, many of whom have been able to maintain their employment throughout the crisis.

Source: “Merit raises are coming back,” by Stephen Taub, CFOZone, 3/1/11.