In keeping with the gloomy mood of the times, the drugmaker earlier this week sent a voicemail to employees saying a 2 percent cost of living increase will be given this year to those who are meeting or exceeding performance standards.

The move is causing debate among employees, according to our sources, some of whom wonder whether the same ceiling will be applied to the bonuses and stock rewards handed to Bristol-Myers ceo Jim Cornelius and his executive team. There is griping that the drugmaker’s $7 billion pot of cash could be used to spread the wealth, and the pay hike may not cover any increase in benefit costs.

Of course, the drugmaker may argue 2 percent is better than nothing, given the economy and plans to cut expenses by $2.5 billion by 2012 through job cuts (back story) and other maneuvers such as relinquishing jets.

A Bristol-Myers spokesman declined to comment. Most likely, cfo Jean-Marc Huet will attempt to pay for the increases by delaying payments to vendors, as he outlined yesterday in a presentation at the Credit Suisse Healthcare conference.