A reader writes:
I’m early in my career but have been in my current organization (10,000+ employees) for over three years. I was hired in a two-person “department,” where I am an individual contributor reporting directly to the department director. Since I started in this position, my manager (George) and I have had conversations about the “unique structure” of our department and how that would provide me with freedom and flexibility to shape the scope of the role as my skills and experiences expand.
I realized within the first six months of this role that “unique structure” was code for “never getting a promotion.” There are no positions between myself and George (whereas other departments have multiple individual contributors, managers, senior managers, and directors) and I have no peers in my department. While it’s true that my role has expanded in scope over the years, my compensation hasn’t changed. Whenever I try to bring this up with George, he gives vague answers about “the budget being tight” but emphasizes how much he depends on me and how he’s glad to have me as his “right hand.”
Throughout my three years, George has alluded to possible raises and promotions that never end up happening. There was the promise to create a new supervisory position for me that fell through without any further explanation. When we finally hired a new member of our department, George started a months-long unexpected leave a week after the new hire started. I covered many of George’s essential duties during his leave while also training and supervising the new hire, although that was never formally recognized. When that new hire left within her first year because she was being underpaid, I became the formal supervisor of her replacement with no change to my title nor compensation. I accepted each of these supervisory opportunities (in addition to the increasing scope of my other projects) with an optimism that I would be rewarded eventually, but my boss kept coming back to the same excuses whenever I mentioned I felt I deserved a compensation increase.
In an effort to not sound greedy, I would phrase these compensation discussions as “looking for formal growth opportunities,” but I did once flat-out ask for a raise once George returned from leave. He initially denied my request, citing the apparent “tight budget,” but emphasized that everyone with whom I worked gave me glowing reviews of my coverage of his work. A few days later, he claimed he “hassled HR” and they “reluctantly” let him give me a one-year retention bonus that amounted to about 5% of my gross salary. I was to receive the lump sum immediately but would be required to pay the organization back if I were to leave the role within the year. This felt insulting. I accepted the bonus and started looking for a new job, figuring I could negotiate the bonus repayment into a new salary once I got an offer with a salary increase.
I have gone through a couple sprints of aggressively applying to jobs over the past year but nothing has panned out. Now, a few months after the year-long retention period, I’m still working here and feel like I’m being exploited.
My first question: am I actually being exploited? It’s easy to feel that way since I’m young and naïve about how these things work, but every seasoned professional I’ve talked to insists that continuing to go above and beyond will pay off in the end, even if it hasn’t just yet. I am less inclined to believe that that’s true now in the same way it was when my parents were young professionals; it feels like I just keep meeting increasingly challenging expectations and given the same excuses.
My second question: what leverage do I have to demand a raise? I don’t have a job offer to use as negotiation with my current employer, nor do I have an income source should I decide to leave this job out of principle. I know making an empty threat to leave the company will destroy any future bargaining power I might have, but I’ve also been job hunting for over a year with no luck. I don’t want to be financially stagnant until I can find a new position if I don’t have to be.
Is this worth having any sort of conversation with my boss right now, and what should my ask be? Or should I just be grateful to have a job when so many knowledge workers are unemployed right now?
Yes, I think you’re being exploited. You’ve been working for three years with no raise (just one paltry “retention bonus” that isn’t even actually a raise), despite your responsibilities increasing significantly, including new managerial responsibilities. Your boss calls you his “right hand” but isn’t willing to back that up with money. He’s promised promotions and raises that have never materialized. At this point, you’re being paid less in real money than when you started (because of inflation) while doing more work and having significantly increased your value.
It’s true that going above and beyond can pay off — at workplaces and with managers who recognize it that way. But once your workplace and/or manager demonstrates that they don’t respond that way, it’s in your interests to recognize that and go somewhere that will. The time to start expecting that recognition was about one year in, and the time to get very concerned that it wasn’t coming was after you started managing a whole other employee without being compensated for it. At this point, three years in, they’re just taking advantage of you.
As for what leverage you have to push for a raise … let’s find out. Any sensible manager knows that when someone asks for a raise, they risk losing that person to better opportunities if they turn them down. Your boss may be less convinced of that than we want him to be because you’ve hung around this long … but “you’ve hung around this long” can also be used to your advantage, by highlighting that you’ve been patient but that now the situation has become unsustainable.
Say this to him: “I’ve been here three years with no raise, despite my responsibilities increasing significantly during that time, including taking on a management role with no additional compensation. At this point I’m earning less in real dollars than when I started, due to inflation, but doing a lot more. You’ve alluded several times to me deserving a raise, but I haven’t had one. I’d like to stay here and continue growing, but I do need my compensation to reflect my contributions.”
He’ll reply with something about the budget being tight, to which you should respond, “My understanding of that is why I’ve waited three years, but at this point I do need my salary to reflect the work I’m doing.” Then stop talking.
You’re not making explicit threats to leave here, but if George has any sense at all, he’ll understand that he’s risking that.
If he comes back with another “retention bonus,” push back: “I’m asking for an increase to my base salary that’s commensurate with the work I’ve taken on.”
But even if they do give you a raise, you should keep job-searching. This is a place that will only compensate you fairly if you push and push and push (and even then, any raise they offer will probably be lower than what you’ve actually earned). Your underpaid coworker had the right idea when she left. And there’s a built-in ceiling on what you can do in your small department anyway.
Normally I’d recommend looking at internal transfers as one way get out from under this boss — but first I’d want to know whether under-market pay is an org-wide issue or not. (Your boss definitely wants you to believe it is … but talk to people on other teams to test that.) If it’s org-wide, you’re better off going somewhere else altogether.
Also — it is not greedy to ask for a raise that reflects your value. Please disabuse yourself of that line of thinking. It’s to your employer’s advantage for you to believe that, and it’s bullshit. We work for money, and we deserve to be paid fairly for our labor, which means increased pay as our value to an employer increases.
