How do you react if you only got a $.30 cent raise for the year?

Question

I am an applications support analyst making 14.15 per hour. Started a year and a half ago after graduating with a BA in Business Admin concentrating in Mgt information systems. Review was meeting expectation but only got a raise of $0.30!!this year.

When I asked why so less I was told that they started me at a pretty high rate and is unable to give me a large raise because the people who have been working here for 8 years only make about $1-2 more than me.

Obviously I am pretty upset about this and I feel that my hard work and ability has not paid off throughout the year and will be actively seeking for new employment with another firm. There is also no oppurtunities to move up. They said they do tuition reimbursement but when I asked about doing my MBA the program will not apply for MBA candidates. They only pay for BA's and there is a limit of $3500/year is reimbursement.

We did not get anything for xmas, no bonus at all. Just a $25 gift card from the dpt vp ouf of his pocket!

Exactly! Thank you. I felt as if it was an insult to my ability. I have done so much, learnt so much in a short period of time and have been taking more work load than anyone else so that I can learn more and prove myself and I got a louse .30/hour. I'm dissapointed even at the response I got as to why its so low.

Yes, I never bring emotions out at work and I am trying to put together evidence of my good work by printing complimentary emails from my managers, accomplishments, work loads etc etc.

I am very professional and scored the highed you can on people skill and team work. I have so many managers sending praises about my patience in helping them etc to my boss.

So I will voice this out after the New Year and let it be known in a constructive manner. Talking to my boss is what I am thinking and leave it at that and look for a new job with better prospect and leave nicely. I just want them to know that no one else would be happy either so they dont repeat the same mistake.

Not to mention, the women in my group are B*TCHES to work with LOL. They stressed me and bullied me so much when I was new, I was about to burst one day but thk god I kept my cool and came back with a renewed version watching my back Allll the time.

FYI..I am happy with my life and what I do. This is just to get a reaction of general people to keep my own feelings in check to make sure I am not being too demanding. I am a Great employee and deserve to be paid more than what I got.

Answer 1

Be grateful multiply .30 x 40 x 52 it's better than a fruitcake! Thats actually a high raise for making less than 31k

Answer 2

Your position here is very common. Without a major jump in job class/grade, most corporates will give you a raise of 2 to 7 percent a year, at best.

When I worked in banking, I was told the best way to get a pay or position raise was to job-hop from bank brand to bank brand and get a better starting rate and position, each time.

The big problem is when we start to feel like our jobs owe us something. The bigger the corporation, they more interested they are in doing things on the cheap, and live by single percentages. See consumer spending and stock values over the last few years. Five percent increase in spending, as opposed to a projected nine percent increase, and the company financiers start having conniptions, stock prices start sliding, yadda yadda, so you can't really expect any better.

Since you are already looking for other employment, DO NOT start any dispute with your current employer. New employers WILL catch wind of this and you will be earmarked as a potential 'problem employee.'

Note that, during layoffs, it is always the senior employees in positions where they likely will not move to the next job class or tier that get the ax. The reason being that junior employees are already in that job, and will take a promotion and pay raise that still does not equal the senior employee's associated costs and wages. That, or whole departments get the ax, and it is left to a few folks to do what was once the job of a whole department.

Make sure your next job does MBA reimbursement, if that is one of your conditions to employment.

Remember that it is not in the company's best interest to compensate you better than some schmuck. If they can get more sweat out of someone else for less, they will.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Hi Anjabi,

Whatever you do, keep your emotions (at least in front of your employer and co-workers) in check. While you may be extremely unhappy with the outcome of this raise, reacting emotionally to it in the work environment will only cause you MORE headaches and issues.

Logically, I'm sure you know/understand that the economy is almost in the toilet at the moment so it is completely reasonable for any employer to be conservative with their financials. With that said, let's talk about next steps.

1. You need to update your resume. Why? Because. Every person should have an updated resume. You never know when you're going to need to use it.

2. Benchmark your qualifications against some salary norms that exist. Go checkout http://www.salary.com You'll be able to get an idea of if you fall into a "norm" based upon your education, experience, and responsibilities.

3. Join a professional networking group. I've included two links to places you can look through. My recommendation is that you look to join a more "business" related one than one that is tied to technology.

4. Start laying out your career roadmap/plan.

What is it that you want to do next? Did you want to get your MBA? Why? Look at your motivations behind that. Is it because you think it will get you ahead further/faster? Or are you looking to leverage it for knowledge that you don't already have? The reason I ask is that MBA used to be the "standard" post-4 year degree for people to pursue. Now, the world is diversifying a bit and degrees like Informatics (see link below), are being embraced by employers as that next generation of "must have".

Answer 4

A $25 gift card is a whole lot more than "we did not get anything for xmas." You sound very ungrateful and oblivious to how much you really have. What you have is a higher rate of pay that last year. You have a gift card. You have a family, a job and an education.

If you are unhappy with any or all of those, do not whine and moan - go get another job. If there are no other jobs that pay as well or better then perhaps your major was ill advised from the start. And if the current job seems to be your only option at the moment, consider where you will be if that company decides to move operations to India where people make far less than what you are making.

The tuition reimbusement issue was your fault for not researching the facts before expecting to be reimbursed. After all, did you get your MBA because you thought it would be free after the fact or because you were trying to better yourself? Be honest here. Be happy with what you have until you find another position in another company.

Answer 5

You have your bachelor's degree and you're making only $14 something per hour? I wouldn't worry about your raise...I'd worry more about finding a job that pays you what you're worth! Either that or continuing your education and finding a more lucrative career.

Your employer sounds like a cheapskate to me. Have you ever thought about working for a different type of company? Or maybe moving to a larger city where the job market is better than where you currently live? I'm salaried, so I don't know what my actual hourly raise was. All I know is that I got a 4% raise and I'm happy with it. I also received $2,500 into my 401K and a $1,600 cash bonus. I think you need to find a different job.

Answer 6

"people who have been working here for 8 years only make about $1-2 more than me."

Well I would start looking for another job because your eight year outlook is terrible.

I went from $5.75 to $21.30 in a little over 5 years with no degree. In that time I had 17 jobs.

Answer 7

omg. my mom is a nurse and earns more than 150,000 each year. she is 36 now and earns six figures. this is in ny. however, she was top 10 in her university. u have to work hard and find a new job so that the new employer would find u to be viable rather than a vitriolic person. if we lived like that i would get my credit card taken away. that would be sad :( She just got a 3,000 dollar raise this year. i am getting off topic but i am grateful since we started from a mouse infested apartment when i was born and now live in a house nearing a million dollars which we bought for 180,000. start investing. it does pay off despite the amount of money u make. dont let this raise bother u during the holiday season. try taking college classes on the side. many employers would pay for that. happy holidays.

Answer 8

That's pretty lame, sounds like they have a lousy budget or just pay the district manager a nice amount and screw over the underlings. I would definately look for a new job. With your background, you should be making way more than 14.15! That's about how much people make at In-n-out burger!

Answer 9

Be glad you got that. I was rated excellent on my annual review and still only of 17 cents plus a one time cash bonus of 228.00

Answer 10

Tell your supervisors that a 3% cost of living increase is standard... that would be .42, or .12 more than they gave you. As for a bonus, it is not mandatory that your employer give you anything. Consider yourself lucky.