Would you consider 4.4% a decent raise?

[GT1999]

It's not bad. I got that much in March. Then I got offered a new job paying 22% more than that but was a crap job, so I printed out the offer letter, brought it into my boss in May and he gave me 10% on top of that. 50k to 57.5k in 2 months.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: V00DOO

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
after inflation it's only like 1%.

If you can believe the Fed's core inflation of 4% which excludes food & energy. I guess it would be decent if you don't eat or drive. On the other hand, given the status of our current economy just be happy you got a raise.

This. Since your average person either gets a shat 1.5% insult raise or nothing at all, it seems pretty decent. However, the governments cooked bullshit inflation figures are about that. In reality, you likely still make less then you did last year. Again, a lot of people don't even get a raise and thats certainly not a bad one when you compare it to that.

 

[Kalvin00]

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
after inflation it's only like 1%.

LOL, are you kidding me? More like -5% after inflation, and even that might be a tad conservative.

 

[Jadow]

In the George Bush economy, yes.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: V00DOO

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
after inflation it's only like 1%.

If you can believe the Fed's core inflation of 4% which excludes food & energy. I guess it would be decent if you don't eat or drive. On the other hand, given the status of our current economy just be happy you got a raise.

This. Since your average person either gets a shat 1.5% insult raise or nothing at all, it seems pretty decent. However, the governments cooked bullshit inflation figures are about that. In reality, you likely still make less then you did last year. Again, a lot of people don't even get a raise and thats certainly not a bad one when you compare it to that.

Starting this year, I am keeping more detailed records of my expenses, so that at the end of the year I can go back and calculate my own personal rate of inflation. The government puts together a "basket of goods" that it believes represents what a typical family would buy, but it may or may not reflect your own spending habits.

This is just for my own knowledge - I suspect I will still find that I make less money next year than I did this year on a real basis.

 

[Jumpem]

Not great, but not terrible.

 

[Evadman]

That is an absolutely great raise.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: wiredspider

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Considering that both food and energy prices have gone up over 10% over the past six months, I'm going to answer "HELL No!"

I've already quit jobs that offered me better raises than that in the past, because I knew that I was worth more. If you're not keeping up with the median estimated salary for your position, you should start looking elsewhere.

So why did you take the jobs in the first place if they were underpaying....

What can I say... Some people (like me) just need to learn the hard way.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
But, a lot of expenses are fixed. Mortgage & car payment are probably a significant chunk of most people's expenses. Last I checked, my mortgage didn't go up by 4%...
Oh crap, I forgot that property taxes went up.

That's all well and good if the majority of your expenses are fixed, but for many young people, that isn't the case.

Rents are up about 20% or more in the past two years in my area. Gas is up 40% in the past year. The cost of many staple foods are up 25% or more in the past year.

To put it in perspective, my salary has increased by roughly 20% in the past two years due to promotions and raises. I have maintained my standard of living with no improvements, yet I am saving LESS now than I was when I started, because the cost of living is rapidly outpacing the increases in income.

 

[Bignate603]

In this economy many people would be happy for a change in income that's not negative.

 

[02ranger]

It always blows my mind when people are given a raise, and they want to complain about it not being enough. You're given the raise as a thank you for doing a good job, and it isn't something that your company has to do. Complaining about the size of a raise is like complaining about a Christmas gift because somebody didn't spend as much money on you as you think they should. Be grateful to get anything. I'm not saying I haven't been disappointed to get less than I was expecting, because that is human nature. But I would never complain about it. Complaining about this and bonuses really bugs me.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: 02ranger
It always blows my mind when people are given a raise, and they want to complain about it not being enough. You're given the raise as a thank you for doing a good job, and it isn't something that your company has to do. Complaining about the size of a raise is like complaining about a Christmas gift because somebody didn't spend as much money on you as you think they should. Be grateful to get anything. I'm not saying I haven't been disappointed to get less than I was expecting, because that is human nature. But I would never complain about it. Complaining about this and bonuses really bugs me.

Except that if the raise doesn't even cover the inflation of everyday household items like food, gas, energy, etc., it's not really a raise at all. A raise implies that your buying power has been increased in real terms. Also, what incentive do employees have to go above and beyond their base expectations if they know there's no hope of an actual raise, i.e. one that increases their real buying power?

I just don't think it's right that people get excited about the fact that their earning power didn't decrease in a given year. As I said in my previous post, you would think that an employee who at least meets all of their goals should be guaranteed not to lose earning power from one year to the next. Unfortunately, that seems to be the norm now, and I don't know that there's necessarily any fair solution to the problem.

 

[MiniDoom]

Originally posted by: Kalvin00

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
after inflation it's only like 1%.

LOL, are you kidding me? More like -5% after inflation, and even that might be a tad conservative.

for you maybe, not me.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: 02ranger
It always blows my mind when people are given a raise, and they want to complain about it not being enough. You're given the raise as a thank you for doing a good job, and it isn't something that your company has to do. Complaining about the size of a raise is like complaining about a Christmas gift because somebody didn't spend as much money on you as you think they should. Be grateful to get anything. I'm not saying I haven't been disappointed to get less than I was expecting, because that is human nature. But I would never complain about it. Complaining about this and bonuses really bugs me.

Except that if the raise doesn't even cover the inflation of everyday household items like food, gas, energy, etc., it's not really a raise at all. A raise implies that your buying power has been increased in real terms. Also, what incentive do employees have to go above and beyond their base expectations if they know there's no hope of an actual raise, i.e. one that increases their real buying power?

I just don't think it's right that people get excited about the fact that their earning power didn't decrease in a given year. As I said in my previous post, you would think that an employee who at least meets all of their goals should be guaranteed not to lose earning power from one year to the next. Unfortunately, that seems to be the norm now, and I don't know that there's necessarily any fair solution to the problem.

We should all ask to be paid in Euros from now on. That seems like the way to go.

 

[child of wonder]

Other employees have told me that the max raise I can ever get at my current company is 3%. Only a presidential override can get someone a 4% raise.

So unless I get a promotion in the next year then I'll look elsewhere. I like my job and the people I work with but if there's no future in it and I'll just be making less after inflation every year then I need to move on.

 

[FallenHero]

Considering my union is fighting for 4% and its an uphill battle, along with the state of the economy...yes, I would.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Yes....around here we usually get a 2% raise.

Last year it was 3%....this year 0%.

The more money you make, the more of a raise it is. I would never turn down free money.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
after inflation it's only like 1%.

Hahaha, you think inlfation is 3%. Hahaha. It is during good times. In bad times it is 7% historically. On average, inflation is 5% (if you are looking back many many years)

 

[MiniDoom]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
after inflation it's only like 1%.

Hahaha, you think inlfation is 3%. Hahaha. It is during good times. In bad times it is 7% historically. On average, inflation is 5% (if you are looking back many many years)

3.4 dumbass. math ftw. sounds about right, for me. you didn't read my post. I don't drive a car and my real estate taxes dropped a lot.

 

[nervegrind3r]

its crap, I got 5% last year, its still crap. Go buy an extra hamburger with that money.

 

[oddyager]

Originally posted by: LS21

Originally posted by: oddyager

Doesn't matter. You'd have to make staggering amounts of money regardless to feel 4.4%. Someone who makes 100K is going to see $4400 (not including taxes) but their expenses are probably higher than the person making 50K. It'll balance out in the end and a raise is a raise.

exactly. thats why we discuss in percentages. and at that - 4.4 is pretty low. not saying whether that is something people should expect or strive for, but that its low

Well you're going to have a hard time finding any company not called Goldman Sachs, especially large companies, that will dole out better percentages than 3-4% on a year per year basis. People shouldn't delude themselves into thinking anything higher is considered "normal" especially our economy being as bad as it is. Sure there are exceptions like anything.

 

[ObiDon]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
I don't think it's good, but my raise will probably be less than that since we have a capped system. Any raise is better than nothing, I guess.

yeah, ownership of our company recently changed hands and the new owners decided i was already over the cap. so, unless i change jobs within the company, i will get 0% (and they're performance-based raises) from now on. my base hours have been cut back, as well, but if there's extra time left in our budget, i'm given the opportunity to take it.
i guess at least they didn't reduce me to the cap amount and i get a fair amount of vacation time...

i've worked at places where even the part-time minimum-wage earners got an automatic 5% annual raise just for being good enough to not get fired.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: 02ranger
It always blows my mind when people are given a raise, and they want to complain about it not being enough. You're given the raise as a thank you for doing a good job, and it isn't something that your company has to do. Complaining about the size of a raise is like complaining about a Christmas gift because somebody didn't spend as much money on you as you think they should. Be grateful to get anything. I'm not saying I haven't been disappointed to get less than I was expecting, because that is human nature. But I would never complain about it. Complaining about this and bonuses really bugs me.

Did you vote "yes" in that poll last week about whether you'd quit your job if offered $2,000?

 

[Insomniator]

Maybe I'm crazy but since when are we entitled to have increased buying power every year, especially for doing the same job?

I would say inflation does not mean we have to get a raise, in fact we should all be so lucky. Reality is that buying power can decrease, and even if getting a raise only prevents that decrease, its still a raise compared to what you could have.

Also, 4.4% is very good compared to most raises I hear about. If it is 4.4% every year then it is great, as the actual raise will increase each year as your salary increases.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Insomniator
Maybe I'm crazy but since when are we entitled to have increased buying power every year, especially for doing the same job?

I would say inflation does not mean we have to get a raise, in fact we should all be so lucky. Reality is that buying power can decrease, and even if getting a raise only prevents that decrease, its still a raise compared to what you could have.

Also, 4.4% is very good compared to most raises I hear about. If it is 4.4% every year then it is great, as the actual raise will increase each year as your salary increases.

That's why a lot of companies, specifically large ones use a pay grade scale. The lower entry level jobs may be able to get a higher than 4% raise but the higher up the grade scale you go, the smaller the maximum percentage gets.