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Journal Em Emalb's Journal: I am an ungrateful bastard 14

Journal by Em Emalb

So, I got a raise today. All 2.3 glorious %.

The funny thing was, at first I was kinda insulted. I mean come on, 2% of nothing is nothing, right?

Then I got to thinking.....I have a job. A pretty (knock on wood) secure one, in a good company that gives me lots of training.

I am an ungrateful bastard.

Hopefully my public announcement of this will be punishment enough.

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I am an ungrateful bastard More

I am an ungrateful bastard

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  • Is this your annual raise (merit, cola) or whatever your company calls it ? If so, you have a right to be discontented. A lot of places hand out those kinds of raises to employees that have been "bad". Not to imply that this is the case with you. You may be working for some really stingy bastards.

    You should be grateful to have a job, but your employer should also reward a good job.

  • Raises (Score:2)

    by glh ( 14273 )
    These days a lot of companies are giving the stingy raises as it would seem.

    I recently left a company where I heard rumors about how bad the raises were going to be. I personally never got a bad one, but the way things were being managed I think I would have if I stuck around. Anyway, a good friend of mine was about 6 months late for his review/raise which is normally retroactively paid (and we only got them once a year). He ended up getting a 0% raise (first time ever!!). Pretty cruel stuff.. Needless to say he was gone within a month :) Couple that with the fact that they were hiring several new people with 100K salaries and that will make your blood boil quickly.

    Funny thing is, companies like to blame it on the economy, even though they still made more profit than last year. But what's even worse-- do they give you a bigger raise when the economy is good? NO. It's a real bummer too, because anything less than 3% isn't really even covering the cost of living. I guess you just have to take the good with the bad or move on.

    Having said all that, you have to prioritize and look at the positve stuff as well. Money isn't everything. It is definitely a good thing to have a job in this economy. Many people don't have that fortune. Unfortunately, companies realize this and will take advantage of it (hence the low raises).

  • We should normally be getting our merit increases (raise) in April but they're pushed back until July. Please everyone, go buy a new car.
  • Just to put your 2.3% into perspective, compare it with inflation. In the UK, the underlying inflation rate is currently 2.7% and the headline rate is 2.9%. No, I don't know the difference between the two, but take an average and call it 2.8%. So if you were working in the UK and were given a 2.3% pay increase, your company is effectively telling you that they value your services less this year than they did last year. Yeah, I'd be ungrateful...
  • Our "merit increases" were originally setup on a rolling bases. This year they changed it, All salaried and Non-exempt get their raises April 1st.

    "Here's a 5% raise...April Fools..you get 1%", for some reason I can see that this year. I already got my performace evaluation for the year...Outstanding. Now hopefully the powers that be will turn that big O into some cash.

    It is disheartening though. My first 2 years here I got better than 5% raises & bonuses. The last 2 have been about 5%, without the bonuses. This year I'd be happy with 5% again, but I'm not holding my breath.

    Sean D.
  • Well, it depends. Is your company going through financial troubles? Are you being forced to work on tighter budgets and possibly laying people off? Most importantly, did someone get fired to pay for your raise?

    Ok, the last one was a joke, and if someone really did, that's truly depressing.

    If, in serious examination, you think your company could have afforded a larger raise, and you believe you deserve a larger raise, then it isn't necessarily being ungrateful. The fact that you consider the ungratefulness means you are at least somewhat grateful. It merely makes you disgruntled. :)

    The entire office staff at my job took a 5% paycut in an effort to help the company. I'm coming up on my year, and I still hope for a raise, even in light of the troubles. Maybe I'm the ungrateful one.

  • At least you got a raise. All raises at my company got pushed back 6 months to help cover the expenses of a new product that was launched recently. My last raise (tiny) was last June. I won't see another increase until next December at the earliest, which, because of my anniversary date, won't show up until January 2004.

    I'm sensing a lack of profit sharing this year as well...

    • Hear, hear.

      At least a 2% raise is some shot at keeping up with inflation.

      Where I'm working*, raises are even tighter. The vast majority of the company didn't get any raise at all this year or last year. Which means those unlucky SOB's [raises hand] are making about 5% less (thanks to inflation) than they were two years ago.

      * In the financial services industry. We can only hope that the market turns back around and the interest rates start to creep back up. Otherwise profits will be down, and cost-cutting is the only answer.
  • I've worked for 3 different companies in the last 3 years.
    Each time I received atleast a 10% increase in salary.
    I've been with my current employer 11 months and we just had our reviews last week. I received 3.8 or something like that increase. It would have been 4%, but HR said the increase had to be prorated one month. bastards.
    I'm used to seeing the big jump in pay checks, but this increase is fine with me. I like this company and hope to be here for quite a long time. Plus I doubt I can find another company that I would like to work for and can increase my pay by 10% in this market.
  • I didn't get a raise in two years! Fucking two years. Twice the same excuse: bad economic situation. I used not to need money, but living alone is not cheap.
    What insulted me most is that I heard from my brother's ex, who just came in the workforce will start in a new job and will earn more than me even though she has less education. Of course, it's a government job, so that might explain.
    Another thing that bugs me is that I'm practically penalized for not having a company car. Hey, I like nice cars...

    For what I do, I'm underpaid. As long as I don't get a raise, I'll just slack away more than ever before. I'm supposed to be their Java Guru and one of their top-tech-guys. Sure... prove it and give me some money. Damn Fujitsu Consulting [fujitsu.com].

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