Raises?

[mr beauxjangles]

I have received a raise four times throughout the recession, but I work for an economic development consulting group; in many ways we are counter-cyclical. Our clients need and want our advice when the economy is in the crapper. We've had three of the four best years in our company's 11 year history from 2008 - 2010 year-to-date.

My girlfriend works for a relatively large and prominent architectre fim. She has been there two and half years and hasn't received a raise. Company-wide hiring and salary freeze. They have work, and they can still afford to buy her $6,000 business class seats to go to Shanghai and Venice, but her salary is absolute crap. No raises, no bonuses.

I realize that I've been very lucky through this recession. I'm trying to constantly remind my girlfriend who is still very early in her career to just be patient and be thankful that she still has a job (with great perks like global travel) in the worst economy in generations.

[Cat]

I totally agree with that. I was lucky that although my raises were cut in half, they didn't stop. I did notice that any new people that we bring in now at a similar position as mine are being brought in at about 25% less than what I started out making 10 years ago. Many companies are starting people out at less because people are desperate and will take less.

I did recently read how things are changing though and there a lot of people on the move from one company to another in the Charlotte area because they went a couple of years without raises and decided to start job hunting. Now many companies are doing extraordinary things just to retain these people.

My husband who has always been a very loyal employee is talking about looking for another job. I was shocked. I'm sure he will have a couple of talks with the boss before he takes another job somewhere else though. He had not realized how long it had been since he had a raise til I pointed it out to him the other week. He didn't believe me so he was pretty pissed when he pulled out his check stubs and realized I was right. He remembers getting very good reviews so he just figured he got raises and that this year was his first without one. lol

[dimbee]

I got a raise and a promotion in June

[Cat]

I got a raise and a promotion in June

Awesome and congrats.

Want to use that raise to buy me some new boots for the fall??

[Jase]

2 years 4 months

[Johnny Rockets]

My husband who has always been a very loyal employee is talking about looking for another job. I was shocked. I'm sure he will have a couple of talks with the boss before he takes another job somewhere else though. He had not realized how long it had been since he had a raise til I pointed it out to him the other week. He didn't believe me so he was pretty pissed when he pulled out his check stubs and realized I was right. He remembers getting very good reviews so he just figured he got raises and that this year was his first without one. lol

That is exactly the type of people that they were talking about. Good, loyal, educated employees that never thought about leaving are realizing they haven't gotten a raise in 3 years and decide to start looking. They are finding better paying jobs and the companies that haven't been giving raises are losing people they can't afford to lose. It takes a lot of time and money to replace someone like that so they are doing all they can to "stop the bleeding". Best of luck to him.

[Darth Biscuit]

We had company wide pay cut that hasn't come back yet... our industry was hit hard and hasn't even started to recover yet.

[Zcustom]

My company hasn't given raises half the years I've been here citing economic concerns.

Luckily in good years they've made up for it with 7 and 10 percent raises.

My biggest worry is when are they gonna bring back our bonuses. I made almost a quarter of my salary on performance based bonuses and those disappeared a little over 2 years ago. I REALLY need those back.

I'd look for another job if I didn't know that I'm going to take over this location in 2 years when my boss moves back to the home office in Raleigh. I've been here 10 years and I don't want to waste my progress.

[The Saltman]

I gave myself a raise once...had to put that check back into the business account the next day...does that count?

[Darth Biscuit]

I gave myself a raise once...had to put that check back into the business account the next day...does that count?

I fired myself one time but then re-hired me because I was bored.

[dimbee]

Awesome and congrats.

Want to use that raise to buy me some new boots for the fall??

Possibly... what are you going to wear with them? Better yet, what will you not be wearing with them?

[LiQuiD]

Luckily my business continues to grow despite the economic situation, therefore I've continued to raise my pay accordingly. But that can all change quickly, so I'm just thankful for the rapid expansion of my customer base for now and although they're not buying a whole lot individually, as a whole my sales are at a minimum keeping pace with last year if not outpacing it a little. I'm actually making great progress in paying off equity lines used to open the business, despite all the obstacles in the way. Once construction resumes in the next couple years (hopefully), things will be very comfortable financially.

Let's just hope things don't fall off a cliff...

[thefuzz]

commission only.

I have taken a 65% reduction in earning over the last 3 years.....woo hooo.

[Crixtala]

We just had our salaries restored to what they were prior to the downturn. That is the best we can hope for.

Same here, and I already know that I'm not getting a raise with my upcoming review. Of course, the company was able to build a new, state-of-the-art building up in Springfield, MO without issue...