The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
QUESTION: How much of a pay raise have you received from your employer in the past five years?
Talk about it….
Typically 3 to 4% annually
I’m retired, but when I was working, everybody got a raise at least once a year. One time I asked for more than the usual raise, and they gave it to me. If a person adheres to good work ethics, and have a good boss, they should be able to ask for more money. I was fortunate, I had a good boss, and I worked for a generous family owned medical clinic.
In the early nineties, I was hired by a Home Care Agency in Palo Alto, as a receptionist and all around office person, one owner and 2 office personal, of which I was one. However, after a few months the agency grew, and my boss would ask me to staff cases, (meaning calling home health aides and ask if they could work) I also started to deal with discharge planners and nurses at Stanford and other medical personal. After a few months of that I asked the owner if she could pay me more since my responsibilities had increased, she agreed right away, and gave me the title of Staffing Coordinated, and had business cards printed up for me. The agency continued to grow and I got several raises. After 5 years I left and got my insurance license and started to sell Long Term Care Insurance. The owner and I stayed in touch, and when I worked at Macy’s in Palo Alto, she often came in and bought stuff and we chatted. She had no problem paying me more, however if I hadn’t asked not sure when I would have gotten the raise. She was very busy, and although a very intelligent and accomplished women, she was a little scattered, and didn’t always think of things.
Yes, . . . couple of times
Employer had an “O”-krap awakening after the trickle of skilled crafts persons leaving for better benefit and pay jobs became a Lahar.
Finding persons with skill set to work with combinations of modern and legacy industrial process controls ain’t that easy.
‘Dirty Jobs’ Star Mike Rowe: Want to Make Six Figures?
https://money.com/mike-rowe-interview-skills-gap/
The Talent Gap: Finding Skilled Workers Isn’t Easy
https://tinyurl.com/wjza6asv
Myself,…not employed for awhile,…Domestic Engineer is my title/thing now.
But Hubby has received pay raises for 4 out 5 years of about 3%.
Last year of 2020 was a no go. He was laid off for 4 months and then rehired all do to Covid-19. Over 45 laid off, 5 rehired, and he was the first to be asked to come back. Thank God, he gets to retire Sept. 2022.
I get a raise every year, even during the pandemic. It’s not automatic, it’s based on merit. Being employed “at will” keeps you on your toes. If for some reason I didn’t get a raise, I wouldn’t blame my employer. I’d blame myself for not earning it. I’m very comfortable with my earnings.
Yes, when Trump was president and things were booming, our employer did give us all raises. First time in years we finally began to get ahead.
Things*were*better*with*Trump!
Things were good under Trump because he inherited an amazing economy from Obama. It took a few years, but Trump destroyed it and now Biden has to fix it.
Under Obama, the economy averaged 2% annual growth. During his final year the growth was 1.6%, not exactly amazing.
His $800B stimulus left unemployment unchanged. The shale oil & gas revolution was the only reason his jobs numbers where strong, despite his hatred of the industry. And then there was Solyndra……
Sorry, Obama was a dud.
@Bobohead,
That’s some great comedy right there. You should take that show on the road.
Annual Real GDP growth per year
2009 -2.5%
2010 2.6%
2011 1.6%
2012 2.2%
2013 1.8%
2014 2.5%
2015 3.1%
2016 1.7%
2017 2.3%
2018 3.0%
2019 2.2%
2020 -3,5%
https://tinyurl.com/akkde7c3
TFS why not stick to facts? If we ignore 2009 (financial meltdown) and 2020 (COVID) three of four strongest growth years happened under Obama including the top year in 2015. We still remember Trump claiming that he would deliver 4,5 or even 6 percent GDP growth thanks to the tax cuts. BTW the pre COVID expectation for 2020 was around 1.8%.
OK you Trump haters, you can never be convinced. But soon you’ll see that the Biden- Harris administration – which includes 90% of the Obama people -are going to screw us all over good. If eight months of this failed administration is any sign, we’re going to be in big trouble after 4 years! Heaven help us!
I didn’t use inflation-adjusted numbers. Real inflation numbers are generally higher during periods of low inflation which we obviously enjoyed during Obama. However his results were not especially stellar given some of the great leading indicators we had coming off the credit crisis.
Biden is raising taxes and inflation on purpose.
His stats will suck, and so will ours.
Yes, usually cost of living @ 3% or so.
No. I’m not a county supervisor.
When I was working my salary was high enough I never expected raises nor did I need them.
My hourly workers under me complained occasionally and were told if they didn’t like their entry pay which was well over industry standards to go elsewhere.
BD
If I had been working under you I have a strong feeling I would have gone elsewhere. Probably the first week.
Been retired over 5 years. Social Security “might” give a 1 percent raise this year. Not holding my breath.
Anyone counting on living off their social security in retirement didn’t plan very well during their working career.
I’ll take my social security when I decide to take it but I’m certainly not going to have to depend on it to live on, pay bills, eat with or vacationing with.
@Dorothy
This has been in the news the last month or so:
Social Security beneficiaries could be in line for the biggest cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) since the 1980s due to the recent burst of inflation.
“The COLA will no doubt be higher than it has been for the last decade, probably in the 5.5 to 6 percent neighborhood because of rising prices,” says David Certner, legislative counsel and director of legislative policy for government affairs at AARP.
https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/info-2021/cola-2022-increase-forecast.html
Nope.
Average about 3% each year for the last 15+ years, exception being right after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in 2017, my company gave immediate cash bonus and raise of base salary to everybody that was under leadership levels.
I’ve gotten a raise every one of the last five years, typically 3-4 percent.
So I was told I’d only get a pay rise if my annual review went well…
… boy I went home and gave my bottom the best cleaning it had had for ages.
Concordedjet
Did you learn to like it?
.
About a $35,000 increase.
.
Really?!!,….Nice!
4% once in 4 years, and I just demanded as raise as they were not gonna give me anything, and even that 4% isnt a raise its barely cost of living for 1 year. Probably gonna have to get a new job soon as obviously they dont value me as employee anymore and the work environment is fairly toxic.
Not much more than pennies.
My raise in 2020 was between 5% and 6%; this year (2021) it was between 8%-9% plus a title change. I didn’t ask for either raise, but when I write/respond to my annual review I illustrated that I am fully competent in the job description and keep metrics on the work I produce for the company.
The best way to get a raise is to get a new job. It’s true. Most employers are only handing out 3-5% yearly, maybe tossing a little bonus your way if you are lucky. If you have been at the same job for more than 3-4 years, there is a good chance that you are earning a lot less than you probably could be. My base earnings are up 40% since 2016. and that doesn’t include a few very generous bonuses. I’m still a long way from retirement, but every year that you shortchange yourself is compounded over time. This is the same reason why its so important to max out your 401k every year and pump as much extra cash as possible into your IRAs.
@Dad,
You’re exactly right. I think a lot of people enjoy the comfort of being at a familiar place for many years, but that means they’re leaving a lot of money on the table. Move every three years, get a 15+% raise every time, and over the course of a 30 year career, you could triple your salary. Stick the increases away in your 401k and Roth accounts and you’ll retire quite well off.
Yes……I was part of the Carpenter’s Union……..got a raise every July 1st……….I’m non-Union now………dunno how it’s gonna go………..the guy I’m working for, we used to work together in the Union, so I’m gonna ask him for a raise every year cuz that’s what WE are used to.
I started to work for Macy’s in Palo Alto in 2010 part time, after about 6 months I was offered full time, which came with a raise, awhile later I was asked if I wanted to be “an expert in dresses” which came with a nice raise, all while Obama was President. In fact the employment market on the Peninsula was very tight the last 2 years of Obama’s presidency, everyone had signs (MacDonalds, Jiffy Lube) for help and all were paying above minimum wages.
I think if you work for a small company (see my previous post) or are an executive you can probably ask for and might be given a raise. In big corporations, especially retail, there is no such thing as an individual asking for and getting a raise I believe. I have been in the same position for years, I have gotten raises, a couple of them was because the City of Palo Alto raised their minimum wage. When I transferred from Macy’s Palo Alto to Concord, they did keep me at the same wage, which was higher than Concord, there were no guarantee that it would be the case. However, since we have returned from the lock down last year, we were given a small raise, and for awhile, because we were short staffed, we got time and a half, for every hour worked over 4 hours, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, to prevent people from calling out on busy week ends. Starting Aug. 15 and running through Jan 1, 2022, we get a few dollars extra every hour worked on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so that is a raise. Retail is not the highest paid job as most probably knows, fortunately I have other income and don’t have to rely in it solely.
…anybody have Bay Area COLA rates for say the last 25 yrs?
The State of California probably collects that data.
Ilovepopcorn gets a COLA….
OK…. I’m just gonna bite my lip & leave that alone.
the raises were .5-1%, but last year 2%
5% every March.