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asimov
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P.S. On my end, I can report I got the good old 3% this year which seems like a drop in a bucket but it adds up over the long haul.... that's what i keep telling myself at least :cool:
The article does feel a bit sensational. I also checked historical employment reports and compare them as apples to apples as possible (same school, same sector), it seems that the new MBA salary grows faster than the standard 3% CAGR. This would create the scenario, where less experienced hires getting paid at the same or more than more experienced hires with more experience. Also an interesting dynamic at work.

From my observation, the average annual raise is ~2.5-3.5% at the same role. The spread between top and average performer is minimal. There isn't much of a bump on base salary due to promotion. The bump comes in the format of higher bonus eligibility.
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From my observation, the average annual raise is ~2.5-3.5% at the same role. The spread between top and average performer is minimal. There isn't much of a bump on base salary due to promotion. The bump comes in the format of higher bonus eligibility.

The problem lies in the corporate budgeting for compensation. My department gets an automatic budget that equals about 3% of total payroll and then it is my responsibility to allocate it, so i can grant someone 5% (I believe they do limit me at 5 or 6%) but then I would have to give others a 1% or 2% raise. One year, I have over-allocated because the system let me do it but i think it got reversed somehow. Ultimately one person had to stand out quite a bit and another to suck quite a bit to warrant this raise, so it is ultimately impossible in corporate america to get a raise unless it is a promotion (even in that case, many companies have a rule that a promotion raise may not be more than 10% or 20%). Leaving the only other option - job hopping.
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The problem lies in the corporate budgeting for compensation. My department gets an automatic budget that equals about 3% of total payroll and then it is my responsibility to allocate it, so i can grant someone 5% (I believe they do limit me at 5 or 6%) but then I would have to give others a 1% or 2% raise. One year, I have over-allocated because the system let me do it but i think it got reversed somehow. Ultimately one person had to stand out quite a bit and another to suck quite a bit to warrant this raise, so it is ultimately impossible in corporate america to get a raise unless it is a promotion (even in that case, many companies have a rule that a promotion raise may not be more than 10% or 20%). Leaving the only other option - job hopping.
So much misalignment of incentives within the corporate world due to HR policy, some are so sad, you can only laugh it off. The worst may be due to difficulties in culling low performers, they get PROMOTED out of the department in order to have the employee to be someone else's problem....
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damn, I got a whole new department on my shoulders, while the person who was managing it got fired. I did not even get a raise at least to match the same salary that that person had... and I have to deal with a s..load of other stuff too... It is so unfair :)
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damn, I got a whole new department on my shoulders, while the person who was managing it got fired. I did not even get a raise at least to match the same salary that that person had... and I have to deal with a s..load of other stuff too... It is so unfair :)
The reward for good work is more work...
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damn, I got a whole new department on my shoulders, while the person who was managing it got fired. I did not even get a raise at least to match the same salary that that person had... and I have to deal with a s..load of other stuff too... It is so unfair :)
The reward for good work is more work...

haha, so true in my case...workload for that department more than tripled within a year.