Diana Clement: Why you should ask your boss for a 10% pay rise

A 10 per cent pay rise isn't uncommon these days just for getting a new job. Photo / 123RF

OPINION:

Make hay while the sun shines. The Great Resignation means employers are struggling to fill all manner of roles. That means employees who switch jobs will typically get paid more. A 10 per cent pay rise isn't uncommon these days just for getting a new job. Nice work if you can get it.

I saw one Reddit user complaining last week that his new colleague who had no experience and not much technical knowledge was paid the same as he had been six months earlier with 10 years' experience as a development engineer. "Felt so gutted. I felt that my work has not been valued in my current company. Should I talk to my boss about another pay rise? Or should I just go somewhere else?"

Of course, there are many motivations for having jobs apart from money and if you've found your happy place then money may not be driving you. But inflation is making it hard for some people to make ends meet and anyone who doesn't get a pay rise will in effect be earning 7 per cent less than this time last year.

The thing is, you were probably underpaid previously, so asking for 7 per cent probably isn't enough. Why not 10 per cent. And when inflation calms down, employers will be spinning the narrative that there is no money to pay more, thanks to Covid, inflation or another sob story. That may of course be the case in some organisations. Most in the private sector have a big vested interest in keeping wages and salary as low as they can, however.

A case in point was a Queenstown employer complaining last week that it wasn't worth advertising for staff because no one answered his adverts. He usually relied on backpackers, who I presume he was paying minimum wage. Some of the commenters on the article pointed out that if he was offering appealing remuneration for the work he'd find employees. He'd already pointed out that customers were queuing down the street.

Not all employers are "*****" as one Reddit user put it inelegantly. "It's not always so grim. I've had two large increases in the past two years without moving jobs."

But several respondents to the Reddit question said those earning more have often shifted to better roles. One said: "I've moved every 12-24 months for the past five years and my salary is up over 220 per cent. I put in a lot of hard yards and made a name for myself, but I still wouldn't have gotten that without jumping. Feel sad for my mates who've been at the same place for five years and only gone up marginally, maybe one 10K increase with a role change."

And another said: "[A] guy I worked with moved around every couple of years. Kept in touch with him over the years and he was always at the top of pay brackets."

Thanks to the pay gap, it's even more important that women ask for pay rises. We're conditioned not to. Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission released a deep dive into women's financial capability earlier this year. Lower earnings combined with time out for maternity and family commitments meant women suffered financially in a range of ways.

"Women are disadvantaged in their ability to add to their own savings and grow their money to supplement NZ Superannuation income. This has a negative impact on women's quality of life in their later years, says Jane Wrightson, retirement commissioner.

Māori, Pasifika and other minorities are also often paid less than equivalent workers and have better than average reasons to pursue pay increases.

The big question is how to get a pay rise. You can, of course, jump ship. A quick peruse of Seek.co.nz shows a wealth of opportunities in most industries. Or if you want more money from your existing employer the advice from Careers New Zealand is:

• Don't be afraid to ask for more money.
• Work out what you're worth and why you're valuable.
• Meet to discuss your achievements and ask for more pay.
• Consider the full situation, not just the pay.
• Make it normal to talk about pay gaps.