So who else is getting a pay cut this year?

Fun story I've shared here before, at my first job I got a 1%-2% raise every year for the first 3 years. On the third one I said, "if I don't get a better raise this year I will find another job". I got another tiny raise, found another job that was a 20% increase. My boss comes to me and said "how much more do we have to pay you to stay?".

They could have easily paid more that entire time but thought I was a sucker. I felt deeply insulted at that point and just told him it's too late. Best move I ever made.

I got a 60% raise by switching jobs this year. Although part of the reason it was such a jump is because I stayed too long at a company that had basically frozen raises for several years already and my responsibilities increased without recognition.

I thought companies weren't really looking for my skills because it was .Net heavy and I wasn't getting too many pings by recruiters. But then I flipped the switch that advertised me to recruiters and I got bombarded.

Job market is hot out there, it's not worth sticking around for a company that thinks a 1.5% raise is acceptable this year. Let them find out the hard way they need to offer a lot more money to get and keep people.

Maybe we all came out ahead. I used to commute 20 minutes in each direction, every single day. (OK, often longer when there were subway problems.) That made my 2000 hour work-year into 2166 hours of non-personal time a year. If you take your pay and you prorate your salary for 2166 hours of work to 2000 hours of work, that's a 7.7% hit. But, we only took a 6.2% hit. So maybe the whole "pandemic caused inflation, and pandemic caused remote work to be a real thing" evens out. You could look at it like a 0.9% raise. And, I think my 20 minute commute was atypical... if you were commuting 2 hours a day, you just won the lottery.

As likely many other replies have mentioned, if you want more money, you should ask for it. Or find a higher bidder. That's the market; your goal is to receive the maximum amount of money for your work, and people buying your work are incentivized to take the lowest price you'll offer them. The economy did a sneaky sneak and changed the value of the dollar, but it wasn't so sneaky that you didn't notice. So, do something about it!

Half of my salary is in RSUs which are pumped up in value thanks to J.Powell and Co. Sure my base salary raise sucked but I can't complain too much. I don't know why blue collar folks aren't rioting in the streets though. The Fed is absolutely screwing them in favor of the asset owning 1%(who, arguably, have a gun pointed at the economy's head and have to be placated somewhat).

My only complaint is that I have a large cash pile because I was, prior to massive asset inflation, looking to buy a house. The fed is taking money out of one account and putting it into another as far as I'm concerned.

I got a 45% raise by being offered a new job and my employer matched it. The market is hot, look around you.

Over here in Belgium we're one of the few countries that have an automatic salary indexation process. So my salary goes up about 3,5% on the first of January to match inflation. Previous indexation adjustment was about 1% a year ago. It's a double edged sword however: the pay rise is welcome, but because of this mechanism labour is more expensive here than in neighboring countries, resulting in a competitive handicap.

Leave & get yourself a 20%+ raise. You're not "given" a pay cut, you accept one by your own choice and actions.

This has been the reality in countries like Argentina for literal decades. It's created a ridiculous disparity since wages are shrinking so fast, and many people don't realize it, that there's desperate attempts to freeze the price of essential goods just so people can afford them. Conversely, tourists have never had better exchange rates. You can have an extremely fine meal for two at a very fine restaurant for $10-$20 bucks. Subway/bus trips cost about $0.10. It leaves visitors dumbfounded.

It's a good case study to find out what things are going to be like if left unchecked.

Ah, I've gotten very lucky with this. I (in EU) have been able to find a US company paying California wages in Europe so I've gotten a +50℅ pay rise which has been pretty life changing.

This may be a bit of a nitpick but I don't think what you said is exactly true. Inflation only covers certain expenses. It doesn't include things like mortgage or credit card payments that are for things that you bought in the past.

So certain things will be more expensive but other ones won't.

I got a 28% raise by switching jobs this year. Also added supplemental income via my own LLC and taking on occasional short contract work (time management skills are key). Overall I'll increase my income by 40% when accounting for inflation.

I took a 100K pay cut to move to a company that does work that doesn't frustrate me.

No. As everyone else is telling you, and me worthlessly adding onto the pile because it bears repeating... look around you!

I spent all of an hour updating my resume and LinkedIn, was bombarded with recruiters, and had 2 offers about 50k higher than I make now within two weeks.

Don't feel bad for leaving when times are good...they sure won't feel bad for firing you when times aren't.

No raise plus stock price down 50% after I joined.

I got a new job and they gave me an unasked $15k raise over what I asked for. I was also given RSUs that have nearly doubled in value.

I also recently bought a new house and inflation essentially knocked nearly $30k off of my lifetime payments.

I can't complain.

I live in a developing country, where 5% is the norm, and yet salaries have been mostly static except recently.

This is one of those years where I get a substantial increase in salary, but it seems like racing against time is the norm for this generation.

It used to be that everyone made it, everyone got a living wage. But in the 21st century, it looks like only 1/6 will make it, and the rest will treadmill into poverty. If you're American, it's probably not so bad, closer to 1/3.

My last employer averages 3% annual Raises including promotions. So I took a pay cut to get equity instead. The equity should grow with inflation.

It depends how comfortable you are at your current position. The grass isn't always greener so make sure jumping is worth it.

Inflation is an average. I have relatives whose costs have gone down. If you're not exposed to housing rental, your costs probably haven't risen nearly that much.

If you're working remote, try to fix your pay by moving somewhere cheaper. Regardless, you should apply to some other jobs.

Side note - I wish people didn’t use percentages in these stories. It really means almost nothing to me. If you went from X to 2X but 5X is actually market rate then are you really doing any good? I don’t think so…

I do. 3y now and no salary increase. I quit. Giving up.

Average inflation is 6.8% but you are not an average person and aren't buying the average amount of new cars, etc. So have you actually lost anything?

And I guess you aren't in an RSU-compensating industry.

We all have high points and low points in our career. Sounds like you're in a low point.

I found a book many years ago called "How High Can You Bounce?" TLDR: take advantage of a low point to set up your next high point.

Get your CV out there.