Is now the right time to ask for a raise?

It's always a good time to ask. Worse they can say is no.

Any employer who retaliates is not worth working for anyway!

The "hostage" approach rarely goes well. People tend to have a thing against hagglers, especially those who have the keys to everything. You may be irreplaceable now, and you'll likely get your raise, but asking for one in such a manner will highlight to management why that's a high priority problem.

You're likely to get a raise without asking in most companies. The bureaucratic levels system is designed as a counter to people forcing salaries beyond their ability. But like someone said, you know your team better than us.

You should be better able to judge your management and their inclinations than HN folks who don't even know which company you are talking about.

"one of the only people" implies that you are not alone with the extensive knowledge. If they fired you could they still continue? Are the management even smart enough to know how much they don't know? or how vulnerable they are?

I have had many bad experiences with managers who could consider your demands for a raise as a form of ransom. Consider @jerryu's suggestion.

I have a very simple policy. When I want money, I leave and find a new job. It's usually never the reason I look for a new job, but if the money I am making is bothering me, it means there's either problems with the people or the work.

I once wrote about this, and FWIW, a few people have found it interesting

https://stonecharioteer.com/posts/2022/two-of-three-rule.htm...

My two are: people and pay. When pay begins to feel like it sucks, it usually means I'm fed up of the people.

Dunno if I'd have the guts to say "pay me more because I'm all you have left". I do have no problem asking my manager if I'm on track for advancement, which is basically asking "will I get more money soon?" and who knows, maybe asking that will prompt them to address the freed up salaries instead of you. Everyone is going to have a different answer to this question so just do whatever feels right. If you weren't selected for layoffs you were selected to NOT be let go, so you probably won't lose your job. Or you will. Good luck hahaa

If you have inside information that grants you leverage, the time is obviously now before the leverage goes away.

Not sure if you are in tech, but if you are, the tech job market is at an interesting point right now. Cost of labor is likely going to be trending down as companies stop paying top % for engineers, FAANG stops hoarding talent, and more people enter the job market from layoffs.

If you are able to shop around for a job and get a few offers, that will put you in a better position to negotiate. Just be ok jumping to one of those offers if you don’t get the raise.

You should have a plan B. You cannot just go and say "I deserve a raise", because even if you do deserve it, your employer can still say "no". Given that scenario, what are you going to do? So, whenever it comes to "I need more money", my strategy is:

- search for another job

- be confident about 1 or 2 offers (maybe even go ahead and do a couple of interviews to be even more confident about your chances to switch jobs)

- ask for a raise as you would usually do (you don't need to mention you may switch jobs)

If you know that you deserve it, then yes. You can try tips from various resources on how to do it if it will help you (https://ivypanda.com/essays/personal-branding-and-negotiatio...).

You have nothing to lose. If you're getting your paycheck, they have money to spend. Smart employers will give you an automatic raise just based on the threat of you leaving due to the cost of getting a new hire and getting them ramped up.

If you deserve a raise the time is always right to ask. If you don't the time is never right.

Deserve is not the same as need, or want though.

I think it really depends on what size company you work in and how they're doing.

What happens if they say no?