It pays to look around.
The number of job switchers reporting wage gains has expanded while the number of job stayers reporting wage gains actually contracted as inflation exacts its toll, according to Thursday findings from the Pew Research Center.
Some 60% of workers saw real wage increases from April 2021 to March 2022 after switching jobs, according to Thursday findings from the Pew Research Center. That’s up from 51% of new workers who saw gains from April 2020 to March 2021.
At the same time, only 47% of people staying at their job experienced real wage gains in the same April 2021-March 2022 period, down from 54% the previous 12 months.
“Most workers who switched employers continued to experience an increase in real earnings, and amid a surge in demand for new hires, their advantage over other workers in this respect appears to be widening,” researchers Rakesh Kochhar, Kim Parker and Ruth Igielnik wrote.
“A worker may prefer their current job because they like their boss and co-workers, have good and/or better promotional prospects and also believe they have better job security. ”
Of course, there’s plenty of reasons why a person would want to stay where they are — like having a good boss, room for growth, good co-workers and, in some cases, job security.
But you can still undertake that pay raise negotiation, said Andres Lares, managing partner at the Shapiro Negotiations Institute, a consulting firm that trains on sales and negotiation skill.
Come prepared with the thought-over, practiced pitch, Lares said. That means highlighting the accomplishments already carried out, but it’s also about communicating the ways you can continue to bring added value to the company.
While Lares noted that salary is always up for negotiation, he said people should be open to other options to improve the total package.
Maybe the money ask might be harder than hoped, but other parts of a job can be negotiated too, including title, benefits, time off and various fringe benefits like expensed commuting and mobile-phone costs.
Kochhar, Parker and Igielnik suggested people are keen to improve their circumstances, as the cost of living continues to rise. “Perhaps not coincidentally, Americans cited low pay as one of the top reasons why they quit their job last year in a Pew Research Center survey conducted in February 2022,” they added.
