Ask HN: Why corporate culture never increment your salary?

Out of school, I worked in consulting for 2-3 years and was in a similar situation, here is what I learned:

- The best just leave, they don't negotiate. When negotiating, management will dangle a carrot 6-9 months away at the next "annual review" or whatever. And by then you'll be just disappointed.

  > My performance review meets are only about what my manager wants next.

- Those who ask for more, get more. Some cultures don't like talking about money. But make sure it is a point on YOUR agenda, so before the meeting ends,say something "Hey I had some points I wanted to talk about with you".

- Only make an ultimatum if you're willing to follow-up on it. When asking for a raise, make a case as you did here: "demands increased ten folds", "clients are happy" etc.. but be prepared for a bullshit response or an insulting 1% raise. Have a fallback plan and start interviewing.

People will say that you must confront your manager and demand fair compensation. That's true, but if anybody was paying attention to your work and your worth, if they actually cared about you as a person, they would have given you a raise already before you started feeling this way. They're ripping you off, and that's business as usual. Yes, being exploited is disappointing - you have to demand what you're worth, or seek better company elsewhere.

Where I live, there is a mandatory yearly wage negotiation, I've heard that Canada is a first tier country and assume it has one as well.

I'd most certainly take it up at that conversation, and argue as you do here, that you've felt a significant increase in workload (and the responsibility that entails?) and suggest that you be compensated for this.

Some insights by N.N. Taleb here: https://medium.com/incerto/how-to-legally-own-another-person...

I think this is actually pretty unusual. My experience with current and past jobs is that I'm given raises without asking. There should also be some sort of career track on offer at most places; getting to the next level usually comes with a compensation increase.

The ruthless capitalist suggests that you should interview at other places on a regular basis, to kind of get another "bid" on your skills. Over a decade ago I worked at an investment bank and this was pretty much the only way to get raises. Entire teams would leave one bank, do the same project at another, then come back a few years later. You'd probably get a pretty big raise with each hop, as well.

This is not for everyone, though. It's time consuming and probably annoying for the people interviewing you if you don't actually choose to jump. My suggestion is to speak with your manager; the value of the dollar has fallen by almost 20% over the last few years. Has the value of your work fallen by the same amount? If not, your compensation should be adjusted.