[pnathan]

Managers need to evaluate the strength of the claim of the experienced person - are they really underpaid? Has the person done their homework?

I've had those conversations and they've worked out positively for me, but I've spent time building rappour with management, along with very carefully gathering data sources, cost of living shifts, and current income.

If I just rolled up and asked for money, I expect I'd be shot down, and laughed at after I left the room...

[Pfhreak]

As a software manager who has both approved and turned down raises, pnathan pretty much nails it -- you need to bring data to the table. Are you underpaid? What's your target? Why now (what work have you completed that helps me sell this upwards?)

Expect it to be a conversation, but it's a healthy conversation to have with a good manager -- we can't help meet your expectations if you do not communicate them to us!

[patagonia]

Companies rarely hesitate to pile on more work or responsibility often with zero conversion. If I can provide data and examples of work I’ve recently finished to support my request for a raise, the flip side of that is the company is already getting that value, and is happy to continue receiving that value without paying for it. It’s absurd that companies try to justify not giving out raises because the employee is not making their case. If a company gives me more work and responsibility, they have already made my case for me.

Plain and simple. It’s the asymmetry of power in the relationship that is causing all this. The power dynamic is in the employers favor and the employer exploits that. Historically. Currently. Systematically.

[Pfhreak]

> It’s absurd that companies try to justify not giving out raises because the employee is not making their case.

There's a subtle difference between this argument and what I said. I said, "If you want to make your case, then you need to bring data." not "If you want a raise, then you need to make your case."