[patio11]

They almost certainly won't fire you for asking for a raise. Like you said yourself, your replacement would certainly be more expensive, and they'll lose at least 3 months of productivity even if the replacement is adequate.

I'd start looking for other jobs and, in parallel, tell the boss that you value the lack of the commute quite highly and that if they want you to commute you'll be happy to consider their offer for what is essentially a new job. If they suggest "Your current salary" you say "Hah, good one. No seriously, what is your offer, knowing how valuable of an employee I am and how difficult I would be to replace?"

More generally: most engineers who feel they are getting screwed are indeed getting screwed. (And many engineers who feel adequately compensated are in fact getting screwed but have psychological issues and asymmetric information which makes this less than obvious.) People will NOT fix this for you. You have to take responsibility for your own career.

P.S. Ducking meetings with you is a negotiating tactic! And it is working! You have to summon a modicum of intestinal fortitude and say "Boss, the fact of the upcoming move means my salary is going to get renegotiated. You get to pick whether that renegotiation happens in your office or not."

[gkoberger]

Patrick (the commenter I'm replying to) happens to have written the best article you'll ever read on the topic:

http://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/

It really helps put things into perspective.

[toomuchtodo]

My brother recently tried Patrick's advice interviewing for a sysadmin position at a small family business in the Chicago suburbs. When he attempted to negotiate after they indicated they were offering him employment, his offer was rescinded and they thanked him for his time.

This part of Patrick's article is still great advice in that regard:

"This means you need what political scientists call a commitment strategy: you always, as a matter of policy, negotiate all offers. (In this wide world I’m sure you can find a company who still makes exploding offers, where you get one yay-or-nay and then the offer is gone. You have a simple recourse to them: refuse them and deal with people who are willing to be professionals. You’re not a peasant. Don’t act like one.)"

This I find to be a sticking point, and never forget: "You’re not a peasant. Don’t act like one."

[ryanSrich]

Sounds like a win for your brother in my opinion. That company was probably an awful place to work.

[toomuchtodo]

That was our consensus as well.

[Mandatum]

To be fair from a managers perspective this would act as a good filter, those who are willing to demand negotiation over those who aren't are more likely to want everything they can get in the current market (which is perfectly reasonable). You're more likely to get those who are inexperienced in the job market, or those who are so insecure/timid about their professional lives that they are willing to take what they can get.

Which is great for an employer who doesn't care about his/her workers/

[patrickdavey]

Yip, excellent article... I pointed a friend to this while giving him a pep-talk on how much he knew and how much he was worth. Went up ~15-20K from his old position...

[patio11]

Thanks, that made my day.

[minusthebrandon]

The move has already happened, just now the new manager wants me to come in more.

You hear about things like "negotiation tactics" but I've never experienced this, so it's hard to recognize.

Thanks for the advice.