Your Job Can Afford to Pay You More. It Just Doesn’t Want To.
Why give you a raise when they can give you free coffee, a pool table & Friday pizza parties?
Explain this to me like I’m five: inflation goes up, so landlords need to increase rent. Inflation goes up so food now costs more. Inflation goes up so now we must pay extra for insurance and transport and childcare and Netflix and books and that pair of shoes that has been sitting in your cart for 3 months waiting for Black Friday and water and electricity and internet and the process of photosynthesis and for pretty much everything under God’s freely given sun.
But if inflation is happening to everything, shouldn’t our salaries also increase to match the rising cost of living? If indeed inflation is touching everything, why hasn’t your paycheck moved up in years? And why is your job acting like your salary is under witness protection? Shouldn’t it rise too, just to keep up? Or does your paycheck have diplomatic immunity from economic reality?
Seriously, let’s break this down:
If businesses are raising their prices to offset rising costs, that means that they’re charging more for the work their employees are doing.
And if you’re charging more for my labor, doesn’t that mean I’m generating more revenue for you?
Which, logically, should mean that I deserve a cut of that increase?
No? Oh. Okay then.
Inflation isn’t the villain. It’s the excuse.
The real crooks are the companies and businesses that adjust their prices for inflation every year without hesitation, but conveniently develop a rare strain of selective amnesia when it’s time to fairly adjust their employee pay.
Because how do you understand the concept of inflation when you want to justify charging customers more, but when I ask for a raise for the same reason, suddenly it’s:
🫤 “We’d love to increase salaries, but it’s just not in the budget right now.”
(And yet, the budget has never had a problem stretching for executive bonuses, leadership retreats, and overpriced ergonomic chairs that nobody asked for.)
😬 “We have to tighten our belts as a company.”
(That’s crazy because mine is so tight from budgeting I can hear my ribs crying.)
😵💫 “We’re all feeling the effects of inflation.”
Oh, are we? Are we all feeling it? Because from where I’m standing, you’re feeling it in a new Tesla, and I’m feeling it while debating which streaming service I can survive without. You’re feeling it in Zanzibar for your AGM, and I’m feeling it eating dry Indomie at home, wondering whether I really need both kidneys.
Companies Know Exactly What They’re Doing. And They’re Betting You’ll Stay Quiet.
These guys love inflation! They raise prices because of it. They use it to justify cost-cutting, downsizing and layoffs. They discuss it in board meetings like an episode of Succession. But when it comes to using the same logic to increase wages?
Crickets. 🦗 Suddenly “we’re in a financial crisis.”
But how can you audaciously Cc, Bcc, DGAF us saying “We appreciate your hard work but unfortunately, there’s no budget for raises this year” while simultaneously announcing record-breaking profits?!
Your company isn’t broke. It is not struggling. It’s thriving! Expanding into new markets. Throwing extravagant corporate retreats. Running up profits while paying you the same salary from 2019, like a family heirloom. And then here comes Mr. “I-Built-This-All-By-Myself” CEO, making his semi-annual staff meeting appearance to give a heartfelt speech about how “our employees are our most valuable asset.”
PAY ME THEN.
If I am indeed your most valuable asset, give me a raise! Didn’t you just approve another round of record-breaking bonuses for your board members? In fact, just last month, you announced a new office expansion! And yet, you expect me, the person actually keeping the business running, to accept the same paycheck from when Obama was still in office eight years ago and just…figure it out? 🤔
And now, due to your inability to do the right thing, realistically, I have taken a pay cut! Because life is prison, and I am the innocent protagonist sharing a bunk with an inflation-loving psycho holding a shiv.
Your Job is Playing You Like A Cheap Violin
If it’s not clear enough yet, the game is rigged, and you’re not the one holding the controller. It’s basically corporate musical chairs, except the music never stops for the higher ups. They are the ones controlling the soundtrack, removing the chairs, and to no one’s surprise, always managing to stay seated. And then there’s you. Scrambling for a seat, dodging layoffs, working overtime for free to meet deadlines, using two squares of tissue to be in line with the company’s “going green” policy, and praying fervently that this is the year they finally actualize the “thirteenth month pay” they’ve been promising you for four years.
Your salary isn’t stuck because of inflation. It’s stuck because your boss knows you won’t ask for a raise, won’t quit, and won’t question why you’re expected to survive on the same paycheck for years, while the cost of everything else skyrockets.
Here’s a dirty little secret: Keeping salaries stagnant is a business strategy.
Labor is one of the biggest expenses for businesses. The more they suppress wages while increasing profits, the richer they get. Keeping salaries the same means more money for executives, shareholders, and, let’s be honest, all those unnecessary perks you will probably never qualify for.
The less they pay YOU, the more there is for THEM.
It isn’t by accident. They do it because they can. It is intentional.
They choose to keep salaries low because they know people are desperate. They stall raises because they know most employees won’t push back. They make you feel grateful to have a job, so you don’t question why your salary has the same energy as that dusty Nokia 3310 sitting in your mum’s drawer.
They want you to believe that a raise is a luxury, not a basic, necessary adjustment to survive. And the wildest part?
They ALWAYS get away with it!
Hard Work Won’t Save You. Playing the Game Will.
Inflation auto-adjusts and forces you to pay more for gas, rent, and food right now. But salaries only change when your employer decides to adjust them which, shocker, they rarely do. Most would rather watch you stretch your paycheck like a yoga instructor than actually give you a raise.
It’s always, “We value you so much!” (Just not enough to pay you properly.)
Always, “We’re like a family here!” (A toxic one that won’t give you time off on your birthday, and counts the free coffee as a “work benefit”).
Always, “We’d love to give you more, but it’s just not in the budget.” (yet somehow, there’s always a budget for a useless rebrand and a pingpong table in the office breakroom.)
Nary a raise in sight.
So What Now?
You are not crazy for expecting your paycheck to keep up with inflation. I think that is the bare minimum. But in the corporate Game of Thrones, fair pay isn’t always given; sometimes it has to be fought for. And if you want to stay alive in this rigged system, your best move isn’t waiting around for scraps; it’s making power plays of your own.
You see your company will always choose not to adjust your wage for inflation. So you have to make choices of your own, starting by facing a few cold, hard realities:
💡 Hard work doesn’t magically translate into a fair wage, and loyalty doesn’t pay like it used to. So if you’re waiting for someone in the corner office to have an epiphany about fairness and give you a raise, it is likely not going to happen. The only way most people actually get more money is by leaving.
💡 If anything, the job market is proof that companies do have the money; they just don’t want to spend it on the people who stay. They can account for “market adjustments” and offer competitive salaries, but only when they’re trying to attract new talent.
💡So if your current job will not raise your salary to match inflation, perhaps it’s time to take your talent elsewhere.
But I know that’s easier said than done. Because the job market right now is like your dating life; plenty of fishes but none of them want you. So now you’re trapped in the corporate Hunger Games, drafting cover letters about how you are a “highly motivated self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced environment, and is committed to excellence.” (because apparently, the rest of us strive for mediocrity). And you’re spending your lunch break on LinkedIn telling that recruiter how you are a “results-driven professional looking to leverage your skills in a dynamic organization.” (You want a job. Just say you want a job).
All in a bid to get a salary that can actually keep up with the economy.
I get it. The job market is a nightmare.
But if you’re stuck in a job that refuses to pay you fairly, at the very least, demand more. Speak up. Because if your company can afford anything extra - new hires, expansion plans, leadership retreats - they CAN afford to pay you more. And if they claim that they can’t, do them a favor and really start looking. Because I promise you, the moment you hand in your notice, they will magically “find” the budget to keep you.
And if they don’t?
Well. They were never going to pay you fairly in the first place anyway.