My company is a financial one and even they struggled to meet everyone's expectations. It's not COLA, but the "merit" adjustment tends to be close in the past.
People getting a good rating got 5-8%. So even good people are getting close to a 1% cut.
I got a further development needed rating. My raise was 1.5%. So about a 4.5% pay cut. Under the company policies, it will likely take me 3+ years to get back to making the save level of value. They say they want to retain me. Stupidity. I'm looking for other jobs but will likely be stuck here.
Okay, I don't want to give you a pep talk or pretend that I know you. But we're at the point where I recognise your username as "the-negative-person-who-doesn't-like-their-job-and-doesn't-make-that-much". I actually knew the pay-cut story in your comment before I read it because you've shared it before. So either I need to spend less time on HN or you need to ligten up a bit and shake things up career-wise.
I'm sorry you're in that situation. It may be more possible to get out of it than you think. I felt I was stuck in my previous job (which I stayed at for over six years) and dragged my feet to go job searching because I expected I'd struggle to get through technical interviews, and also was worried my skills had atrophied a lot since I was learning a lot of tech for something not high in demand (telecom-based).
But when I got serious on the job search, finally, I got about 10x more recruiter interest than any previous job search in my life, and the technical interviews I mostly did well on (a few places I didn't). And landed a job that uses very modern technologies and a 60% salary increase.
Maybe it could be the same for you as well. Companies are much more hungry for employees right now than they were two years ago.
I’ve been there pal. My biggest hope for you is that you can get out. I’ll be thinking about you and wishing you the best.
Tactically speaking, when I was there, my negativity came across in my resume. So I was really stuck. I’m lucky enough to be friends with a pretty good editor and she really helped me.
If you’d like a fresh set of eyes on your resume, you can email me. My address is in my profile.
Just a warning, I likely won’t reply until late tomorrow or early Friday. I have an adventure planned with my five year old. :)
People getting a good rating got 5-8%. So even good people are getting close to a 1% cut.
I got a further development needed rating. My raise was 1.5%. So about a 4.5% pay cut. Under the company policies, it will likely take me 3+ years to get back to making the save level of value. They say they want to retain me. Stupidity. I'm looking for other jobs but will likely be stuck here.