I work as a software engineer at a media company in New York. Last October I was promoted from senior engineer to a more managerial role. The new role has a good deal more responsibility, including managing three engineers in addition to working on my own projects. I was given a raise of about 7%, which was deferred until January 1st despite the title change taking immediate effect. I considered this to be a modest raise given the additional responsibilities of the role, and that I already considered my salary to be below market value. My boss acknowledged that the raise was on the lower end and assured me that an additional raise would be applied during the company-wide annual reviews in April, although he didn't go into any further details and I foolishly didn't ask for confirmation of this in writing.
In April, it was becoming clear that the company faced significant financial difficulties due to COVID-19, and we were told that layoffs were likely. During the company-wide annual reviews, I was informed that I would not be receiving a raise in addition to the original 7% and that my boss had misspoken at the time. (This was not performance-related as my review was very positive). I decided not to make a fuss about this and even considered it something of a blessing, given that a hefty pay rise may have put me at higher risk of being laid off.
A few weeks later, over 40% of the company was let go. On my team that number was closer to 60%. We were assured that this would be the only round of layoffs and would ensure the long-term sustainability of our business.
My team is now much leaner and I have more responsibility and more work on my plate than ever before in my career. I am grateful for this, but I now keenly feel that my salary does not reflect my value to the company. I like this job and don't particularly want to leave, but I suspect I could make 10-20% more elsewhere.
Is it appropriate to ask for a raise given the recency of the layoffs? If so, do I need the threat of another offer for this to carry any weight? I don't want to seem greedy when the company is going through lean times, but I also can't afford to leave this much money on the table.