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My situation is kind of similar to this post. This Post

I have been with my current company for almost 5 years now. In my first three years I used to get raises every 6 months. (not to mention that my starting salary was veeeeeery low and those bumps brought my salary to norm, may be a little bit above it.)

Now my company has frozen raises and hires for almost two years now, my manager and company president always compliment me on my high performance, my ethics and my hard work, however although Im very grateful for my job (because almost everyone in my town are jobless now!) but it sometimes bothers me that my friends now get 30~40% more than me. I am looking for a new position, however what are reasonable alternatives that I can ask for in my next performance review?

  • I am thinking of extra paid vacation days (but I really dont like this, I prefer cash money in my pocket! ;-) ),
  • Maybe they give me company shares instead of a jump in the salary (so my hard work will pay off when the economy picks up again),
  • Maybe ask for a bigger severance package in case they decided to lay off me? (which I really don't think happening unless the whole company goes down, at least this gives ma sense of security that if the ship sank I will not drown)

What are the other reasonable options? I offered the option 1 to my manager in my last performance review but after six months he has not given me a definite answer and every time I try to lead the conversation to financial stuff he dodges the bullet.

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closed as off-topic by Joel Etherton, gnat, paparazzo, Kate Gregory, The Wandering Dev Manager Mar 4 '16 at 9:59

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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is just a polling question. – Joel Etherton Mar 3 '16 at 20:17
  • @JoelEtherton Its not polling at all at it seems that there are few other people who have this concern. I simply suggested a few options that came to my mind and ask for other options as well. As you can see there are are a few good responses as well. Please take the -1 back as this can end up having some good answers for people like me. – AleX_ Mar 3 '16 at 22:24
  • a few options is equivalent to polling. – Joel Etherton Mar 4 '16 at 2:48
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What are the other reasonable options? I offered the option 1 to my manager in my last performance review but after six months he has not given me a definite answer and every time I try to lead the conversation to financial stuff he dodges the bullet.

You can ask for anything.

I'm guessing a company in financial difficulties won't give you much, but it never hurts to ask.

In addition to what you have already suggested:

  • If you think they'll still be around and out of financial trouble eventually, ask for a retention bonus payable in a few years.
  • Ask for a promotion, with a raise to follow somewhere down the line.
  • Ask for a better office.
  • Ask for the ability to work fewer hours every day/week.
  • In general, ask for something they have, or can get, that doesn't cost them much now

But if they wouldn't even grant you extra vacation days - which are one of their least-expensive solutions - you are unlikely to get much of anything.

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Your company has frozen salaries and hiring for 2 years in a row and you think being paid in shares is a good idea? Find new employment before the company goes under. Don't bother trying to get blood from a stone.

Your basic goal is to get more money. Your company has shown quite clearly and over a long length of time that they either don't have it or don't value their employees enough to give it to them. If you really are being paid 40% below your market value, anything they can give you won't be nearly as much as what you could get elsewhere. Find a better job.

Note that a severance package offers zero guarantees when a company files for bankruptcy. You'll be just one more creditor in a long line. It's a strange question to ask and I wouldn't even bring it up.

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  • Depends on the company -- even multinationals can go thru hard periods despite never being at risk of going under. However, there is certainly risk that the next step is layoffs... and if the salary is _realistically_40% below what this person could get elsewhere... I don't disagree that this may be the right answer for this person at this time. And smaller companies are at more risk of going under before recovering. – keshlam Mar 3 '16 at 18:42
  • If you're really 40% below market, I can't possibly imagine how the existing company can compensate with any regular raises. Even 10% a year will not be enough after 4 years because your new job will also give you raises. – Nelson Mar 4 '16 at 7:34

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