Facts:
- I worked for a company for 1 year and then joined my recent company
- I really enjoy working here
- I have 10+ years in sw development
- I really think (honestly) that I am an employee that anyone would like to have due to my enthusiasm and work quality
- I am a foreigner who has lived in Germany for 2 years.
- I speak German fluently
- my company is doing really well financially.
Situation: People brought to my attention that students job posting were offering a similar hour based salary than mine (from 4 euro less up to the same value.) I dismissed that for a while. Now many people on my team decided to quit (for different reason) and on this context of leaving, farewell parties and so on I got the information that people with no prior experience were receiving just a little bit less than I do and some people with same age and a little bit more experience were getting twice my salary.
I got very frustrated because I have lots of responsibilities and I do my job well and I was repeatedly told so by my boss. I scheduled a meeting to talk about it because it just extinguished my motivation and I have the feeling that they used my lack of knowledge of the job market to give me a low salary.
I will ask for a big raise, so I am nearer to the ones my work is similar to. The thing is: many people of my team are leaving, in two months my team will be reduced to 2 people (me +1, and I am older in the company). I do not want to use this as a pressure tool. But I will look for alternatives if we do not get to some number that I am happy with. How do I tell them that, without sounding as a threat and being known as someone who used their delicate situation for my benefit?
This is not a duplicate of How should I properly approach my boss if I'm feeling underpaid? because I am focused on an unusual situation (my team members left and I am one of the few remaining) and I want to avoid my request sounding like a threat.
