# How long have you gone without a raise?



## Road Guy (Feb 23, 2012)

Coming up on 5 years with no raise. And a year of furloughs ... I know it could be worse but Christ this is getting old!


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## FLBuff PE (Feb 23, 2012)

I went 4 years, along with a 5% to 20% to 5% redux in salary. Then, last October, got a raise. It helped that we were VERY busy. I feel your pain, brotha!


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## Dexman PE PMP (Feb 23, 2012)

Ok, with the bad news previously posted I wont say that I got one last month....


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## Coastal Engineer (Feb 23, 2012)

5 YEARS!! Time to look elsewhere. When I worked for a chemical company in 2003, nobody in the entire company received a raise that one year. I left the following year and have never had an issue since. Experienced engineers with the right qualificiations are somewhat hard to find currently, even in this economy (we are currently attempting to hire three project engineers, three maintenance/mechanical engineers, and a process control engineer) and it is hard to find qualified applicants.


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## Capt Worley PE (Feb 24, 2012)

Last raise was when I got my PE back in January 2008. Last COLA was July 2007.

Sucks hard.


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## snickerd3 (Feb 24, 2012)

I think it was 1.5 yrs between COLAs. But other than COLAs it has been since 2004, when i went from Eng II to Eng III.


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## Road Guy (Feb 24, 2012)

I have to start looking around, but in Georgia there is a vote for a statewide 1% tax for transportation in August, if that passes, it would make transportation work about as busy as it was in the late 90's early 00's... I had planned to sit tight until the vote happened..

the one good thing they did was break the vote into regions, so its not a statewide pass or fail, but I am estimating about half of the regions they set up will pass..

I dont know what Washington is doing with the Federal Motor Fuel Tax, but it doesnt appear to be coming to Georgia...


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## EAZY (Feb 24, 2012)

Got one about 2 weeks ago. I was coming up on 4 years though so I know the feeling.


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## envirotex (Feb 24, 2012)

^^^Same.

4.5 years with nothing.


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## willsee (Feb 24, 2012)

5% this year for getting my PE

Before that err...a while but I've also been laid off and moved (3 different jobs) over the past 4 years.


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## knight1fox3 (Feb 24, 2012)

4.5 and 5 years is a VERY long time to go without a raise. Personally I would not endure that as I believe engineers should be paid what they are worth (speaking from private industry). Of course there are always extenuating circumstances and the whole economy issue. We were put on a wage freeze for 18 months when the economy tanked. Once that was lifted, we were back to merit raises. But ground was lost in that time for being paid fair market value. I continued to monitor how profitable my company was each quarter. With that in mind I started searching around for avg. salary levels for someone with my qualifications. I quickly learned that I was being underpaid by approximately 25%. So I took a few interviews of which some made offers in the range I was expecting. That gave me the confidence to go to my boss and explain to him why I thought I deserved a 10-15% raise (on top of the 5% I received for merit). I explained how my responsibilities have grown and that I was willing to take on more to justify the raise. I like what I do and where I work so I didn't just want to hang it up and leave for only more money. He thanked me for bringing this to his attention and the raise was granted. Had he said no, I would have said I need to pursue a different direction then and accepted the other company's offer (he did not know of the other offer though).

Anyway, if you feel you are underpaid or deserve a raise, make it known. Don't assume someone knows that you are troubled by your current salary or the fact that you haven't had a raise in however long. From my research, industry is slowly picking back up and companies are becoming more profitable again. They need to pass that on to the valuable employees that are contributing to that profitability.


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## snickerd3 (Feb 24, 2012)

I will likely be falling to the no raises for a while now. Our contract is up at the end of june and the governor hasn't been too optimistic about how negiociations are going to go....I forsee a reduction in pay due to increases in medical and pension contributions in my future


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## Peele1 (Feb 24, 2012)

In general, if a company isn't paying its employees a competitive rate, either they are having financial problems and may go out of business (so, look elsewhere), or they are stingy, and will use any excuse to keep pay down, and most likely won't attract or retain good employees (so, look elsewhere). Now, in this economy, you may not find anything - if you don't look you are guaranteed to not find.


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## roadwreck (Feb 24, 2012)

Road Guy said:


> Coming up on 5 years with no raise. And a year of furloughs ... I know it could be worse but Christ this is getting old!


It's a good thing that you started this cash cow about six years ago then isn't it?


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## Road Guy (Feb 24, 2012)

yes it was, although my vacation homes in Costa Rica have suffered since I have to dedicate so much time here...


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## Dleg (Feb 24, 2012)

11 years. I had to leave....Bankrupt state government that has actually cut salaries since I left.


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## Coastal Engineer (Feb 25, 2012)

Ok, this thread is depressing. I may be in a different place then others on the board as I have been working in the manufacturing world instead of for the government or private firms. Don't know what to tell you but going for several years without a raise seems harsh to me.


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## Supe (Feb 25, 2012)

About a year. Nobody got one last year, but was informed I've got one coming as soon as they finalize the paperwork. Don't know how much, though. Their new setup has it fluctuating between departments and is tied to their impossible to interpret review cycle.


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## FLBuff PE (Feb 27, 2012)

Dleg said:


> 11 years. I had to leave....Bankrupt state government that has actually cut salaries since I left.


Winner, winner, guvmint cheese dinner!


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## bradlelf (Feb 27, 2012)

3 years has been the longest I have gone without a bump in pay; 2007-2010 were pretty rough. Market definitely has changed (for the better) based upon the movement of people between companies and the number of new jobs coming through the doors in recent months.

Think positive


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## bradlelf (Feb 27, 2012)

bradlelf said:


> 3 years has been the longest I have gone without a bump in pay; 2007-2010 were pretty rough. Market definitely has changed (for the better) based upon the movement of people between companies and the number of new jobs coming through the doors in recent months.
> 
> Think positive


Just to be clear here ... when you type b.u.m.p. it does that stupid emoticon; no idea how to turn it off.


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## FLBuff PE (Feb 27, 2012)

Try typing in "Google" and see what happens.


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## knight1fox3 (Feb 27, 2012)

^^^ You beat me to it...LOL


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## bradlelf (Feb 27, 2012)

FLBuff PE said:


> Try typing in "Google Sucks" and see what happens.


Google Sucks


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## bradlelf (Feb 27, 2012)

HAHA


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## FLBuff PE (Feb 27, 2012)

Thought you'd get a kick out of that!


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## FF8256 (Feb 28, 2012)

I was at four years until december when they gave me a 5% for passing in april.


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## Master slacker (Feb 28, 2012)

If i didn't get a raise for two straight years, my resume would be getting some mileage.


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## Ble_PE (Feb 28, 2012)

After not getting a raise in '09 &amp; '10, I've now received a raise in each of the past 2 years. Last year I also was "promoted" so my raise was higher than the standard merit raise. I was surprised to find out today that I was receiving a 4.5% raise this year. I was expecting no more than 3%.


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## Capt Worley PE (Feb 29, 2012)

Master slacker said:


> If i didn't get a raise for two straight years, my resume would be getting some mileage.


The thing is, i want to stay in the area and it isn't exactly a hotbed for mechies.


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## envirotex (Feb 29, 2012)

^^^Yep. I have to take a pay cut to live in my town.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Feb 29, 2012)

My commute went from ~30 minutes each way to 1hr each way to get the job I have now (and subsequent pay bump).


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## sac_engineer (Feb 29, 2012)

Google Sucks sucks

Google Sucks

bump


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## sac_engineer (Feb 29, 2012)

^ too funny


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## sac_engineer (Feb 29, 2012)

Seriously though, it's been 2 years since getting a raise, but my company gives us bonuses and gives us a great retirement contribution every year for _all _staff. I think i'll probably get a 2-3% increase this year, but the total package is way more than what my engineer friends get unless they're in middle/upper management.


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## Road Guy (Mar 1, 2012)

well I am now more depressed than when I started this thread...

This is everyone where I work not just me, but its time to start looking... the 6 mile commute has been one thing that kept me from looking.........


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## Dexman PE PMP (Mar 1, 2012)

^^^ If you're looking to relocate to Denver, I know there are a couple positions open with the group I work for...


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## Master slacker (Mar 1, 2012)

Got about what I was expecting for a raise (pessimistic) - 2.8%. &lt;grumble grumble&gt;


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## Ble_PE (Mar 1, 2012)

Is that negative 2.8%?


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## Road Guy (Mar 1, 2012)

I would love Colorado, my wife can't take the 40 degree winters here in Georgia though...

There seem to be lots more civil related openings in Texas, San fransisco, and north east, or at least that's what it's showing on the typical sites...


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## engineergurl (Mar 1, 2012)

Road Guy said:


> I would love Colorado, my wife can't take the 40 degree winters here in Georgia though...


I can understand, I love snow, but am scared of Virginia after living in the AL/GA area.... switched the heat pump to cool today!!!


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## Capt Worley PE (Mar 2, 2012)

^I've had the AC on for a few days now...


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## envirotex (Mar 2, 2012)

If you don't mind very warm summer temps and drought...the weather in Texas is lovely. It'll be about 80 degrees here today. I think I'm going to start my garden this weekend.

Oh and we don't have an income tax...


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## Glen_PE (Mar 3, 2012)

I went 3.5 years with only a $1/hour raise for passing the PE. I left and got a 20% raise at a new company. Woot!


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## EnvEngineer (Mar 6, 2012)

I got 2% after 3 years, last year we had a 5% cut which lasted about 9 months. My group posted more revenue (most in history of the firm, not just a fluke year) with fewer people and they still want to put off salery increase *discussion* until next year. They said there will be bonus but still not a word on how much. I think this is not going to be pleasant.

This is everyone where I work not just me, but its time to start looking... the 6 mile commute has been one thing that kept me from looking.....

....

I had a job offer but asked for them to cover my commute expence, that ended that discussion, My current commute is 10 m door to door. I need alot more money if I am going to spend 2hr+ in the car for another job.


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## envirotex (Mar 7, 2012)

Starting to wonder if this thread is an indication of how many resumes are floating around out there right now...


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## pbrme (Mar 13, 2012)

^^No kidding, just read and this is a bit depressing. Sorry to hear about all of your woes guys.

Longest I went was 1.5yrs. but compensation was just above the national avg. so didn't mind much. Soon after, was laid off and found a new company that wanted to pay a new PE fatty stacks so I accepted (PE probably helped that) which was a nice "raise". Our reviews are in summer, update to come. I concur w/ previous recommendations about looking elsewhere, there's always a greener pasture. I my case I needed to get laid off to know it's true.

Which reminds me: "No matter how hot she is, some guy out there is sick and tired of putting up with her $h!t"


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## pbrme (Mar 13, 2012)

ngnrd - PE said:


> ... I've gotten at least two raises a year for the past six years, not including my two promotions.


:ban:


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## FLBuff PE (Mar 13, 2012)

Don't hate the player, hate The Game (which you just lost).


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## Phalanx (Mar 14, 2012)

I went two years without a raise before moving on to bigger and better things. This year, my department received a small COLA.


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