Is this unheard of?

[Dannydee]

In April I asked for a pay rise that amounted to 21% (£7,500).

After waiting for nearly 5 months, during which time my boss was continually pushing for the raise and even decided to request more, I got my raise.

In the end, the decision was a 35% pay rise. I asked for £7,500, and was given £12,500 instead, and a promotion to Sr. Manager of my business area (marketing technology).

Now, obviously I have zero complaints, but it got me thinking. I have never personally known of anyone this has happened to, where you ask for a raise and get 66% more than what you asked for.

In 2021 I was with an electricity company who made a big deal out of giving me a 2% raise, six months later than it was supposed to happen. They we a terrible company who treated me very poorly in more ways than one; thankfully, they failed miserably and closed down soon after I left having been psychologically frozen-out.

Anyways, I am asking a genuine question here, this is not me showing off. Has anyone experienced this kind of thing, or heard of it?

I got it on merit of course. I am 100% remote, and they are a US company. Is this more of a US thing? Are they more willing to pay you what you're worth?

It's my first experience working for a US company, so I have nothing to compare it to except for the tightwad UK companies I've worked for.

 

[DontAsk]

I was offered a job (with a US tech company) with share options. I accepted. Afterwards the share offer was increased out of the blue. This was 1999, during the dot com boom, when I was hot property as an electronics engineer.

Previous job to that, 1997, was also a US company. Massive pay increase that my old boss could never match, a car and private petrol. I later negotiated home working with an ADSL line (this is pre-broadband) and a Sun workstation with a vague threat that I was thinking of leaving.

So it does happen, if you are the person they want/want to keep, albeit in slightly different circumstances.

Fill your pension and retire early

 

[Dannydee]

I was offered a job (with a US tech company) with share options. I accepted. Afterwards the share offer was increased out of the blue. This was 1999, during the dot com boom, when I was hot property as an electronics engineer.

Previous job to that, 1997, was also a US company. Massive pay increase that my old boss could never match, a car and private petrol. I later negotiated home working with an ADSL line (this is pre-broadband) and a Sun workstation with a vague threat that I was thinking of leaving.

So it does happen, if you are the person they want/want to keep, albeit in slightly different circumstances.

Fill your pension and retire early

That sounds awesome, and you are, it seems, miles ahead of me! Your story is giving credence to my theory that the USA are better payers.

I'm on a trajectory now that I could only have imagined 5 years ago.. .. and I don't just mean in my career. I'm building an online business too.

You bet I plan to retire early! I'm nearly 42, the goal is 50.

Got 8 years to work it

 

[Newchodge]

my theory that the USA are better payers.

But much worse employers.

 

[Dannydee]

But much worse employers.

Hmm, not in my experience anyway.. my first boss got me a 20% raise that I didn't even ask for, and my current boss, as I said above, got me 14% more than I asked for

I'm aware that I'm in a pretty unique/lucky situation. I'm sure there are probably other companies that aren't quite as good to work for.

There is also the whole "at will" employment agreement thing - almost universal across the US - where you can get dropped at any moment without question, but thankfully that hasn't been a problem for me. Quite the opposite.

 

[DontAsk]

But much worse employers.

Not when employing UK nationals in the UK. At least not in my experience of tech companies.

 

[Newchodge]

Not when employing UK nationals in the UK. At least not in my experience of tech companies.

I was thinking of US employment rights. I couldn't think of any.

 

[Gecko001]

But much worse employers.

Do you have experience of working for US employers?

 

[fisicx]

Worked for a US company. Had weird rules such as everyone wearing a tie but no jackets. No facial hair. No visible tattoos. We were all back office, no customer facing roles. They would do tannoy announcements which were random encouragement messages. And everyone started finished at the same time. This meant arrival and departure was chaotic.

 

[WaveJumper]

Ive worked for plenty of US based companies in the commercial property world, its good when its good, so make hay whilst the sun shines because they are (in my experience) ruthless if their plans suddenly change you are out the door

 

[Newchodge]

Do you have experience of working for US employers?

No. Why would I need that?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

But much worse employers.

Wrong
If he worked for me I would get rid of him he should appreciate that he is very lucky to work here and should not be asking for more money

I thought this was a business forum not a trade onion !

 

[Mark T Jones]

Ive worked for plenty of US based companies in the commercial property world, its good when its good, so make hay whilst the sun shines because they are (in my experience) ruthless if their plans suddenly change you are out the door

I actually lived in America with a lady who had moved out on the back of her employer being bought out by a US giant

And yes, their culture is far more 'immediate' - in fact the Chairman of said company openly stated that he would sack their 5% lowest performers every year - no context. No explanation, just gone.

Add to that, salary relies heavily on the number of people reporting to you - I wonder if that is relevant here?

 

[Dannydee]

Worked for a US company. Had weird rules such as everyone wearing a tie but no jackets. No facial hair. No visible tattoos. We were all back office, no customer facing roles. They would do tannoy announcements which were random encouragement messages. And everyone started finished at the same time. This meant arrival and departure was chaotic.

Yeah the tannoy motivation sounds especially weird. Almost cultish.

"We gunna brainwash you into enjoying it here"

 

[Dannydee]

I actually lived in America with a lady who had moved out on the back of her employer being bought out by a US giant

And yes, their culture is far more 'immediate' - in fact the Chairman of said company openly stated that he would sack their 5% lowest performers every year - no context. No explanation, just gone.

Add to that, salary relies heavily on the number of people reporting to you - I wonder if that is relevant here?

That's ruthless. The "at will" employment contracts almost certainly enable/encourage leaders to push the boundaries.

Nobody reports to me. In a nutshell, I'm essentially responsible for building, operating, and maintaining an important segment of our digital infrastructure.

 

[Dannydee]

Wrong
If he worked for me I would get rid of him he should appreciate that he is very lucky to work here and should not be asking for more money

I thought this was a business forum not a trade onion !

Why is there no laugh reaction

 

[WaveJumper]

I actually lived in America with a lady who had moved out on the back of her employer being bought out by a US giant

And yes, their culture is far more 'immediate' - in fact the Chairman of said company openly stated that he would sack their 5% lowest performers every year - no context. No explanation, just gone.

Add to that, salary relies heavily on the number of people reporting to you - I wonder if that is relevant here?

Yep and they love handing out titles like "associate director" to make you feel great. The company I worked for out of the blue closed 3 out of six floors they occupied in Canary Wharf. Always struck me as "funny" how the top floor with HR in never got touched.

 

[Gecko001]

No. Why would I need that?

I didn't say that you needed to, but your knowledge of employment conditions in America seems so good that I thought you might have once worked there.

 

[Grace Reed]

In April I asked for a pay rise that amounted to 21% (£7,500).

After waiting for nearly 5 months, during which time my boss was continually pushing for the raise and even decided to request more, I got my raise.

In the end, the decision was a 35% pay rise. I asked for £7,500, and was given £12,500 instead, and a promotion to Sr. Manager of my business area (marketing technology).

Now, obviously I have zero complaints, but it got me thinking. I have never personally known of anyone this has happened to, where you ask for a raise and get 66% more than what you asked for.

In 2021 I was with an electricity company who made a big deal out of giving me a 2% raise, six months later than it was supposed to happen. They we a terrible company who treated me very poorly in more ways than one; thankfully, they failed miserably and closed down soon after I left having been psychologically frozen-out.

Anyways, I am asking a genuine question here, this is not me showing off. Has anyone experienced this kind of thing, or heard of it?

I got it on merit of course. I am 100% remote, and they are a US company. Is this more of a US thing? Are they more willing to pay you what you're worth?

It's my first experience working for a US company, so I have nothing to compare it to except for the tightwad UK companies I've worked for.

That’s a seriously good result — congrats!

I don’t think it’s necessarily just a US thing. A lot probably depends on the company, your role and how much they value you. If you’re interested in whether everything around the promotion, salary increase and your new terms has been handled correctly, you could always speak to an employment lawyer.

There are lawyers in both the UK and US who deal with employment matters.