Raises - what does your company do?

So DD, are you asking because you're trying to figure out what kind of raise to give your employees, or are you trying to get a handle on what kind of raise you're going to give yourself?

 

Company was very consistent until '08. Now its hit or miss.

 

We get a COLA raise depending on our domicile or "home base" which is based on certain factors depending on the region. Each time we get a contract renewal, our COLA percentage goes up. We are a unionized workforce though, so obviously everything is seniority based and our base rate is on a set payscale (so base rate scale + COLA adjustment). The scale changes with each contract, as does the COLA. In Houston, its only 3-4% whereas in New York, LA or San Fran its 12-15%

Being in a union makes things a little different obviously. Our pay and COLA is negotiated into the collective bargaining agreement.

 

Yep. When I got this job last year it was like a 20% bump from my old job. Thinking about leaving if they don't pay me what the position deserves (oil and gas industry, comparable jobs pay ~ 10 K more). Ill give them till Feb before I start looking.

 

50c every 6 months

 

Well, consider what you would find fair to yourself if you were in their shoes. Seems like a good starting point, at least to me. When you made the hires, were their initial salaries competitive? In other words, do you think you got a "good deal" with the hires, or were you paying excellent wages from the start? My guess is that you hired good people, and that they cost you quite a bit in the Austin market. As you know, people with computer science and computer engineering degrees tend to move around pretty often (compared to what used to be considered "normal," at least to a guy like me), and they usually do that to get a good salary bump and an opportunity to "grow" in their profession. Being generous today might serve you well in the future. (I know... what's "generous," dammit??)

Let us know what you end up doing. I'm interested because my son started his first job over the summer, straight out of college (with degrees in, you guessed it, computer engineering and computer science - a father never passes up a chance to brag about one of his kids!), and it's with a software company. I'm wondering what he might expect in the future. While you're probably an outlier, it never hurts to have more data. ;-)- One perk my son has is a week of vacation every year for the first 4 years he's with the company. In 4 years, he has 4 weeks of vacation per annum. The catch? It doesn't accumulate. You have to use it or lose it every year. Still, that's a nice benefit that would certainly appeal to some people. The ownership is European, which might have something to do with it. Anyway, I thought this was a clever idea on their part.

Good luck figuring it all out!

 

We used to get raises every year, but in the last 3 years they've changed raises to bonuses. The amounts/percentages are the same, but obviously the bonuses aren't compounded like the raises were. Pretty slick way of cancelling raises.

Can't complain, though. This year, I got a new job (with same company) so I got a substantial raise and I will get a bigger bonus because my new area always hits our collective goals and that's half of what our bonuses are based on. My old area never hit it's goals.

 

My company has a floor. If the revenue number is hit, everyone gets a bonus. If not, nobody gets a bonus. The bonus is a % of total salary. I'm not sure what's standard but I negotiated mine up.

On top of that there are other incentive programs available on an individual basis but I'm not sure they'd apply to your industry, these are sales-leads-oriented.

I like the idea of everyone being on the same team.

 

1-10% depending on performance, with 3-5% being most common. The performance metrics also determines an annual bonus of up to 20%.

 

About every 3 years we get a little raise. After 19 years at same job boss says we're at top pay for what we do and for our location.