Ever get a raise by threatening to quit?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Not the most elequent way to ask for a raise but after several months of unhappiness (incompetant team leader, huge wage discrepancies, lack of rewards) I blew my lid at work and handed in my notice right then and there. My co-worker, who is like-minded in all the complaints I’d been feeling, handed hers in the following morning.

Before noon, the boss called an emergency meeting offering us bucket loads of money and to sort our team leader out if we stayed. We gave him one month to do so or we would leave and he agreed to our terms and conditions. It’s not properly sorted but things look a bit brighter.

Anyone else ever get a raise in similiar circumstances?

2

Not exactly similar, but:

Decades ago I needed a summer job during college. Couldn’t find a temp one, so took a typing pool job under the false pretenses that I would be permanent. In late August, I submitted my resignation. I was a very good typist, and was immediately offered raise after raise as well as other benefits. The more I turned them down, the more I was offered. The sad thing is that there was another woman in the same typing pool who really, really needed her job. She was a widow with 2 or 3 children to support and was deathly afraid of being out of work. She had been promised the previous year all the stuff I was offered, but was too timid to demand it and the company never followed through on their promises.

3

I’ve fired people who asked for a raise, if that’s any help.
Nobody wants a manlcontent.

4

[QUOTE=a 10 u us]
I’ve fired people who asked for a raise, if that’s any help.
Nobody wants a manlcontent.
[/QUOTE]

Nobody wants to see their most productive people leave and join the competiton either.

At least nobody smart wants to see that.

5

Anecdotally, this may work in the short term but not in the long term. I’ve had several friends who have done this, gotten the raise, then been laid off within 6-10 mos. Rationale: the boss will never really trust you again, he’ll fear you’ll stick him up again, but he will keep you around long enough to find a “non-malcontent” replacement for you.

If what you want is more money, you can always ask for it. If they deny you a raise, then change gears when you threaten to quit, sounds like they are game-players and not your best long-term bet.

6

I threatened to quit, and while I didn’t actually get a raise, effectively it is one.

I have a full-time job, and also a part-time job. I can get by on my main salary, but I’m paying off my student loans at a faster rate than required, so I got a part-time job about one year ago.

The part-time job is a good job, in terms of job duties, but there was a lot of staff turnover, which was stressful, and there was just generally bad morale in my department. Also, I had to commute by bus, which was an hour one way, and an hour and twenty minutes the other way (bus connections were worse later at night). I also get paid piecework for the work I actually do, not by the hour. So basically, for a four hour shift I had to put in almost 6.5 hours including commute, and with all the other stuff happening at the office, including having to constantly train new employees, my take-home pay was suffering.

So I handed in my resignation, as I don’t really need the part-time job anyway, and mentioned that if they get the ability to have me work from home in the future, they should call me. (Background - they first mentioned the possibility of work from home one year ago when I was hired, but it never materialized).

So when I resigned, they instantly offered me the chance to work from home. I still get the “same” pay (piecework), but since I don’t have a commute and I don’t have to deal with other distractions at work, my take-home pay will be much higher on a per-hour basis.

7

[QUOTE=Huerta88]
Anecdotally, this may work in the short term but not in the long term. I’ve had several friends who have done this, gotten the raise, then been laid off within 6-10 mos. Rationale: the boss will never really trust you again, he’ll fear you’ll stick him up again, but he will keep you around long enough to find a “non-malcontent” replacement for you.

If what you want is more money, you can always ask for it. If they deny you a raise, then change gears when you threaten to quit, sounds like they are game-players and not your best long-term bet.
[/QUOTE]

I was offered a raise after I handed in my letter of resignation, but I had no desire to work there anymore, so I declined. Plus, like Huerta mentioned… had I stayed I would have always been looking over my shoulder thinking that I would be the first to go if there were layoffs. When I declined my bosses offer I was escorted out of the building by security. They payed me for two weeks (the two-weeks notice that I gave) NOT to come to work, it was great.

A few months after I left they laid a bunch of people off.

8

Eh, as long as you’re prepared to be called out on your threat.

“Give me a raise or I quit!”

“OK. You know where the door is”

May feel a little sheepish after that, when you sit back down at your desk.

9

I agree that using the threat of resignation as a technique to get a raise is dumb–I’ve worked in more than one shop where the offer of more money was extended simply to keep the employee around long enough to train a replacement.

OTOH, the OP did not sound as though it was an identical situation. That seemed to be more a matter of aggravation simply overflowing and the raise appeared to be part of a larger effort to improve conditions to improve morale. If I were the boss, I would not necessarily be looking to replace the two employees ASAP. (OTOH, if I were Mr Jim, I would keep my resume up to date and not make any large ticket purchases for a year or so.)

10

I once got a faux-“promotion” by threatening to quit. I was bumped up from “copy editor” to “copy chief,” which came with no extra money, no extra help, just a pat on the back in the masthead.

11

A couple of years ago I told my boss I had an offer of a comparable job with better pay. To my pleasant surprise, she said “I’ll see that better pay and raise you $X.” I stayed put.

12

I liked my last job. The bosses really liked me and I respected and liked them. It’s a solid company that I miss working for. No history of layoffs and steady work and an increasing work force. The problem was I started mid level and 6 years later I was getting decent bumps but to the point I would have had to hit my boss in the head with a brick to get another promotion. He was too nice of a guy to do that to. I was at a dead end.

Unexpectedly I was offered my current job. I gave my notice to my immediate boss. A little later I was called into the General Managers office. I was one of a handful of people on a first name basis with him. He thanked me for not coming and and saying I’m getting whatever more money and screwing around and asking. They had been know to can line workers who did. I was in a unique job where I might have been able to get away with it.

That would have been great short term. Every annual review and raise after that would have been akward with that elephant in the room.

On another side of things, I co-own a small buisness as a nights and weekends second job. Being a tiny shop I’d punt anybody who tried to leverage me for more money unless they have *exceptional * talents or skills. It depends on the company size and culture.

13

There’s a right way to do this. Find another job (a good way is to post your resume with all the snazzy key words on the big and specialized job sites, and wait to get headhunted). When you get an offer (even if you don’t nessesarily intend to take it) you go into to see your boss. You tell him you’ve been headhunted (**hwaaaaay **better than saying "I applied for another job…) and they offered “substancially more money”. You tell him you are more or less happy working for your current job, and tell him all the stuff you like. It can be OK them to slip in one little thing that you don’t like (“Although I’d sure like it if I had a window to look out of at times, it’d really cheer me up and make me more productive”), but make it 90%+ positive. Tell your boss to be fair to your current employer, you’d like to give them an opportunity to make a counter offer. You don’t have to mention any specific figure, and make it clear your current company doesn’t nessesarily have to beat the “other guys” offer.

If you really are a valued employee, this can make many companies aware of how valuable you really are, and they might well offer you a nice raise (and maybe even a cubical with a decent view if that’s the “one small thing” you slipped in that you didn’t like about your current job). This is also a very nice thing to do if you are headhunted and your current job really isn’t half-bad.

This is then a “win-win”. They might say “Yes, we love you Jim, and we’d like to offer you another 10% if you’ll stay, and you’ll get the next window cubical”. Or, they might say “Sorry, no can do”- then you can leave to the new job or stick around. Or they might say “YOU’RE FIRED YOU DISLOYAL ASSHOLE!”- in which case you know what kind of assholes they are, and you have that next job offer in hand anyway. None of these are losing choices.

14

Sort of: I got a promotion by threatening to quit.

Then I discovered that I hated the new job and the only way I could escape was to quit the company, wait till my asshole boss got fired, and come back in my former position…which was exactly what I did.

15

[QUOTE=a 10 u us]
I’ve fired people who asked for a raise, if that’s any help.
Nobody wants a manlcontent.
[/QUOTE]

It’s always nice to see someone endorsing evil.

16

I worked for a company in NYC and after a few months, hated it and said I was quiting.
They offered more money and I stayed.
Two months later, I went back in and quit again. One more time, money kept me there.
This happened about six or seven times in two years until I finally did quit and moved back to Berlin.

BTW, every time I went in to quit, I was quite serious and not just bluffing.

It was about the fifth time that I quit and got a raise and a young woman who had worked for the company for many years overheard me mention it on the phone to a friend. She told me she had never received a raise since the day she started. She was a single mother and terrified of losing her job. I sort of encouraged her to go at least talk to the bosses.

About a week later, totally stressed, she finally got up the courage and went and talked to the bosses. I think she was about to pee her pants on the walk to their office.

She came back.

“Did you get the raise?”
“Yes, and more than I asked for.”
“Great.”
She looked at me and said,“you know what they told me? They said, ‘we were wondering when you would ask’ - can you believe it?! All this time - and if I had never asked, they would never have given me the raise!”

17

I left a job (no questions asked, none given…‘casual’ in Aus means that no *notice * is needed) and the boss panicked, rang me and offered a pay rise to which I nodded and returned.

Does that count? :wink:

18

[QUOTE=DMark]
It was about the fifth time that I quit and got a raise and a young woman who h
She looked at me and said,“you know what they told me? They said, ‘we were wondering when you would ask’ - can you believe it?! All this time - and if I had never asked, they would never have given me the raise!”
[/QUOTE]
That is what irks me about being offered more money after giving notice. In my (admittedly) ideal view of the employer/employee relationship, I should be paid what I am worth to the company. Good work should be rewarded with proper remuneration.

19

So, let’s see… we have DMark’s co-worker’s boss who wouldn’t give a raise until she asked for one, and we have a 10 u us who fires people for asking for raises.

Gee, and middle managers are wondered why they’re disliked. :rolleyes:

20

[QUOTE=DrDeth]
There’s a right way to do this. Find another job (a good way is to post your resume with all the snazzy key words on the big and specialized job sites, and wait to get headhunted). When you get an offer (even if you don’t nessesarily intend to take it) you go into to see your boss. You tell him you’ve been headhunted (**hwaaaaay **better than saying "I applied for another job…) and they offered “substancially more money”. You tell him you are more or less happy working for your current job, and tell him all the stuff you like. It can be OK them to slip in one little thing that you don’t like (“Although I’d sure like it if I had a window to look out of at times, it’d really cheer me up and make me more productive”), but make it 90%+ positive. Tell your boss to be fair to your current employer, you’d like to give them an opportunity to make a counter offer. You don’t have to mention any specific figure, and make it clear your current company doesn’t nessesarily have to beat the “other guys” offer.

If you really are a valued employee, this can make many companies aware of how valuable you really are, and they might well offer you a nice raise (and maybe even a cubical with a decent view if that’s the “one small thing” you slipped in that you didn’t like about your current job). This is also a very nice thing to do if you are headhunted and your current job really isn’t half-bad.

This is then a “win-win”. They might say “Yes, we love you Jim, and we’d like to offer you another 10% if you’ll stay, and you’ll get the next window cubical”. Or, they might say “Sorry, no can do”- then you can leave to the new job or stick around. Or they might say “YOU’RE FIRED YOU DISLOYAL ASSHOLE!”- in which case you know what kind of assholes they are, and you have that next job offer in hand anyway. None of these are losing choices.
[/QUOTE]

I got a raise this way. I was consulting and the client offered me a full time job and a raise. I really didn’t want it, but the money was attractive and I was doing the job anyway. I went back to my consulting company and said “I really like consulting, I’d rather stay, but the client has offered this and I feel the difference is enough that I really need to consider this offer.” They matched - actually, they more than matched. Within a year I’d been promoted, and promoted again less than a year later.

I liked that company, but it was the only company I worked for that I consistantly had to play hardball with on salary. When I was hired they tried to lowball me, despite the fact they already had me placed with a client with a verbal agreement. I laughed and said I was already making more than that, why would I switch, and that they were free to call the client and let them know I wasn’t available. (The recruiter got his ass reamed by the sales manager for that little attempt at bait and switch). When I was promoted, my boss - generally a nice guy - said “your performance review is in a month, we will do the salary adjustment then” and I had to think that one through, call him back and say “um, no…you want me to do the job, you start paying me to do it now and we agree on what the raise will be now, or I’m not doing it.”