Voice of the DBA

I mean, you can ask for a raise. It’s always an option, but is now the time to ask for a raise in this economic climate, where businesses can be unsettled and there are a lot of tech workers looking for jobs. I even saw a piece that noted many computer science graduates are struggling to get hired at the top tech firms. While that’s not where most people work, it seems that often other CIOs/CTOs look to the big tech firms for guidance, and they may choose to hire fewer new staffers as well.

This is on my mind at work after reading an article on asking for a raise that I added to the newsletter. It’s a response in the advice column where a reader asks how to go about asking for a raise when they think they deserve one. It is unclear in which industry or level this person works, so I am not sure if I think the advice is good.

The gist of the response is that anyone wanting a raise needs to make a business case about why they deserve more money. I agree with that, but the piece goes on to talk about cost of replacement and loss of knowledge. To me, those start to delve into the area of a stick over a carrot approach to asking for a raise. I have used those techniques, but only when I am truly ready to look for another job if they don’t agree. While you might think you know your manager, you never know when they (or their boss/HR) might take offense to you bringing up the losses from you leaving.

I’d also say that if you are successful with this, it might be a one-time thing, and it might affect future bonus/raise amounts as the company thinks you’ve already gotten extra compensation.

That’s not to say that you can’t ask for a raise. I’ve been successful making a business case that’s based on my salary compared to peers doing similar work. Experience matters a bit, but the job I do and my responsibilities matter more. Of course, if I’m near the top of a range, then I’m really asking for a promotion and a raise. That might make sense, or it might not. Ask yourself as you build a case if you’d respond well if you owned the company and this was presented to you.

Maybe the most important thing to evaluate is the situation in which your business finds itself right now. Is it doing well? Sales/revenue/profits increasing? Are they lean on staff and need to hire more? Or is that not the case? Does your management seem to value experience and the work you do or are most of the staff pressed to do more work over time, with your coworkers in similar situations?

Maybe most importantly, do you trust your manager?

If you don’t feel confident in positive answers to these questions, proceed cautiously. Asking for a raise is something I’d be very careful of, at least in the US in mid-2025, as it seems to be the hope of executives to use more AI to replace people. Couple that with the large number of people looking for jobs and this environment might cause a reasonable request to be denied or could create lingering ill will. That might not be worth a short-term raise.

Steve Jones

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