Pay Raise: How much can you expect?

I'm just wondering how much raise should I expect after the yearly review since we are still kind of in a recession it feels like at times

I know it depends on your performance, but I'm trying to find out the general or average percentage that employers give in IT

I work for a private company but my job role is contracted out to public

Find more posts tagged with

SAVE $250 on Your Boot Camp — Use Code "EXAM26"

Exclusively for TechExams members for Infosec Boot Camps starting before April 30, 2026

View Boot Camps

Comments

Bokeh

Tough to say. Ive seen employers barely give enough to keep up with cost of living, others a lot more if their profits were high and someone was bringing in a lot of billable hours. Your mileage may vary

eLs

Mine was crappy and did not even get a chance to say much. 4.0% on a low salary ain't much but its better than anything.

JoJoCal19

@=eLs;

4% on a low salary might not be a large yearly raise when looking solely at the dollar amount, but from my experience a 4% pay raise is actually pretty good. A lot of companies right now are giving 2% if you're lucky. If you work in a shop where IT is an income producer, then things could be much different.

MSP-IT

@JoJoCal19;

Agreed. At least he's keeping up with inflation rates.

OP, if you're not getting at least a 2% raise on a yearly basis, you're losing money. A decent raise would be 3-4%. As JoJoCal said, if you're part of a profit-center, you should expect much more.

RHEL

I've been working fulltime in IT for 4.5 years now and I don't believe I've ever seen more than a 2.5% raise.

1st job (2.5 yrs): low salary
1st raise - 2-2.5%
2nd raise 2-2.5%

2nd job (1.5 yrs): mid salary
no raises...

3rd job (3 months): high-ish salary
Nothing yet, but I suspect 2-2.5%.

My wife just completed her first year working for a major university. She works for a private center within the university that has its own (boatloads of) money, but is still regulated by the university for how much they can give out for raises... The university has a campus-wide policy that no one receives more than a 2% raise. Her bosses fought extremely hard to push them to a 2.5% exception this year...

Not much hope for anything above cost of living

MSP-IT

@RHEL

I honestly don't understand how employers can justify this, ESPECIALLY universities. The cost of tuition has increased substantially in the past 10 years, and 2% a year doesn't even keep up with the average inflation rate over the last 10 years. The ratio between tuition inflation to the dollar inflation ranges between 1.5 to 2 a year according to the DoE.

JoJoCal19

I wish companies would realize that giving us a crappy 2% (if we're lucky) raise is only costing them more money because their best talent will job hop to get the good raises (10-30%). Then they have to pay to find and recruit talent, benefits, training, lost productivity. I wouldn't be surprised if the cost to replace top talent doesn't equal to 75-100% of that employees salary when all is said and done.

Breadfan

I have to agree JoJoCal. I have been with my current company 6 years and only gotten TWO raises at 2 and 3% each. Lots of my coworkers were the same or worse and jumped ship a long time ago. I have remained loyal because I believe in what we are doing as a company (and it doesnt hurt I am gaining good skills at the same time). Soon, it will be raise time again. Since last year, I have gotten my CISSP and became a security architect on a project. I would hope this would warrant something, but if it doesnt, then maybe I could benefit from looking elsewhere. My coworker told me I should look out for myself not the company and I am guessing loyalty isnt what it used to be. My company seems to not care whether you leave or not. I really hope this isnt the case. As JoJoCal said, it takes more time and resources to train and bring in new people than it does to simply level off and raise up your current people.

puertorico1985

My current company gives out 3% raises every year as long as you get a good review.

no!all!

I believe I got a .63 cent raise after my first year

Danielm7

Pre-recession I worked for a company that valued IT, 10%+ raises if not more depending on how the company did. Now, my current company I haven't seen a raise and I've been here almost 2 years. I'm actively interviewing though. As everyone else said, if you don't take care of your talent they will find someone who appreciates them.

jibbajabba

Didn't know companies still give raises .. haven't seen one in years .. If anything I went backwards ..

RHEL

The funny thing is how salary really makes all the difference. 4.5 years ago a 2.5% raise on my $36K salary would have gotten me $900. If I had stayed with the same company, assuming regular raises, it would have taken me 28 years to reach my current salary of low-70s -- now getting $1800 off that 2.5%.

If companies are going to offer

% raises to reward and retain talent, why wouldn't they hop companies? My example above is reason enough.

jibbajabba

RHEL wrote: »

why wouldn't they hop companies? .

Convenience. Some people don't really progress either and wouldn't get a better paid job .. but I agree .. only way to get more money nowadays seems moving ....

Heero

MSP-IT wrote: »

I honestly don't understand how employers can justify this, ESPECIALLY universities. The cost of tuition has increased substantially in the past 10 years, and 2% a year doesn't even keep up with the average inflation rate over the last 10 years. The ratio between tuition inflation to the dollar inflation ranges between 1.5 to 2 a year according to the DoE.

If it is anything like the university I worked for, you typically only got a significant raise for a promotion. Otherwise, it was typical 2-3% COL adjustment. The way to get raises for employees was to create promotions within the same job, such as Network Engineer 1,2,3,4,5. Each is it's own level and was considered a promotion which typically came with a 7% or so raise or more.

Deathmage

gosh I guess I'm doing better at my current job than most. I got a 12% increase last August but it wil probably be the highest it will ever be. My boss doesn't take my skill sets seriously and doesn't appreciate them.

RHEL

I've always assumed anything over 2-3% would have to be in the form of a promotion... Especially in a larger organization.

kohr-ah

Job 1 -
Raise 1 = 12% (Moved to new client)
Raise 2 = 12% (Moved to new client)
Raise 3 = 10% (Promoted)
[All together this came to about 10k over 4 years]

Job 2-
No Raise

Job 3-
Not sure yet but been told it is 2% for cost of living but they do bonuses.

MSP-IT

Are there internal caps for certain promotions within the same organization? I'm looking at holding out for a pen-testing position in my current company, but could I expect a decent raise if the HR manages all finances? I believe there is somewhat of a grading system with minimum grades for certain positions.

Heero

RHEL wrote: »

I've always assumed anything over 2-3% would have to be in the form of a promotion... Especially in a larger organization.

It just depends on how the organization does it. Most places that are smart about employee pay are flexible. Being locked into some strict pay structure for employees can make it hard to attract and retain talent.

daviddws

I should find out if I get a 2% raise this month, but I put in a request for a 10K increase because of cost of living in my state and the new position I am in. Crossing my fingers on this one, otherwise I will be back on the market.

pitviper

We have invisible caps – They aren’t published anywhere but we’re constantly told that we’re at the “high end” for the position. Of course that is an awful message to send to a top level employee (especially when the positions in question fetch 10-20k more around here).

Khaos1911

I've never gotten less than 3%, we (Or I ) have gotten 3.5% per year for the last 5 years or so, but I have a high salary for this area, so I'm not complaining.

the_Grinch

I'm looking at a 6% raise in August I believe. First time I have ever gotten above 3%...

jdancer

Only sure fire way to get a raise is to get another job.

jibbajabba

Companies in the UK don't even care about inflation increases. I haven't gotten one in 5 years. To make matters worse, train companies are allowed to increase prices above inflation as well. When I started working in London, my annual ticket was £4,200 ($7,200) now three years later the same ticket is £4,900 ($8,300) per year. Electricity and Gas (not petrol but house gas) increased by about 30% andngas (car) increased by about £0.60 ($1) per gallon. Council tax (we pay tax for the privilege to have a roof) increased by 16%.

Salary: no raise, changed job and earn less.

shodown

As already been said if you want a real raise you have to leave the company. Don't love the company, because they won't love you back. You can be in a great place, but they don't pay your bills and if SHTF you could be out the door. Get as much as you can while IT is still paying. We are in for some changes, and its best that everyone learns how to be able to survive with whats coming in the future. So get it now and take care of you and your family.

JasminLandry

no!all! wrote: »

I believe I got a .63 cent raise after my first year

I got a raise of .22 cent but it was only after 5 months, I wasn't even supposed to get one anyway since it hadn't been a year so I'm not complaining even though it wasn't much.

RomBUS

I have never received a raise since my first IT job (if things would've been different I would've stayed until today)

At my current location, we only received a 2% incentive for staying with the company after we changed location. Never a raise because of performance. I do not even think I will get a review this year...

boobobobobob

I think raises in the 2-5% are the norm, I usually get 4% per year. I think it's odd that people aren't getting pay raises every year... every position I've held gave yearly increases.