I worked for the same small business in a specialized technical field for 16 years. The entire time there my raises were small to non-existent despite the fact that I was exceptionally valuable to them and made them a ton of $$. I had hundreds of happy, loyal clients who I personally trained on the technology and solved every problem they could possibly throw at me. My clients loved me, knowing that I'd always take care of them and do it with professionalism, and a little bit of humor sprinkled in.
At the beginning of Covid, after a falling out, some legal entanglements, and a couple of tense years, the partner I worked more closely with was forced to sell his share of the business to the other partner…who is a sack of shit. The remaining owner then tasked me with writing a business plan for the half of the company the now departed partner ran. I told him that I would consider doing so, but only with appropriate compensation and advancement. He told me he'd see. Well, that wasn't gonna do it for me. I found myself up at night sweating the whole situation, and finally had what was apparently a full blown anxiety attack one weekend day. I came in the following day and laid down my truth. I would only proceed with running half his business on my terms. He told me that there wasn't a place for me there any longer. Fine. I had been considering leaving and pursuing a different career anyhow. Between my wife's comfortable salary, unemployment, and stimulus checks we would be fine.
Over the next 8 months, and with the support of my wonderful wife, I dove into learning about this new field, taking online courses and sending out resumes. Finally, I was hired by a fantastic, booming company in my new field doing challenging, satisfying work, at a higher salary, with excellent benefits, and a potential 10% annual bonus (which I did get). All told, my first year there I made about $10K more than my best year at my previous job, and I have since gotten an 8% raise. All while working in my dream field with people who respect and appreciate me, and vice versa.
Just this morning I received a facebook message from one of my former clients. I took real good care of this guy and in turn his small business was able to make good $ with the tech I trained and supported them on. He has had some turnover in his business and his new guy was sent to my former employer for training. After the training his guy is completely unable to process his data and no one at former employer is able to answer his questions and sort it out. Their work is very seasonal and this delay is costing him considerable money and delays for himself and for the other businesses in other facets of the projects. I made sure he was aware I had moved on and he acknowledged that but said he really needed my help.
I have agreed to help him, for a rather attractive rate (attractive to me that is). And I wouldn't mind at all if this somehow got back to former employer…because fuck that guy. He let one of his most valuable employees go over his over-inflated ego and inability to appreciate, and compensate fairly.
People, if you're not being treated justly at your job, don't be me. Don't wait for years languishing in a dead-end role, making far less than you're worth. There are plenty of other employers willing to show you their appreciation for your talents.