Just wanted to share my little victory story of not taking shit from my boss.
I work in IT and I'm currently compensated as a junior, but for a while now I outgrew those shoes, and during my yearly formal evaluation I asked for a raise. Doing my research, 15% would have definitely been defensible, but I asked for 10% and would have found some number between 5 or 10% acceptable. Bossman would have none of it, gave me a list of reasons why I couldn't get a raise. The best was stupid bureaucracy stuff and the worst ones were really just nonsense, some were even mild to medium gaslighting. So I got nothing. After this the extra tasks kept piling on, advanced tasks like leading group projects and doing hiring interviews. Definitely not stuff that fits a junior pay. Additionally there should be 3 of us in my team but basically it's just me.
So I interviewed at 2 different companies looking for a senior and they both offered me the job. So I signed and handed in my resignation. Bossman incredibly surprised….management started panicking….they scrambled to make me a counteroffer too. But to match my new pay they'd need to give me a >30% salary increase.
So, bossman saved 5-10% by not giving me my raise, and now he'll have to hire my replacement at market rate, which would be +20% at the very least. Of course due to the labor market it'll almost definitely be an external consultant, which means another +20% to +30% on top. So that's easily 40% more cost. It will also take some months to fill the position, which is another cost, and the new guy will take some months to reach their full productivity.
Gambled and lost, is what we call that.