It infuriates me to no end that companies gaslight employees with ‘raises,’ when you aren’t actually making anymore money. If inflation is 2% and you get a 2% increase, that’s not a ‘raise’. It’s a decision by the company to keep your wages stagnant. If inflation is 7%, and you get a 2% increase, it’s a decision by the company to decrease your wage by 5%.
Let’s stop letting companies use this wording. A ‘raise’ should be normalized to mean anything beyond the current years’ inflation PLUS the correct inflation adjustment for all previous years you worked for a company.
I’ve spoken to so many employees who say that they’ve gotten a ‘raise’ each year. But the ‘raise’ is only 1-2%. If you’ve gotten a 1-2% increase each year, it’s likely that you’ve NEVER received a raise. Your wages gave stayed stagnant.