Underpaid - employer says to get an external offer

LloydXmas

I got a new manager in work and he basically admitted to me that I am well underpaid. To solve this he has advised to get an external offer from another company and he can then try to match this offer.

Now I actually believe this to be true as another colleague has just went through this process and has got a serious increase in salary as a result.

Personally I find it insulting and disrespectful to suggest this to me but i now feel like I have no other options. What would you do in this situation? Keep in mind, the job I do is highly skilled and while there are some jobs out there, they are few and far between for me to be getting job offers easily. I am frustrated. Any advice?

banie01

Get the external offer and accept it.
Inertia is a big barrier to wage growth, and an employer who knows that, yet chooses to tell an employee to get an offer to benchmark against!?!

I'd seriously question the value placed on Employees in that circumstance.

cannotlogin

You should tell him that if you go to the bother of getting an external offer you'll be accepting it.

Why would you stay accepting a below par salary?

LloydXmas

It’s not going to happen overnight to get another job given the specific nature of the job. That’s why I’m so frustrated cause it could be 6-12 months before I actually find something.

I’m seriously considering making up an offer and chancing my arm. Although getting fired for lying wouldn’t be the best idea either

dubrov

So is your manager your employer?

Jim2007

LloydXmas wrote: »

Personally I find it insulting and disrespectful to suggest this to me but i now feel like I have no other options.

It would be very strange for a manager to suggest you go seek another job, unless of course he or the company want to send you on your way. If you rock up with a job over then be prepared for "Oh we could not offer anything like that, see ya"

If he really wanted to support a salary increase he could simply use labour market statistics, job ads etc....

I suspect the process to manage you out has begun...

whoopsadaisy

LloydXmas wrote: »

I got a new manager in work and he basically admitted to me that I am well underpaid. To solve this he has advised to get an external offer from another company and he can then try to match this offer.

Now I actually believe this to be true as another colleague has just went through this process and has got a serious increase in salary as a result.

Personally I find it insulting and disrespectful to suggest this to me but i now feel like I have no other options. What would you do in this situation? Keep in mind, the job I do is highly skilled and while there are some jobs out there, they are few and far between for me to be getting job offers easily. I am frustrated. Any advice?

an employer counter offering when an employee tells them they have found a new job is, in my opinion, the most disrespectful move an employer can move - and even moreso when they know the reason youre looking to move is pay related. if they really felt you were worth the salary increase they give you when you hand in your notice, then they would have given it to you regardless and long ago. it's basically saying to you that they can't be bothered trying to find your replacement.

what your manager told you is a massive slap in the face. start looking for a new job straight away. doesn't matter if the process will take a year, you won't get the raise you're looking where you are so you need to start somewhere.

dennyk

whoopsadaisy wrote: »

if they really felt you were worth the salary increase they give you when you hand in your notice, then they would have given it to you regardless and long ago.

On the other hand, until you actually give notice, the evidence indicates that you are in fact willing to work for exactly what they're paying you, so with that in mind there's not much of a business case for paying you significantly more. Now, a smart company might keep an eye on the job market and preemptively offer some adjustments to a particularly good or key employee in order to give them less incentive to go looking elsewhere themselves, or at least listen and consider taking action if a critical employee is asking for a raise or grumbling about their pay, but that's pretty uncommon; in many industries, the only way to get more than a cost-of-living-plus-maybe-a-bit-extra pay rise is going to be switching jobs.

LloydXmas

I think u all are right, moving jobs is the only real solution. I could argue and get offers and stuff but I’m not sure it’s the right thing to stay in those circumstances.

My role is asking me to travel quite a bit soon, I am considering telling them that I am unable to travel anywhere. Bit vindictive from me I know but I’m not willing to put myself out any longer for a company who won’t listen to my concerns.

witchgirl26

If you can show a recent salary survey that indicates that you're being underpaid, you can try to get him to match that without going through the whole fake moving jobs thing. I did that before - proved that for the level I was at, I was being underpaid by about 5k and got the increase. Most of the bigger recruitment agencies do them.

wirelessdude01

I once left my large multinational due to not getting a promotion that I wanted. Went to a direct competitor. Was back employed by the multinational again within 7 months with a massive 42k increase between the two moves. If they had just given me the promotion in the first place I think it would have just been a 7k increase. Sometimes you just gotta look after yourself. Most employers don't care about their workforce.

dreamers75

The manager is spot on here, he probably doesnt control the budget and the financial people need a reason to give a person a rise.

The OPs scenario is sadly perfectly normal. I have done the same and would/will do it again.

If you like your current job do whats needed, if not leave for more money (not a fan of that doesnt always work out).

OMM 0000

LloydXmas wrote: »

I got a new manager in work and he basically admitted to me that I am well underpaid. To solve this he has advised to get an external offer from another company and he can then try to match this offer.

Now I actually believe this to be true as another colleague has just went through this process and has got a serious increase in salary as a result.

Personally I find it insulting and disrespectful to suggest this to me but i now feel like I have no other options. What would you do in this situation? Keep in mind, the job I do is highly skilled and while there are some jobs out there, they are few and far between for me to be getting job offers easily. I am frustrated. Any advice?

I don't agree with the bolded text at all.

It sounds like you have a clever manager.

He knows how the game works in your office, and he's telling you how he can get you a raise.

So you can take his advice and get a raise, or you can do nothing and be angry, or you can leave.

Try to look at this from the manager's perspective, and you can see he is risking his own career to help you.