I have a question. Your question begs the question (in the classic sense), by presuming that everyone gets a raise every year. In the industry I’ve worked in for more than the last decade, nobody gets a raise every year. Almost everyone’s comp is based on very objective metrics. Bill more, get paid more. Increased technical skills lead to higher billing rate, leads to higher variable compensation.
So my question is, do you think that another year on the job is a good reason for an employer to pay more for the same services? Shouldn’t raises (and compensation in general) be based on more objective measurements, like merit, performance, absolute value, and capped by comparable rates and conditions within the market place?
This presumption that another year on the job is good cause for a raise, absent other measurements, bugs the hell out of me.
