I think my boss is mentally living in 2002. Because when I told him I needed a raise, since my salary wasn’t keeping up with the cost of living, he laughed. Then, once he composed himself, he asked if I was joking, I said no. Then he proceeds to tell me that a $58,000 a year salary is more than enough to live off of. I’m single and live in Memphis, my salary barely covers the rent. What’s my next move here?

That is so out of touch. Cost of living has changed so much, and $58k does not stretch like it used to. Honestly, I would start quietly looking for a new role while you still have this one. A boss who laughs at a raise request is not someone who is going to invest in you.

You should not be asking for a raise “since your salary isn’t keeping up with the cost of living.” If you’re asking for a raise, it should be because you’re providing more value to the company in some way. Because you’ve grown your skills, because you’ve exceeded the expectations they had for you when you were hired, because your responsibilities have changed, because of something else. When costs increase for you due to inflation, they increase for the company as well.

Median household income in Memphis is $51k. For “non-families” (single people living alone or with others) is $38k (according to worldpopulationreview.com, which I know nothing about). So that would indicate that $58k is, in fact, more than enough to live on. But you might have to find a different place to rent, or get some roommates.

Others have said he isn’t qualified to say what you can live on. That’s true - but OP brought it up. If you bring up your personal finances in a conversation with your boss, then he’s entitled to tell you his opinion. Keep it professional. Don’t talk about your personal finances; talk about your value to the company.

Where can you live anywhere ear Balto for 1k a month? Try 2k minimum to start on the low end for Balto and Harford Cos. Downtown is very expensive, especially if you live in a safe area.

58k a year that is a good salary, the cost of living in Memphis rent should be 1.2k and that's in a decent part of town, if you feel like your not getting paid enough then find a new job or a new skill

I haven't found a manager that is going to respond to this well, unfortunately. Wishing you luck

Find a new job and dip see if he laughs when he's short handed

Do your due diligence and begin seeking another opportunity that aligns with your transferrable skills. Never advise to managers that you're unable to live on the current income. Your manager doesn't have the final say as far as what can be allocated. Unless you know the company's budget for the quarter or for the year. You will never get that raise. Also, hone in on the tasks you are completing and update your resume every other day. If you have learned a new skill, add that to your resume and shop your resume. Be professional and provide notice once you have received an offer elsewhere. When asked why you want to leave your current role. Advise that you are seeking growth that aligns with your transferrable skills along with the new skills you have acquired. I hope this helps! If you need help with obtaining new skills, check with LinkedIn, Verizon's Free Classes, Harvard's Free Classes, and any other institute that can provide a certificate that will assist with increasing your salary.

go next to work for another company

Your next move is take responsibility back of your salary. Your salary is not dependable on the manager but on your ability to add values in what you do. Make yourself become so valuable that if the manager doesn't see it, someone else will. Make yourself so valuable that if you choose to apply elsewhere someone will take you up at the salary that you want. Take control back of your life and make yourself become valuable.

Unfortunately, many bosses—across industries—tend to resist salary increases, often citing outdated benchmarks or failing to recognize the economic shifts affecting employees. The reality is that wages should reflect inflation, market trends, and the actual cost of living, not just what seemed reasonable decades ago.

If you see that your boss is still working in the same company, because he is enjoying his salary raised and is sufficient. In many enterprises in Canada , the employees do the jobs and management takes the credit for bonuses , pay raise and they give peanuts to employees. Management can enjoy,abusing expenses , going on business trips some accompanied by their family and put a expenses to company. Have taxes refund etc...without any overview of their cashflow...then we are not financially performing and laid off employees...The labor laws in Canada is not enough severe neither side by employees in distress. It really sucks.

I wouldn’t trivialize your boss’s opinion by making fun of their age (thé 2002 comment). That attitude is just not going to get you anywhere and if it gets repeated to your boss you could get fired since age discrimination is a form of harassment. Also it’s not outdated to think employees only get pay raises when they are deserved. Its not up to your employer to determine how much you should be paid off your individual set of bills. It’s your responsibility to live within your means or increase how much money you’re earning by other means. Ie take a second job.. or..

If you think you deserve a higher paying salary then try applying to other jobs and ask for a higher rate. If what your brining to the table hasn’t changed much since you were granted the $58k salary, then you would be hard pressed to find someone who is going to give you a much higher salary. Probably the highest you’ll find is around $65k which in the grand scheme of things you’ll realize this only works out to a couple hundred more per check. So you’re really just going to need to reduce your expenses and discretionary spending.

If your expenses are too high you need to focus on reducing those since that’s what’s within your power. You need to create a budget and see where you can reduce your bills. You might need to take on a roomie for a couple of years. That along would likely solve any imbalance in your cash flow since roomies would split rent and utilities. And possibly groceries in some cases (that could also lead to conflict so up to you).

I think he laughed because it is so outrageous to have to have this conversation not based off merit. You should never have brought in your personal finances as a reason why you deserve a raise. That’s just NOT how the world works.

If you had started that conversation by outlining your accomplishments and the value they have brought the company then you would have gotten off on the right foot to then asking your boss if you had earned a raise and if not then what all would be expected from you to get a promotion.

Your next move is to re-evaluate how your accomplishments at the company have made them more profitable or improved their efficiency. If your work doesn’t entail those kinds of changes then you should volunteer to take on projects that will provide greater impact so long as you believe you’re ready to succeed at them.

The other part of that is patience, just because you volunteer to oversee a new project doesn’t mean you’re going to be immediately offered a higher salary but what it does mean is that your boss will respect you taking initiative to prove you are a worthy employee of a higher salary and more responsibility. That’s how careers progress in the corporate world. If you think you need to find a new employer who will pay you more out of the gate then you’re going to find yourself jumping from job to job. Not that that’s a bad strategy early on in your career but eventually you’ll realize that constantly rolling over your 401K and starting over at a new company ever year or two has its serious disadvantages.

Either way, your next move is to prove that you are worthy of a promotion or that you are willing to do the work that will command a higher salary. Your manager will respect that attitude far more than believing your entitled to get paid whatever you decide.

Best of luck

Find a better one and then leave this one. Otherwise cut down your cost of living expenses if you want be stuck with the same boss. You have to see if his business is doing well or not. Definitely if his business is down, then he wont increase your salary, but if his business is good and you are working your pants off, yet he is not acknowledging you. Then you need to change.

Take your transferrable skills and past skill set to the employment market because you are not being valued. Unless you really love this company and feel it's the best place and fit for you. I train my team to work hard and learn. I also look out for them. However! If one of them came to me about another opportunity they feel fits them better, I'm their biggest advocate for taking what I've given you and better yourself. Even if it's not with the company. See what's out there for you.

Your boss laughed not because he’s out of touch but because it is such a rookie mistake to ask for more money based off your bills. Does your company have competency models? If you don’t know what those are they are basically drafted by HR that outline the merits of being promoted within your field (ie Business Analyst, Software Engineer, etc). Going in with a competency model where you can provide examples of how you consistently are meeting or exceeding the expectations of a level higher than where you currently are.

I’m not trying to preach to you off “best practices”. I’ve lived both sides of this. My first job out of college I went in and did the same thing complaining about cost of living and HR basically redirected the conversation to what have you brought the company. This might have been the way your boss should have handled the situation because ultimately once we focused on the value I could bring the company, HR realized that I was overdue for a pay raise and a title promotion. More recently I went into a meeting with my supervisor with a print out of the competency model highlighting all of the areas where I far exceeded my current level. I never brought up my personal finances (which were struggling at the time) because to do so would deflect from the accomplishments I had and would have turned the conversation from merit to charity.

It’s very possible that your company doesn’t have a competency model. Mine only just released these earlier this year. If that’s the case though then you still need to present examples of where your work significantly exceeded what was expected of you and what kind of additional work you are ready to take on alongside a promotion.

Even after all that your boss may feel that you haven’t quite earned it but at least now he will respect the conversation you had and work with you to find new opportunities to grow your skills and whatever else is expected before they promote you.

Eventually you will earn a promotion, sooner than later, and the keyword there is EARN.

In the meantime, I’d recommend finding a roommate. It’s a rite of passage in life. Sometimes it’s a wonderful experience and sometimes it’s a disaster but either way its sometimes a necessity.

Continue to do a good job at work; and meanwhile start sending out applications.

He's testing you whether you can defend the need for your raise. All managers do it.
Answer with:
1. Standard increase in living costs - official per published statistical data
2. Increased workload - where you started and where you're now.
3. Mention sustainability - show how much people at this role sell at the moment.

When in my 20s in the 1980s, I had to have a roommate or work 2 jobs if I wanted extra spending money beyond food and rent - and this was with a college degree, so this is not a new problem as many people think. It was unkind for your boss to laugh, but they are being hit with inflation too (plus rising healthcare costs, costly regulations, etc), and can’t just raise prices to pay you more. You have some options though - get some training/education for a job that pays better, change to a different type of job that pays more, or find a way to reduce your expenses. The bottom line is that your future pay is in your hands, not the company’s.

I don't think he was laughing at you because you asked for a raise. I think he was laughing at "how you did it". You can't just go into your boss and tell them, "I'm falling behind on my bills. Can you give me a raise?"

When you need a raise, you have to create a data driven argument to show the company that giving you a raise is smarter than not giving you one.

You want to show them the monetary value you bring to the company, and then, you politely ask if they can come up to a number that YOU have figured out. Don't ask them to do it for you. They're not your parents, they can't read your mind or your financial statements, and they don't know what you need.

Also, a role like customer success manager is directly to sales that helps improve the company's growth. It is VERY easy to prove your worth to a company in such a role. Your boss may have numbers to show you may not be worth giving a raise.

Come up with your own and show them why they're making a mistake.

The fact that you’re working for someone who would disrespect you and laugh at you when you’re asking a professional question is the issue, Not that he’s out of touch. This person doesn’t respect you and will never see your value. Use this position as a stepping stone, get your resume together, connect with strong recruiters and go get a job where you will be valued.

Get your resume updated and take a leap of faith to seek another position that aligns with your needs.