“Employers posted a record 11.5 million job openings in March and the United States now has an unprecedented two job openings for every 1 person who is unemployed.” – Washington AP
You heard that right. There are currently 2 jobs available for every 1 person unemployed, meaning we are in an employees’ market. Companies are looking to hire and are unable to fill roles because there are not enough workers compared to available jobs. This is so important for you to know.
Your employer needs you to stay where you are. If you were to leave your employer, they would have a hard time filling that role and would end up needing to pay someone more and still train them. So what should you do to take advantage of this? Let’s look at it from two different situations.
If you are someone who hates your job, doesn’t find it enjoyable, lacks purpose or value there, etc. this is a great time to start exploring the market. There are so many jobs available out there that it is worth pursuing a job that you will like more. Who knows, you might even have the chance to go make more money by exploring this market. According to marketwatch, the average employee gets a 3% raise internally a year, but the average job changer gets 10%. That is a huge difference, and those numbers are even going up more as companies need to fill roles ASAP. Go explore what the market has to offer! You never know what is out there and how much you could get paid.
Your employer wants to pay you the least they possibly can while keeping you there. That is the harsh truth. Even if you are somewhere that wants to pay you what you are worth, they are not always going out and getting market data to see what your position should be paid. It is your job to go explore the market and see what someone in your position is getting paid and bring back the info to them.
You can either just grab this data and show them it as well as all the value you have brought (check out this blog post if you want to learn how to negotiate your salary) or you can actually go through interviews so you have hard offers to come back to your employer with. These offers can be used as hard data to prove what you are worth in the market. Use this as a bargaining chip! Too many people are scared to approach their employer and fight for what they are worth, but you have to!
No one is going to fight for your value unless you do! This is something you should be doing every year or at least every other year. Document your value. Show your worth. Fight for what you deserve to be paid. This is your market now! Take advantage of it.
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Disclaimer: none of this is advice, it is just for informational purposes. Talk with your financial planner before implementing any of these strategies.
Financial Advisor