So, What’s a Good Raise Right Now?

眼下，加薪多少算还行？

Inflation changes the math of pay raises

通胀改变了加薪的游戏规则。

Julia Carpenter

茱莉亚·卡彭特

Most Americans won’t get a big enough raise this year to keep up with inflation.

大部分美国人今年的加薪幅度都将赶不上通货膨胀的速度。

With consumer prices up 8.6% in May compared with a year ago, it’s hard to know what counts as a decent bump in salary. As higher prices for gas, food, and rent eat into our budgets, consumers are having to recalibrate the notion of value for nearly everything they buy. The same is true for the value of work, especially in a tight labor market where strong job growth and a 3.6% unemployment rate have prompted companies to spend to retain employees.

美国5月份消费者价格指数同比上涨8.6%，这种情况下，你很难知道什么样的薪酬涨幅才算像样。越来越贵的油价、食品价格和房租侵蚀着我们的预算，消费者几乎不管买什么，都得重新调整他们对商品价值的认知。而考虑工作价值时同样如此，尤其是考虑到当前劳动力市场紧俏，强劲的就业增长和3.6%的失业率促使企业不惜加大投入来留住员工。

For a baseline, it helps to consider a typical raise.

最起码，考虑一次平常的加薪也是有帮助的。

As of May 2022, the median annual wage growth for employees who stay at their jobs was 4.5%, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Though that figure is higher than the 3% to 4% raises people were getting in 2019 before the pandemic, it doesn’t come close to keeping up with inflation, said Nick Bunker, head of research for Indeed.com, the job listings website.

根据亚特兰大联邦储备银行（Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta）的最新数据，截至2022年5月，没换工作的员工薪资增幅中位数为4.5%。招聘网站Indeed.com的研究主管尼克·邦克尔（Nick Bunker）说，新冠疫情前，2019年的这一数字为3%至4%，尽管目前的增幅更大，但仍远远赶不上通胀的步伐。

“There’s nothing stopping you from asking for a raise at pace with inflation,” he said. “But there’s no guarantee you’ll get one,” Mr. Bunker said.

“没有什么能阻止你要求获得与通胀同步的加薪幅度。”他说，“但至于能否如愿，没人可以保证。”

Companies have increased budgets for merit-based pay raises this year. A Conference Board survey in December found employers set aside an average of 3.9% of total payroll for wage increases in 2022, the most since 2008. To retain employees, other companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. have also offered extra wage increases or one-time bonuses.

企业今年已经增加了基于员工绩效的加薪预算。世界大型企业联合会（Conference Board）去年12月的一项调查显示，用人单位2022年为加薪预留出的资金在发放工资总额中所占比重平均为3.9%，这一比例为2008年以来的最高水平。为留住员工，埃克森美孚（Exxon Mobil Corp.）、普信集团（T. Rowe Price Group Inc.）等企业还提供了额外的加薪机会，或是发放了一次性奖金。

By starting with 4.5% as a benchmark, workers should seek specifics about their industry and their performance to determine what might qualify as a good raise.

上班族可将4.5%作为基准，再结合各自的行业及个人表现的具体情况，以此决定什么样的加薪幅度才合适。

Yet disentangling Covid-era price increases and other factors from the core inflation rate doesn’t add up to “one magic number,” said Ruth Thomas, who handles pay equity at Payscale, a compensation software company.

在薪酬软件公司Payscale负责薪酬平等的露丝·托马斯（Ruth Thomas）说，从核心通胀率中拆分出疫情时期的物价上涨及其他因素还是不能得到“一个神奇的数字”。

Individuals are better off trying to calculate their own personal rate of inflation to understand how large a raise it would take to break even, much less gain purchasing power.

从个人角度说，最好试着计算一下你的个人通胀率，从而了解需要多大的加薪幅度才能实现收支平衡，暂且不提增加购买力。

Ms. Thomas said it helps to compare pay ranges for similar roles and find out what others at your level of experience are earning. Increasingly, companies are sharing salary ranges when posting listings for open roles. More than 25% of all job postings shared on LinkedIn now include salary information, according to the company.

托马斯说，如果可以对比类似职位的薪酬差异、知晓和你经验水平相当的人目前工资水平，会有所助益。如今，越来越多企业在发布空缺职位信息时会附上薪酬范围。据领英（LinkedIn）说，目前该平台上的所有职位信息中，带有薪酬信息的职位超过25%。

To gauge a given raise, ask your boss or HR how the company arrived at the number it’s offering this year, said Ms. Thomas.

托马斯说，在确定你想要的加薪幅度之前，先问问你的老板或人力资源部，公司是如何计算出今年的加薪标准的。

“If I was asking for a pay raise internally, I would be wanting to ask some key questions,” she said. “‘How do you benchmark my salary to market?’ and ‘Is there a pay range for my role if I wanted to increase my pay?’ ‘What would I have to do to increase my pay?’”

“如果我想申请内部加薪，我会问一些关键问题。”她说，“你们如何根据市场情况来衡量我的薪资？要是我想加薪，我的职位会有一个薪酬范围吗？我要怎样做才能获得加薪？”

If larger merit raises aren’t on the table – and may not be as companies are looking to conserve cash in the current market – companies may be willing to offer spot bonuses, one-time payments to recognize performance or boost retention.

假如企业不考虑更大力度的绩效加薪——有可能真是如此，因为企业在当前市况下会考虑储备现金——它们或许愿意通过发放即时奖金和一次性款项来表彰员工业绩、提高留职率。

Changing jobs is another option. Those who changed roles or employers in the past three months saw 6% wage growth, compared with the 4.5% for those who stayed at the same job, according to the Atlanta Fed.

换工作则是另一种选择。根据亚特兰大联邦储备银行，比起仍在原岗位的上班族4.5%的薪资涨幅，过去三个月中经历过职位变动或是跳槽的人薪资涨幅为6%。

Employers are placing a premium on recruiting new talent – and many are paying for it, too. Big pay jumps are usually associated with new roles or promotions, as those bring expanded scopes of authority or responsibility, said Hannah Bowles, senior lecturer in public policy and management at Harvard University.

雇主们很重视招聘新人才——许多雇主愿意在这方面花钱。哈佛大学（Harvard University）公共政策与管理学高级讲师汉娜·鲍尔斯（Hannah Bowles）说，大幅加薪通常与新职位或晋升联系在一起，因为它们意味着比以往更大的权威或责任。

“I’m hearing from people who aren’t jumping ship and they are saying ‘Look at the rates at which these folks are coming in!’” Prof. Bowles said.

鲍尔斯教授说，“我听到一些没有跳槽的人说，‘瞅瞅这些新人的薪酬！’”

Though raises can be higher when jumping ship, staying with your current employer can make you more valuable in the long run if you can deepen a skill set or learning new ways to advance, Prof. Bowles said. So as awkward as a transparent conversation about pay may initially feel, understanding how your company establishes these benchmarks will benefit you.

鲍尔斯谈到，虽说跳槽可以获得更大幅度的加薪，但留在原东家，如果可以更深入地掌握某项技能，或是学会新的进取之道，那么从长远来看，你会变得更有价值。因此，尽管开诚布公地谈论薪酬问题一开始可能难免尴尬，但在此过程中了解企业如何设立薪资标准会给你带来好处。

“Think about ‘How am I setting myself up, not just in this moment, but over a longer time horizon?’” she said. “It’s critical to think of the bundle of attributes you’re trading off. Money is one of them, but if you’re focused on long-term earnings, set yourself up for occupational advancement.”

“想一想‘我该如何规划自己？不仅是当下，还要放眼更长远的未来。’”她说，“要考虑一系列需要权衡的问题，这一点至关重要。钱是其中一方面，但如果你看重的是长期回报，就应该为职业发展做好规划。”