Real wages have been flat for more than 50 years

“Real wages” is a fancy-schmancy economics term for your wages minus inflation

Inflation far outpaces raises

This means the average worker has never actually received a meaningful raise in their entire life

But productivity has increase by 300%

This means the average worker is either 3x more efficient in the same 40 hours, or they are working 1/3 of the hours.

Are you working 13.33 hours per week right now?

So where did all our productivity go?

CEO pay has increased by 351% in that same time

All increases in productivity & then some have been paid out in the salary of CEOs for our entire lives

Quitters earn more

Employees who stay in companies longer than two years get paid 50% less over a 10 year period [link]

Quitters earn fucking more!

The average annual raise is 3%.

The average raise from quitting & getting a new position is 20% [link]

Quitters prosper

20% of employees must quit to progress in their position [link]

Know your worth

Figure out what the average person gets paid for the same position in your area

Good sites to use are glassdoor, levels.fyi, & blind

Update your resume, portfolio website, linkedin, etc.

This awakens the bots of the internet & puts you on recruiter’s radar

It Helps you realize how far you’ve come & that you are worth more than you are currently paid

Apply like crazy

You have an 8.3% chance of getting an offer from a single job application [link]

So apply to 200+ jobs.

Don’t be discouraged. Every rejection is practice for the next potential position

Always negotiate your starting salary

Only 39% of workers negotiate their salary [link]

The average negotiator earns 13.3% more [link]

Never give your salary first. If asked, push the question back to them & ask for their position’s salary range.

Don’t take the counter-offer!

Be wary. They could be using it to make you stay just long enough to find your replacement.

If they had the budget to give you a counter-offer to stay, why didn’t they just give you that money during your last review? This shows they know you are worth more than you are being paid.

Corporations are not your friends. On a long enough time line, they will fuck you

Always compare Total Compensation (TC)

• Salary
• Healthcare Benefits, especially HSAs
• 401k Matching
• RSUs

All benefits have a dollar amount. Figure it out

Always go remote if possible. No more wasting time commuting to an office

Happy Birthday Steven

My gift to you is this website, this domain (for 10 years), & the knowledge contained herein

Don’t ever make me do this again

Thank you!

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index [link]
• “Why You Need To Quit Your Job Every Two Years” Dele Lowman [Link]

Source code @ https://github.com/wiggins-jonathan/stevenvukcevich.com