‘What should I do if I’m promoted in title only, but get no pay raise?’

SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user who said they may get “promoted” without a corresponding increase in their pay—meaning it will be in name only—took to the platform to crowdsource wisdom as to how to handle the situation.

In a recent post on r/askSingapore, u/TheOne0003 asked if anyone has gotten “promoted” without a corresponding pay rise?

“I might face this situation next year. Say my current designation is ‘Manager of Rubbish Dumps’. Next year, it will be ‘Director of Rubbish Dumps and Public Toilets’ officially on paper.

“So it will involve wearing another hat and manager to director is a ‘promotion’, but the big big boss is keeping mum about the $,” they wrote, asking how others who have found themselves in this situation have navigated it.

The most upvoted comment on the post have it to the post author directly. It reads, “If no increment, it means it’s actually a pay cut.”

A Reddit user urged the post author to take it, at least for now, given the current state of the job market.

“I suggest taking it. Then once you have been promoted to ‘Director of Rubbish Dumps etc,’ , start looking for a job. The job market is not good atm. Then you can quote a higher expected salary to the new company and apply for director positions moving forward.”

A commenter who did this wrote, “I took the promotion without any pay increment, did the role for half a year so there’s relevant experiences to write in the resume and talk about achievements. Thereafter I started search for a job and found a role that had the same title but paid double the salary.”

Another agreed, saying that they would “Use the title to find another job while doing the absolute minimum for the additional title.”

Some commenters advised the post author to advocate for themself, with one writing, “Discuss your expectations directly with the boss. Politely lay out your reasoning. Ask if there’s any reason why the increment for taking on the new role hasn’t been discussed yet. Be prepared to state your % expectation in case he/she asks for it. Try to make him/her commit to a timeframe, if not immediate pay raise then ask for mid-cycle or next cycle.”

Another agreed. “Negotiate for increment. If you never ask for it, you never know isn’t it?

And sometimes they are just pushing their luck to promote without increment too. If people don’t negotiate, they won’t give increment. Such a thing exists.”

One netizen, however, had a completely different, if perhaps not easily achievable, take.

“Learn the ropes and start a new company to compete with your boss. It’s called ‘promoted outwards,’” they wrote. /TISG

Read also: ‘I don’t want to play this game’ — Man says his coworker turned hostile on him after promotion rumours