The key facts

  • The best time to talk about a salary is after a successful project, an increase in workload, or before the company's budget is approved
  • Scheduled indexation — about 8–9%, moving to a higher position — 15–40%, changing employers — 10–20%, sometimes 20–30%
  • Pay is reviewed more often in IT, sales, marketing, energy, finance, medicine, and catering

When to ask for a raise

The best time to discuss a pay raise is after completing a successful project, an increase in workload, or an expansion of responsibilities. Another suitable moment is the period before the company's budget is approved. This was told to Gazeta.Ru by Yuriy Shedko, Doctor of Economics and professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

Which arguments work

In the expert's opinion, the conversation should be built around the benefit the employee brings to the employer. He named concrete results, increased responsibility, and a comparison of pay with the market level as strong arguments. At the same time, according to Shedko, a mortgage, personal financial difficulties, or long tenure by itself do not explain why the company should increase compensation.

The size of raises

The size of the raise depends on the way income is increased. Scheduled indexation can give about 8–9%, moving to a higher position — 15–40%. When changing employers, the salary growth can be 10–20%, and in some cases 20–30%. The economist emphasized that these figures are not a guarantee: the result depends on the profession, qualifications, and the specific offer.

Industry differences

According to Shedko, more frequent pay reviews are typical for IT, sales, marketing, energy, the financial sector, medicine, and catering. At small service enterprises, in agriculture, and in housing and utilities, opportunities for a raise may be more modest. Earlier, Russians were promised an increase in the minimum wage.