An Amazon employee has sparked a discussion online after highlighting the growing gap between salary hikes and rising living expenses. In a post shared on the workplace forum Blind, the single mother of two shared that while she received a double-digit increment, she had expected more given her workload.
“I ended up with a 10% base increase but I was kind of counting on more,” she wrote, adding that she is currently supporting two sons along with her ailing mother. “Daycare costs just went up again this year and i’ve been trying to put more aside for emergencies,” she said.
The employee further said that she had “worked my ass off this year” but was unable to spend enough time with her family, making the modest outcome feel disappointing. “I think I let myself get my hopes up a bit I know 10% isn’t the worst looking at blind but I worked my ass off this year and wasn’t even able to spend much time with my family because of it so this is a bit disappointing,” she said.
“I’m kind of stuck I know Amazon isn’t the best place to work or the worst place to work but I now need to take care of my sons and my mom I need something stable but the pay at Amazon isn’t cutting it… I feel like I’m not doing it right,” she added, asking others how they manage multiple dependents.
Social media reactions
The post drew a wide range of responses, with several users pointing to a broader slowdown in salary growth across the tech industry.
“10%? You’re lucky. We got 0 raise this year at Salesforce. No stock either,” one user wrote.
“Boo boo. A lot of us ‘worked our ass off last year’ at Amazon and got meets instead of exceeds because of stack ranking politics and manager favoritism. Be grateful you got exceeds with 10% raise,” commented another.
“10% is unheard of in this environment. I’ve gotten 1% for the last 3 years. Equity refresh was 27% lower too. Companies aren’t just giving raises anymore. You either need to get promoted or jump ship to another company for a higher level,” suggested a third user.
“Wow… firstly, 10% is a lot for amazon. Your personal problems does not matter to a company. If the pay is less you gotta switch. Budget allocation happens for a team, personal problems cannot be passed on to others or should favor someone,” wrote another.
“You are in a tough spot but Amazon pay and benefits are the top end. If you make some compromises on your lifestyle you should be able to make it work,” commented one user.
“I got 3% raise in 4 years – not 3% per year but 3% total in 4 years. I am questioning myself for staying at the same company now,” shared another.