A Woman Talked About How a 2-4% Salary Increase Is a Cost-Of-Living Adjustment and Not a Raise

As prices rise and inflation stays high, we could all use a little more money in our pocket to pay our bills.

Gas is expensive, food is expensive, housing is expensive: basically, EVERYTHING IS EXPENSIVE.

And a TikTok user shared a video that went viral where she discussed her dissatisfaction with a 2-4% salary increase that she says really isn’t a raise at all.

The woman says that, instead of a raise, that salary increase is “a ‘cost-of-living adjustment.’”

Cost of living increases are common in salaried jobs, but the standard of 2-4% doesn’t seem to be cutting it these days for a lot of people, including this woman.

She continued, “The next step above that is a ‘merit increase,’ which means they’re paying you for the performance that you had in the past year. That generally ranges anywhere from 5 to 9%.”

She laid out that she thinks these small raises are causing people to change jobs more these days and that the 2-4% range is going to result in talented people leaving companies for better pay.

Take a look at what she had to say in her video.

@kyyahabdul If you are going above and beyond at wrk and you only got a 2% salary increase…don’t be afraid to assess your options #corporate #corporatetiktok #corporateamerica #careeradvice #careertiktok #careertok ♬ original sound – Kyyah Abdul

Now check out how folks reacted on Reddit.

One person said their recent merit increase felt like a demotion.

Another TikTokker laid out the work plan that she sticks to.

And this person pointed out that a merit increase this small doesn’t do anyone a whole lot of good. Good grief!

Let’s hope inflation continues to ease up so our dollar will go further!

Keep your fingers crossed!