By | Alicia Adamczyk | www.cnbc.com
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Right now might be the opportune time to ask your boss for a raise.
That’s what my co-worker Abigail Johnson Hess found after speaking to a few economists about the current labor conditions in the U.S. In addition to rising inflation, there are labor shortages in some industries — particularly leisure and hospitality — that can give employees a leg up in asking for more money.
“Workers have employers over a barrel for a little while,” Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute, told her. “I don’t think it’s going to last all that long. But for now, I think workers see the higher inflation, they see employers in some sectors are pretty desperate to attract workers, and they think ‘I’m gonna go for it.’”
That’s good news for U.S. workers, who, on average, have experienced pretty sluggish wage growth over the past few decades.
That said, asking for a raise can be a scary prospect (I’ve been there). You want to strike the right balance between advocating for yourself and illustrating your value to your company, which isn’t always easy to do.
But there are a few tried-and-true tricks that can help you secure a bigger paycheck. If you want to ask for more, here are three tips to get started.
