Why do I never get a pay rise or promotion?

I work in an industry that is highly competitive, but at the same time under-rated and some skills are scarce. I have been working in this industry for seven years, yet somehow I am still on the same salary as I was three years ago. I know that to get a pay rise, I need to “skill up”. In my spare time, I need to work on skills that pay more money then somehow (if possible) implement them into my everyday projects.

I have been made redundant once before. It felt horrible, and it took me about six months to get another full-time job in the industry. In that time I was able to freelance a bit, but that still wasn’t the equivalent salary as a full-time job. Given the instability of this industry and the fact that it’s moving so quickly with so many workers out of jobs, I thought it would be great to have a back-up income or a side hustle. I strongly believe that you should not put all your “income eggs” in one basket. Especially when you have a family of your own to support, this is most important. You may not have children yet, but one day you will and this is something to consider.

So here are the Pros and Cons of not getting that pay rise or promotion:

Pros:

• You will have more time to spend with your loved ones.

A raise or promotion often means more responsibility, therefore less work/life balance. There is an old saying that says “No amount of money ever bought a second of time”. Yes, you will have family and friends that are much better off than you on social media always going on holidays and buying expensive things. What is going on behind the scenes though? If they have children, most likely their day to day life is that their children are being raised by a nanny or childcare workers and their parents rarely get to spend time with them as they are always at work. They miss things like sports carnivals, school concerts, and other activities. So yes, they might get paid more – but the trade-off is they are missing key moments of their child’s life. As for the parts you see on social media? That is probably the longest amount of time they have spent with them all year.

• You can spend more time on a side hustle (or back-up income as I like to call it)

Having that side hustle means that you might be able to drop that main source of income one day (even to part-time) and focus more on other things that are important to you (raising a family, travel, looking after your parents etc). This income might not be fully passive, but hopefully, it won’t take up as much time as a full-time job.

Cons:

• Less money. This is an obvious one, but not always bad. As the old saying (and a bit of a cliche) goes, “Money can’t buy happiness”. I firmly believe that. However, money can buy financial stability which does reduce stress which in turn does not make you unhappy. 

So here you go, the next time you hear of friends or family going on holidays with their children or buying new cars or other expensive items, know that this is not their life. It’s a sad fact, but their day to day probably consists of them missing out on their children’s accomplishments.