I Wanna Pay Rise

It’s Thursday night and I’m watching the footy when the phone rings.

It’s Ted.

He’s usually in bed by this time so I take the call just in case.

“I’m effing sick of this sh*t!” he fumes.

He’s out in the western suburbs pricing up a job for his team of twenty tradesmen and he won’t be home until midnight.

And then he’ll be up at 4.30am ready to open the workshop at 6am for his workers. Most of them will arrive at 5.59am dragging their heels.

It’s also payday and he knows by this time next week they’ll be skint again. More spending, than saving.

Ted feels the same way a lot of other business owners do right now. He’s had a gut full.

His employees want more while his clients want to pay less.

The problem is the trade unions and most of the cardigans in Canberra think every business is making record profits like BHP and CBA.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Especially for the small-medium business sector which makes up 47% of the economy.

As an adviser, I see both sides every week.

Employees and employers are getting squeezed by inflation and rates, particularly borrowers and business owners.

But here’s the thing.

Unemployment is currently at a fifty-year low which means there’s a smorgasbord of jobs available for workers. They can pick and choose at will.

The danger is workers think it will stay that way the same way most people believed interest rates would stay lower for longer. Until they didn’t.

In March 2021, I made a video for our clients warning them inflation would scream and rates would go up well before 2024.

Last week I sent them an update.

In summary, I said rates have now gone up further and faster than expected which will most likely hike us into a recession.

The impact on the economy will be like a python trying to swallow a pig.

The cost of doing business, especially labor, has become too much for a lot of small-medium businesses and they’ve had enough.

They’ve spent two years fighting Covid and now they have to fight rates and inflation.

They’re exhausted.

Most of them would be better off on someone else’s payroll instead of their own. They’d make more money and get their life back.

So here’s my advice for anyone seeking a pay rise.

Think ‘we’ instead of ‘me’.

Instead of putting your hand out for more dough, ask your employer how you could add more value to their business. Make yourself recession proof.

If a member of our team came to me and said…

“Hey Adam, how could I help you help me get a pay rise?”

I’d be over the moon! (after I got over the shock).

It would be fun too!

We could co-create some great ideas and they’d make a lot more money than the piddly amount they need to fight inflation.

It’s negotiating 1.01 but very few people do it.

Think win/win instead of win/lose. Your boss will appreciate it and I bet you’ll be the last person he or she considers letting go in a recession.

It also means you won’t be out at midnight looking for work.

Don’t expect the fire to keep giving you more heat without throwing some wood on it.

Have a great weekend!

Adam