This is an intriguing topic but I would say all the responses only analyze this at the superficial first ten years of a career level. Now granted this is an MMM forum where the entire "career" of someone who can do everything the "right" way and save a substantial portion of their income and FIRE in 9 years of less, so I get that. However, at some point nothing will help you get an increase, job hopping or staying, because you've maxed out the real pay you can get for that skill set. Talking in percentages is just misleading. I once got a 33% raise staying at my current company. Is it more impressive if that happened when I was already making $75K (as I was), or if I was making $30K? I think everyone agrees that the former is more difficult because that percentage is many more real dollars to the company budget. As a manager looking to hire people I have developers who are making $100K thinking they can ask for 20% more because it is not worth it for them to switch jobs for less, however for the skill set they have (about 5 years of experience) they are really maxed out at what any reasonable employer will pay them. It does not compute that the reason they have been looking for this new job for a year and been unsuccessful is because they have hit the ceiling of the earning power at this point.
As a manager I also will not go to HR to make the case from someone who has shown that they are simply going to bolt when they do not get a 10% raise. Like it or not the reality is it is not sustainable to give 10-20% raises to internal employees when profit is not rising at that same pace. If we did you'd all go from making 100% of your salary to making 0% when the company shut down due to mismanagement. Not sure how that serves anyone. I get the need to get paid what you think you are worth, and it seems all the posters feel they are not there yet, but this entire discussion hinges on the fact that at some point the gravy train of job hopping stops and you need to get that you are making a very good wage and be satisfied.
My personal experience was that most of my increases were not from job hopping. Only my first increase worked that way. I have been sitting at "enough" for over a decade but yet got increases well above the 3%-6% at most employers for various reasons even after that. Being satisfied and realizing you are fairly compensated is a key view to have and one that I do see is lacking in many, many people I interview or who report to me. I think looking for a manager who know what you are worth is key to feeling valued. I fought, and fought hard, and usually won for good employees that I felt were underpaid. I got a 40% increase for my help desk person a few years back and several double digit raises for a key programmer. Trying to do that without a manager to push for you, is nearly impossible.
mmm...no. I'm at year 28 of my career. While I got decent raises the first decade with or without job hopping, they have been few and far between since. I've had some good bosses give me $6k here and there, which is nice. But their ability to do that is limited by upper management. So here I sit, at year 28, making approximately $30k a year less than is typical.
However during a few years of the last 5, I routinely hired or helped hire my compatriots with the same amount of experience (who job hopped), at $12k to 30k a year more.
At some point, maybe it is "enough", sure. A company that I used to work for was a start-up with mostly PhDs, a few engineers, and some technicians. The majority of the PhDs were making over $100k to start (so figure, $150-200k now), and also made approximately $800k to $1M on the buyout. So...for them, generally, a 3.5% raise each year was "fine". In fact, one of the managers said that to his engineer. "Why do you even want a raise? If you enjoy your job, that is what counts." Well, sir, making it on $54k is a far cry from making it on $120k, especially when your experience level has grown exponentially.
I look at the people on here who jump around and get big raises. Some (like Chris22) are in jobs that don't appeal to me in the slightest. Most have the luxury? of moving. I realize that at some point, I had to make the decision to take "comfort" and "flexibility" instead of money, as I have two children (and had the 2nd one at 42). I'm *just* now coming out of the craziness of having a young child/ no sleep/ no time to myself. Only now would I be able to take on the extra work of a new job/ new learning. However, I don't have the luxury of moving to a new location. Some of that was chicken-or-egg. In my personal experience, I decided on flexibility *after* it was clear that I'd hit the ceiling in my particular company. At some point, when working all out and getting everything needed accomplished and taking on more responsibility - when you aren't rewarded, it's time to say "eff it".