A Third of Workers Would Walk If the Pay Rise Never Comes, Survey Finds

More than one in four employees start looking for a new employer when a salary adjustment fails to materialise. That figure — 27 percent — comes from the kununu Gehaltscheck 2026, and it sets a blunt backdrop for anyone heading into a pay review this year.

The same platform's survey of 1,033 workers turned up another finding with direct consequences for managers: two out of three employees say they would be more willing to negotiate their pay if they knew what their colleagues earned.

Build the case before the meeting

Career advisers point to groundwork as the deciding factor. A credible position rests on research across at least three separate pay sources — job adverts, salary studies, and regional or sector-specific collective wage structures. Company size, years of experience and the precise scope of responsibility all shift the number.

Some countries offer public tools. In the Czech Republic, the labour ministry (MPSV) runs a fair-pay calculator for exactly this purpose. Polish labour law requires that remuneration match qualifications and the type, quantity and quality of work performed — though it does not create an automatic right to a raise.

Advisers also urge employees to quantify their own output using data from the past six to twelve months. Rather than vague claims, they suggest three or four concrete arguments: new clients won, revenue growth delivered, hours saved through automated processes, or a falling complaint rate.

Where pay appears out of line with colleagues, the advice is to compare duties, qualifications and management responsibility. Anyone who suspects pay discrimination on grounds of gender can examine whether statutory rights to information apply.

What not to say across the table

Wording carries unusual weight in these conversations. Opening with an apology, or softening the request with a phrase like "I just wanted to ask once", is explicitly discouraged.

Signalling in advance that you would settle for less weakens your hand just as surely. So does justifying a pay demand purely through rising living costs and bills, or drawing a bare comparison with colleagues without reference to your own performance.

A stronger approach: open with an open question, state the goal plainly, and put concrete figures on the table — for instance, a request for €4,500 gross per month, grounded in market value and measurable results. When the manager pushes back, counter with questions of your own.

When the base salary is fixed

Employees' leverage often comes from what a vacancy costs the other side. As the entrepreneur Gunnar Barghorn noted in a media report, refilling an empty post typically costs a company half to a full year's salary, sometimes more. Workers add to their position by preparing a Plan B and testing their market value through trial applications.

Timing matters too. Advisers recommend a dedicated meeting before the end of the year, while budgets for the following year are being planned. If the base salary genuinely cannot move, other parts of the total package are open to negotiation.

That list includes extra holiday days, flexible working hours, home-office arrangements, training allowances, travel subsidies such as job tickets, and contributions to company pension schemes.

Should the employer refuse any adjustment outright, staff should ask what conditions would need to change and fix a binding follow-up date to revisit the question. A written summary of what was agreed should go out by email the same day. If the manager will not commit to a follow-up meeting, the options usually narrow to accepting the status quo — or changing employer.