Boss told me no raise at year end

I work at a BB and had my year-end performance review. The review went great, but at the end of the review, my boss told me that they don't give out any raises during year end. I find it hard to believe that bonuses would be given out at the end of the year, but any talk of comp raises would be deferred to the middle of the year. This was my first review, so I'm not sure how this works.

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I would double check that they meant the timing of the raise is not at the end of the year vs we are not giving out a raise this year vs we do not give out any annual raises unless promoted. There’s a huge difference between those scenarios and I know I would want clarification.

Unfortunately, I received news that we are not given annual base adjustments in general. I know this is rare for a finance job like this but if it happened to me, there is a slight possibility that it could happen to others.

 

I work at a MM firm and our policy is no raises until your promoted, and even then they are apparently minimal. It upsets me because I was promoted 1.5 years ago to a level 2 associate and going on 5 years of total experience (2 in ER), and the firm is starting out undergrads who can't do a Vlook up at the same salary that I'm getting paid. 

Was told that the only way to get a raise without a promotion is to get an offer from another firm and then they will negotiate/match. 

 

I have heard of the no raise until promotion model at other firms as well, as some firms opt to scale the bonus up each year (also varied by performance) rather than base salary. But in a year where bonuses are likely well below last year, that seems like a lose lose situation where more of your comp is at risk of being cut, yet no base salary increase to help soften the blow. 

 

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