Sometimes, starting again it’s not in the cards. Maybe you have some big changes in your life and can’t deal with another one, or simply, you just like where you are but want better benefits. In these situations, the better move is to ask for a pay rise where you already are.

It can be hard because nobody hands you the perfect moment to do it, but not impossible.

So, here’s how to work out whether you’re underpaid, how to build your case, when to have the conversation, and what to do if the answer is no.

How to find out if you’re underpaid

Have you ever checked what’s the current market rate is for your seniority and your job? There’s lots of free salary sites, but those numbers are self-reported, rarely verified, and often skewed by whoever felt like filling in a form that week. They are fine for a rough sense but not so useful in a conversation where your manager can push back.

Some other sources can be:

• The Eurostat salary calculator – It’s a free official EU tool that estimates gross wages by profession, region, age, education, experience, contract type and company size, for every member state. It runs on Structure of Earnings Survey microdata extrapolated to 2025. It won’t tell you what a senior fullstack developer earns in Lisbon, but it will tell you whether your number is normal for your profile in your country, and it comes from official EU statistics.
• Your national statistics institute – most countries publish earnings data by occupation and region.

• Live job ads for your own role – this is the most persuasive evidence you can bring, because it’s current and specific.
• Our Tech Talent Trends 2026 report also has salary data, by tech role and seniority if you want to learn more about portuguese salaries.

According to Eurostat, across the EU, hourly wages and salaries rose 3.7% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier, and 3.4% in the euro area. So a 2% pay rise can look good but two years of that and you’re already starting to get behind people doing your job elsewhere, without anything visibly going wrong.

When to ask for a pay rise

If your company runs an annual review, the pay rise budget is usually allocated before that meeting happens.

In most cases, the finance department sets the increase amount, managers divide it, and by the time you’re sitting across from yours with a well-prepared list of achievements, they’re telling you about a decision they already made. Be sure to ask for your pay rise earlier than that.

Ask your manager, in a one to one, when compensation decisions get made and what the process looks like. Then have the pay conversation a couple of months before that date, when your manager is still deciding what to argue for.

The same applies if you’re going for a promotion.

What to say when you ask for a pay rise

Your manager rarely is the person who approves the money. They have to go and make your argument to someone else, so why not help them make your case?

You can even write it for them but be sure to be short and specific. Here’s a list of things that can help you get started:

• What changed about your job: scope, ownership, systems you’re now responsible for or even people. Responsibility is a stronger argument than seniority.

• Focus on the outcomes: give them three results with numbers on them: what went faster, cost less, broke less often, shipped sooner.
• The market evidence you found and the specific number you’re aiming for. A figure you can explain, and a short reason why it’s that figure.

Negotiation researchers have looked at which approaches work in pay conversations, and assertive and collaborative approaches can often lead to better results than compromising ones.

What to do if the answer is no

A no is information, get as much of it as you can before the meeting ends.

Try to understand which of these three reasons is true in your case:

• “Not now.”: there’s no space in the budget and the timing is wrong. Fair enough, but make sure to ask: what date do we revisit this, and what number are we discussing then? Try to get it in an email.
• “Not for this.”: your manager doesn’t accept the case. Ask what would need to happen to make the pay rise a reality. If the answer is vague, maybe you need to start considering changing companies.
• “Not you.”: this is rare, and even rarely said out loud. If nothing you do seems to change your salary while people around you move, you’re probably not in the right match for your career. 

Something that you can also ask is: “if there’s no room for pay rise, could we discuss other benefits?”.

Salary and benefits are usually in different budgets, and the person who can’t change your salary this quarter can often approve training, equipment, extra days off or a change to how you work. 

And if the same conversation keeps happening and nothing changes, then yes, the job market is the answer. Just make sure you’re leaving because of what you learned and not because you never asked properly. 

The people who get paid well are the ones who make their own case, at the right time.