Gracy, a 31-year-old content material strategist, has labored at a Lagos-based communications company for 5 years. She started managing the model’s weblog and writing press releases. In the present day, she leads marketing campaign growth, oversees interns, and handles consumer communications.
Her workload has greater than tripled since 2020. Her wage hasn’t.
She raised the difficulty of a elevate with HR in early 2022. “They stated they’d get again to me,” she recollects. “That didn’t occur. After I adopted up throughout my appraisal, they stated they have been nonetheless reviewing budgets.”
Two years on, her pay stays unchanged—at the same time as the corporate moved into new places of work, employed extra employees, and despatched three senior colleagues to a convention in Dubai.
“I’m not asking for magic,” Gracy says. “Only a elevate that displays how a lot I now do.”
Her story isn’t distinctive. Throughout Nigerian workplaces, wage stagnation is normalized—even when productiveness will increase.
The Normalised Stagnation
Throughout sectors—from tech to banking, training to hospitality—the story is similar. Promotions come with out {financial} reward. Obligations improve. {Bank} alerts don’t.
A 2023 Jobberman report revealed that solely 24% of Nigerian staff acquired any wage improve previously three years, regardless of inflation averaging over 18%.
One former HR supervisor at an actual property agency stated their pandemic-era wage freeze was by no means formally lifted. “Administration simply carried on as if nothing occurred. Even shedding key employees didn’t change something.”
The standard excuse? “The financial system is hard,” “We’re reducing prices,” or “We’re nonetheless recovering.” However whereas salaries stay caught, firms rebrand, host occasions, and supply new hires greater pay.
So why are long-term employees left behind?
HR’s Silent Position
Human Sources professionals say their fingers are sometimes tied. Although conscious of employees frustration, they lack the facility to drive change.
“We really useful a wage improve for 3 workforce members final 12 months,” says an HR officer at a Lagos retail agency. “The MD requested, ‘Would you like us to go bankrupt?’ That very same week, the corporate signed a ₦15 million PR deal.”
One other HR government at a mid-sized {financial} providers agency admits: “Our function is considered extra as imposing compliance than supporting staff. Wage considerations are famous—however not often addressed.”
This dynamic has eroded worker belief in HR. “They don’t advocate for us,” one employees member stated. “They only doc complaints and transfer on.”
What Employees Are Saying
Many staff say the dearth of a elevate seems like being undervalued.
Olamide, 28, joined a fintech startup three years in the past. She’s now a workforce lead—however nonetheless on entry-level pay. “They preserve saying, ‘We’ll overview subsequent quarter.’ However nothing occurs. I’ve stopped asking.”
Treasured, a enterprise growth officer, was made regional lead after his boss resigned. He took on journey and further workload, but acquired no {financial} adjustment. “Only a thank-you e-mail.”
Others like Ifeoma, a senior nurse in Enugu, say wage stagnation is particularly painful in service roles. “Even with all of the lengthy shifts and COVID publicity, our pay hasn’t modified since 2019.”
Damilola, a non-public faculty instructor in Surulere, places it plainly: “Hire has gone up. Meals has gone up. Gas has gone up. My wage is caught. What am I imagined to do?”
Worry of Asking
Even when staff need to demand a elevate, concern holds them again.
Some fear about being seen as grasping or disloyal. Others concern retaliation.
In some firms, wage conversations are taboo. One Lagos supervisor stated, “I introduced it up at an appraisal, and my boss stated, ‘This isn’t the time for that discuss.’ That was the tip.”
A journalist in Ibadan stated her senior colleague warned that asking too early might harm her picture. “That scared me into silence. I’ve been on the identical wage for over two years.”
The concern is usually worse for girls. Many say they really feel stress to “handle” or seem grateful—particularly when male colleagues are extra aggressive about negotiating.
What Employers Say
Some employers cite powerful {economic} circumstances. However staff level out a contradiction: new hires typically earn greater than previous employees.
“There’s this fable that the corporate is broke,” stated one Lagos worker. “But when I resign in the present day, they’ll attempt to match a suggestion from one other firm.”
An HR guide, Emmanuel Ibe, gives perception: “Most Nigerian corporations lack a proper wage overview construction. There’s no scheduled overview cycle, no performance-linked bonus plan, no inflation adjustment.”
Raises are sometimes based mostly on who complains loudest, who’s favored most—or who threatens to go away.
“That creates an surroundings of silence, confusion, and inequality,” Ibe says.
The Fallout
The results of stagnant pay are actual.
Employees take aspect gigs to outlive. Motivation drops. Job-hopping will increase—not out of entitlement, however frustration.
Corporations blame “Gen Z attitudes” or “a scarcity of dedication,” however the reality is deeper: individuals are bored with being taken without any consideration.
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“I used to go above and past,” says Cindy, who left a advertising agency for a nonprofit. “Now I simply do what I’m paid for.”
The Approach Ahead
Employees aren’t asking for miracles. They’re asking for equity.
Gracy places it merely: “Now we have households counting on us. The corporate ought to present that it values our effort.”
Some workers counsel options in lean instances:
Transport allowance
Paid web
Versatile work schedules
Free meals
Well being assist packages
Even small gestures can go a great distance.
HR departments should cease appearing like paper-pushers and begin advocating. Employers should create formal programs: annual opinions, inflation-based wage changes, and transparency in pay constructions.
In any other case, firms will preserve shedding expertise—and those who keep will do the naked minimal.
A Elevate Is Not Simply Revenue—It’s Recognition
Wage isn’t nearly cash. It’s about being seen. Being appreciated. Being instructed: You matter right here.
With out that recognition, even essentially the most loyal worker will finally stroll away.
