We’re taught to think of raises as the holy grail of career and financial success. Annual performance reviews. Awkward remuneration conversations. Hoping (and sometimes praying) that your hard work gets noticed. If this is your earning strategy, you’re already behind. 

Forget the raise. In today’s workplace, shaped by AI and economic flux, the smart earners are rewriting the rules. We can’t say that raises don’t matter, but they’re no longer the most effective path to earning more. Here are the five savvy steps to get you closer to making more.

Stay longer, get promoted, earn more. In today’s landscape, it doesn’t always work that way. Pay progression isn’t neatly tied to tenure, and loyalty alone no longer guarantees growth. So too, for following a traditional career path, the well-trodden graduate to partner/executive/C-suite path. 

In the modern job economy, status has become more performative than financial. Earning more doesn’t follow a straight line, nor is it built on hierarchy. It’s built on leverage. 

A linear mindset ignores lateral moves and misses cross-industry opportunities, often with a significant financial upside. With global skills shortage, never have employees with in-demand........

© Fast Company