Asking for higher salary without losing opportunities in 2026
The job market has completely changed in last 3 years. Getting salary negotiation right is more important than ever.
When it comes to salary negotiation, most people still rely on the old methods:
“Ask a colleague who left recently”,
“Check Glassdoor”,
“Check AmbitionBox”.
Good for curiosity. Useless when you have to answer the real question:
“How much should I ask this company I just interviewed with?”
And to make things trickier, the market of the last 3 years is nothing like before.
The job market has changed completed in last 3 years
We did a unique event last month titled Inside the Software Engineering Job Market — When Recruiters Speak Off the Record , in which we had experienced recruiters and talent leaders joining anonymously to share their raw insights.
It became quite clear: Today, salary ranges today vary widely. Different companies have always have had different compensation ranges but now they are different within a single department in the same company.
Plus the salary ranges are also quite rigid now.
In 2020–21, ranges existed but nobody cared. If they liked you, they’d stretch.
Today? Companies are far stricter with budgets. They would easily reject a great candidate than break their range.
And once they reject on this ground, they are not looking back.
3 variables that decide the salary you should ask for
Don’t go with a gut feel. The salary you can get depends on these 3 variables today.
Variable 1: Role & Skills
We are living in a funny world. For some roles, there is a fight amongst the companies. For some others, they are laying off.
AI/ML and GenAI → high volatility, high premiums
Data engineering / platform / SRE / cybersecurity → strong upward flexibility
Traditional backend / frontend / product → more stable
Low-scarcity roles → almost no room
Within a role itself, the exact skill set dictates whether you can push or need to stay conservative.
Variable 2: Your experience level
Salary bands behave very differently across career stages.
Entry-level: Fixed bands. Minimal negotiation.
Mid-level (3–7 yrs): The most dynamic zone — huge range differences.
Senior (8–12 yrs): Paradoxically, tighter bands. Companies are cautious here.
Leadership: Pay is tied to scope, not years. Roles with salaries > 75LPA get quick tricky.
Variable 3: Company Type
Most people, especially younger ones, only understand the broader categories - IT services companies and Product companies.
But within product companies and startups, there is a whole bunch of shade here that completely changes everything.
Product companies → Structured bands
GCCs → structured, stable
IT services → predictable, on the lower side
Small consulting shops → budget-constrained
Startups
Early stage → low base salaries, high equity
Young, funded → flexible for the right hire
Scaled → High but structured bands again
You can only negotiate properly when you know the “species” you’re talking to.
The salary negotiation strategy that actually works in 2026
Here’s the simple, reliable playbook:
Step 1: Ask for the company’s salary range
Once you know the range, assume a 5–8% upward margin.
This keeps you competitive but not overpriced.
Step 2: If your role/skill is in high demand, add another 5%
AI/ML, GenAI, cybersecurity, SRE, platform engineering — these roles get more breathing room.
Step 3: If it’s a funded startup AND your interviews went well, add another 5–8%
Young + Funded startups can make exceptions when they really like the fitment.
3 super important caveats
Look at the salary range in context. If the salary range is 20-28LPA for 3-6 years experience, then at 3 years, you can’t expect 28LPA. Adjust your expectations based on where your experience falls in that salary range.
Expecting hikes higher than 50% could be risky. Many companies have cap on the % hike (likely 40%) and even if you are currently underpaid, they can’t get an approval to give you a hike like 60% other above. Angle for salary hikes later.
If you had just switched recently (in last 6 months), justifying another hike like 30% or above is not easy. Be mindful.
Let’s take an example
Let’s assume this is the role you are interviewing for
Experience range: 3-6 years
Salary range shared: 21–30 LPA
Role: Product-backend engineer
Your experience: 4 years:
Here are the steps
Starting point (based on the job range and your experience): 24LPA
If you have a hot skill like AI, then 5%-8% higher = 26LPA
Is this a young funded startup AND your interviews went well? You can go 5%-8% higher = 28LPA
Sanity check on salary hike: Let’s say your current salary is 16LPA, then asking for 24LPA would be asking for 50% hike, which is just about okay. But if you are let’s say at 14LPA then asking for 24LPA would be 70% hike and the some companies might not be able to give you that hike.
Conclusion and final thoughts
Knowing your worth is important. The more informed you are, the better you can negotiate.
However, remember that salary is just one part of the opportunity. Do NOT maximise salary at the cost of sacrificing your role and learning opportunities. In long term, the matter far more in the fast changing job market of today.
Check out career defining opportunities on Cutshort: https://cutshort.io
Wow, the part about companies being super strict with budgets now realy resonated. But, like, how are salary ranges different even in the same department? That's wild.