As a spinoff to the posts about layoffs, I got to thinking. For those of you in manager positions, is it normal practice to try to get someone to quit by not giving them a raise or bonus? I understand that sometimes funds just aren't available and that's a different situation. But when you have a bonus pool and money to give out for raises, would you exclude someone intentionally instead of firing them?

At my first job, I thought they were trying to get me to quit because I got a 2% raise and a $1,000 bonus ($500 after tax) which sounds pretty decent right now in tough economic times, but it was 2005 and the company was making record profits and the average raise was close to 5% and most people in my position got a $5K bonus just for showing up.

It prompted me to start interviewing at other companies and I resigned a few months later expecting them to be happy but much to my surprise they were very upset and countered to get me to stay. I didn't just on principal since I was so upset about having to go through all that.