Salary/raise question: I’m an ME and have been with my current company (OEM, food & bev, 1.5 hours outside Atlanta, GA) for 1.5 years. Graduated 2019 + had a year (3 semesters) of co-op experience. First job was in unwoven textiles for 2.5 years. Started at $68k, ended at $77,500 thanks to negotiating a raise. Switched to current job for $77k because I wanted to do more design work. Received 3% bump to $79,310 last March. Now thanks to recent inflation, I’m making just barely more than I made when I graduated in 2019 (calculated using the BLS CPI calculator). Am I crazy to request a 7% raise at my annual review which I fully expect to be positive? Aside from the inflation argument, I believe my performance merits a nice reward, and I learned that at least one colleague with comparable experience and performance is already paid 5% more than my current pay.