<prompt> Human: I work in enterprise IT. Our company is in the process of being acquired by one of our partner companiescompetitors specifically for the knowledge and skill set of myself and others in my department. Nothings set in stone quite yet but theres only a .01 chance that the deal will go south at this point. Pros:Ive been told my day-to-day responsibilities wouldnt change too much, I wouldnt be relocated could even work from home, Id have access to the same resources or more, and the benefits package is lightyears ahead of what we currently get better healthcare and higher covered, same 401k, but also vision, dental, life and ADD. Supposedly there would be very little culture shift as well.Cons:Wed be moving from a 25 employee company into a 500 employee company, so communication would move a little slower. Ill no longer be sitting 30 feet from one of the co-owners. Stuff wed buy for projects that wed previously just throw onto the company card would now have to be approved and ordered by people on the other side of the country. Not sure if thered be any other extra company outings Christmas party, trips out on the owners boat, etc..If I lose the little extra perks, thats not a big deal to me. But I figured Id at least take this opportunity to try and get a raise. After all, I would have no real reason to stay on for the new company and my skill set has been advanced quite a ways already that I could relatively easily find something else thatd work for me.So, what are some things I could say to management of the new company to convince me to stay on board and get a bump in pay? Ive been with this employer for a year and a half was told in my 1yr review I was the fastest growing employee theyve ever seen and got moved up from our help desk to our engineering team and I have 5 years of practical experience in IT without any formal training.Edit: Thanks for the input, everyone. Clearly Im in for a wake-up call from all angles. Ill let everything slide for now until everythings been well established, and in the meantime Ill get my ducks in a row with an updated resume and recommendations. Assistant: Im going to say that youre delirious on few levels if you think thats how acquisitions work. First off - remember that an acquisition can sometimes be hostile and that means that there could be some redundancy with your position with someone that does it at the acquiring company. So your first mode of operation should be to observe and see where you fit in the grand scheme of things if you fit at all. If anything, you should be in the mode of convince them why they should keep you on board. I mean if you look at it - you helped to keep things going in a 25 person company, now scale that up some 2000 to 500 people, you really do need to prove why they are going to keep you and not slice you off in 6 months when their dont get rid of anyone period expires or however long they may have stated something like that. Odds are, in IT they already have folks and you might already be on the chopping block once things settle down because youre going to move to their systems and such, not yours.If and thats a huge IF they determine you have skills and talents that rival that of the existing folks in the larger company, Id say wait a few months to then approach the new structure of management and see if possibly a raise is in order. Dont take this the wrong way but your approach in your post does concern me that you think youre more valuable than you might think. 5 years isnt a lot in the IT world so please understand that.Human: It may be worth noting that the partner thats acquiring us has had contracts with us for several years because we can do things that they cant. Theyre acquiring us because itll be cheaper for them to hire our knowledge rather than contract out to us.  <response>: Doesnt matter. They arent going to keep two people that do the same thing. When Ive seen mergers and acquisitions before the operational staff are always the ones to be factored out. IT falls into this category.Only profit-center staff will be kept. These are usually front-facing business people or product related. Unless you personally provide a very special service that cant be duplicated, be ready for the chopping block. 