The market value for someone of your skills is more a measure of what it would cost to replace you than your value to the company. But if the company is perfectly happy letting you go and spreading your responsibilities around instead of hiring a replacement, or if they are happy hiring someone younger and less experienced for cheaper, your whole argument goes out the window. And it might even highlight that they are overpaying you and put you on the short list of people to get rid of at the next restructuring.

But if you can point to ways you have increased revenue or reduced operational costs or inefficiencies that impact the bottom line, that is a far more persuasive argument.

Heard on a podcast recently where one company trying to navigate the current labor shortage announced each employee would be given the opportunity to decide their own salary...with the caveat they had to justify it. One person came back with an outrageous salary demand, but had rock-solid backup for how they were the one responsible for a shirtton of the company's revenue. So they got their outrageous salary.