Continue to keep your ears open but you can be pickier now andnl negotiate from a strong position.

Congrats on your raise!
Could you get a new job paying $220 now? I agree with PP this may be a temporary merger thing, but also it's possible you've been underpaid for a while. I'd keep quietly looking but I wouldn't rush to leave.

Unless you hate your job and it’s affecting your physical or mental health, I’d sit tight at least 6 more months. But always keep options open and keep connecting with other possible employers. That extra money may simply have been ‘you’re a key person - for now’ but post merger and the dust settles it might be different.

My company has been undergoing a difficult merger. Numerous staff have left including staff who report to me. I have been thinking about looking for a new job for about a year and started to make serious inquiries about opportunities with my network in January. Then my boss gave me a $50k per year raise, from $170k to $220k along with a message that I was a key person and needed to stay. I'm still sorting through how I feel about all of this. Obviously it does not change the workplace environment that is leading people to bite the dust. But it's a very strong statement about how I am perceived that is not guaranteed at a different job. Put my desire to look around aside for 6 months maybe a year?