Employee who was fired for being 'too expensive' brilliantly reminds former-company of their worth

Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 30, 2023. It has since been updated.

In a capitalist corporate world where our values are worth numbers that can simply be replaced by other numbers or AI, a good loophole that reminds companies to treat employees as humans is just what we need. One employee's manager felt they were "too expensive" for the company. However, it soon became apparent that it was even more expensive to fire the employee. Reddit user u/El_Kurgan_Alas claimed in a post that they were fired because they were "too expensive" for their former employers.

The individual began the post by explaining their position at the workplace: "I have spent the last 5 years working for a German company as Technical Director for Southern Europe. During those years, I have been in charge, multiple times, of supporting my colleagues and customers in Eastern Europe and even, because of the language (I am Spanish), in the LATAM area." One day, their manager pulled them aside and told them that they needed to talk during their next coffee break. When u/El_Kurgan_Alas came into the meeting and saw the director of human resources, they knew what was about to happen.

Despite their accomplishments at work, the manager told them, "We are happy with your performance, but we have to fire you because you are too expensive and we are making cutbacks." The manager went on to show the severance package to the Redditor who then decided to remind them of an agreement they had signed while joining the company. They reminded their now-former-boss that when they were hired, they were required to sign a "golden parachute agreement" in which they agreed to give a full year's notice if they ever wanted to leave.

However, this is where it gets interesting. The user told them: "I am expensive if I don't produce for the company a considerable profit, regardless of what my salary is." They further explained, "Do you remember that you made me sign a 'golden parachute agreement' whereby I could not leave the company without giving a year's notice? Well, that also obliged the company to compensate me with a year's salary and bonus if you fired me. They have been calling me for a month to ask me for help with some clients or scientific research that has been left half done: I have asked them for 1,000 €/day for an 8-hour workday or 600 for a half-day workday, expenses aside. They have finally stopped bothering me."

The icing on the cake was the individual sharing that they managed to get a better-paying job with their former employer's direct competitor. "Tomorrow I'm going to sign as Technical Director for EMEA with the world's biggest company in my sector, their direct competitor (since they fired me, the non-competition clauses do not apply)." The gratifying post received more than seven thousand upvotes from people who had to go through similarly common experiences.

"This happened to me. I'm a simple man who fixes bikes for a living. I was fired because they said they couldn't afford my rate then came back as a subcontractor earning 4 times as much for the exact same job," shared u/DrFabulous0. "(Being too expensive) is the most common reason, outside of performance and restructuring, why high-level (compensation-wise) people are let go. Their value to the company is not appreciated," added u/anon.