Man with a high-paying job stand up to previous employer who tried to win him back

It's the dream of every job seeker to land a job that values them and their efforts. This value can be measured by how well the company compensates and rewards its employees. Unfortunately, not many are blessed with the pay that they actually deserve for their work. A man who goes by u/ibmgalaxy on Reddit was also caught up in one such situation and decided to switch to a better job. In 2023, the employee accepted a job offer whose pay seemed reasonable at the time because he was in the middle of finishing a degree.

Once he finished his degree, the employee naturally expected to receive a deserving compensation after the end-of-the-year performance review. Meanwhile, the man observed some of the seasoned executives in the company were quitting their jobs. "My workload increased significantly after each person left. I thought the place was understaffed and disorganized when I arrived at the start of the year, now every day is a show of chaos," he explained. Also, the company's president retired and was succeeded by his son who was keen on being lavish, like, buying a Porsche. 

All these incidents added up to a terrible performance review for the employee. He was criticized for the "most absurd" and trivial things. "But because they recognize my integrity and hard work, they want to offer me the highest possible raise they will allow: 5%," the employee pointed out. This "highest possible" raise wasn't acceptable to the employee who tried to reason with the management about how insignificant the 5% would be to his weekly income. But, the company responded with the stereotypical line, "This is all we can do." Eventually, the employee decides that this job is not worth it and goes on a job hunt. 

"I instantly look for and find another job that amounts to approximately 32% increase in income for me," he wrote. When he went to work and put in his notice, he was called for a meeting where he was asked, "How much are they offering?" Hearing the 32% pay rise in the new job offer, the employer responded, "Oh! We can match that!" The employee was in disbelief over how the company could only offer 5% a month ago and suddenly they showered him with a generous counteroffer when he wanted to quit. He simply said, "No thanks," and bid goodbye to the old job. He then shared a powerful message to employees out there, "They don’t care about you at all, loyalty is an utterly useless burden, and you should forever and always be shopping for a better job opportunity."

This post resonated with hundreds of users on the platform. "Never accept a matching offer. If they want you to stay, it needs to beat the other firm. They’ve shown their hand already and were willing to mess with you when it suited them," said u/Carnifex72. "A tale as old as time. The experienced and hard-working people jump ship for better pay. The people who can't, stay. Good on you for refusing. They would have found a replacement and fired you the first opportunity they had," pointed out u/pocketgravel. "Once you've decided to move on, you do it. If you let them match your pay there's a very good chance they'd find a reason to get rid of you in the next 6 months," added u/Starfury_42.