An employee shared on Reddit that his boss taunted him almost daily, saying he was easily replaceable. One day, he placed his resignation letter on the boss’s desk and told him to find a replacement within a month. The man said that within hours, he received a call from HR, and it completely flipped the script.
“My resignation flipped the entire game,” wrote a man in Reddit’s “IndianWorkplace” community. The post that has a “Workplace Toxicity” tag was shared a day ago and has over 3,700 upvotes.
The Redditor said, “My manager used to taunt me almost daily: ‘Tumhare jaise log replace karna mushkil nahi.’ [It’s not difficult to replace people like you.]” This apparently didn’t sit well with him, and he finally called it quits.
“Next morning, I placed my resignation letter on his desk and said: ‘Best of luck, ek mahine mein replacement dhoondh lo.’ [Find a replacement in one month],” he claimed.
The employee went on to say, “Within two hours, I got a call from HR: ‘Can we discuss a counteroffer?’”
“That was the moment I realised — sometimes the real power is just walking away,” he further expressed.
Don’t take counteroffer at all’: Social media
Since the post gained significant traction, many flocked to the comments section with suggestions.
One suggested, “Don’t take the counteroffer at all. A manager should realise the value of an employee, not after they resign. They just wanted to squeeze the maximum out of you by gaslighting, low-balling and making you underestimate your own worth. If you have an offer in hand, don’t think at all about a counteroffer, even if they were to offer more. Some managers may go on an ego trip to teach you a lesson by giving a higher offer and scuttling your impending switch, and later only to put you in PIP.”
“This. Everyone is replaceable. And if the organisation isn’t serving its purpose- money + healthy environment. It’s better to walk away. And if the counteroffer is accepted, that just gives the company more time to find a replacement,” another joined.
A third commented, “Some managers do realise the value of good team members. I myself am a manager, and have gotten my team mid-cycle hikes whenever the annual hike didn’t match up to what I had proposed. I see the value my people bring to the team & the org, and want my good team members to actually want to stick with my team. I aim to remove money as a criterion for job choices. Works most of the time.”
“Expecting an Indian manager will understand the value. For them, it is easier to burn down the entire product in an ego trip,” wrote a fourth.
Redditor shares an update
In an update, the man said that he turned down the counteroffer, adding, “Right now, I’m in full chill mode – a bit of South India travel, a bit of me-time. I’m applying casually, with full confidence that somewhere or the other I’ll definitely be a perfect fit.”
“Sometimes, quitting isn’t the end…,” he further said.