In today’s fast-paced tech world, salary negotiations can set off unexpected consequences. For one senior software engineer, a simple request for a 10% raise not only led to his dismissal but also triggered a chain of events that eventually cost his bosses their own jobs.
From raise request to dismissal
The engineer had worked at a well-known tech firm for six years, maintaining critical backend systems similar to those used by Dropbox for data synchronisation. Despite handling the role alone, he discovered he was being paid about 10% less than his peers.
When he asked management to bring his pay in line, they refused. “Management said no,” he wrote in a Reddit post. “So I compensated accordingly and started working less and working my own hours with little regard to ‘core hours’.”
A new director steps in
Soon after, a new director replaced his manager and confronted him over rumours that he wasn’t working regular hours. The engineer admitted as much and explained why. A month later, he was laid off. “He told me that I was flagged as a case of ‘job abandonment’ in their HR system,” he recounted.
Six people to do one man’s job
The story didn’t end there. Later, the engineer learned from a former colleague that the company had hired six people to replace him, while still paying his severance. “So, it became seven in place of one person handling the entire job,” his post read.
The fallout was severe: the software became buggier, customers left, and investor confidence dropped.
Bosses shown the door
The decision to fire him also rebounded on leadership. Both the director who dismissed him and the VP who hired that director were eventually let go. The company had paid a heavy price for ignoring the request.
“All of this could have been easily avoided by giving me that measly 10% raise,” he wrote. Reflecting on the turn of events, he added: “Anyhow, I hope that this shows that there is still some justice left in this world. I sure got a laugh out of it!”
Source: BT insider, Reddit