'You'll need me... and when you [do] it'll cost you $200 an hour': Boss brags about his salary in front of a priceless IT tech; employee quits on the spot, agreeing to come back only if the boss pays him the same

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 16, 2023 10:00 AM EST

Our bosses need us. Without their lackeys doing all the work to keep the company afloat, how are bosses supposed to take long, lavish vacations on the company dime? Without us, how would the CEO's and big bosses of the world keep their little, expensive lives going? They need us to get the work done on the ground level because at the end of the day, without their employees, bosses have nothing. 

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  • 01
    I quit on the spot and told him "You'll need me before I need you" 18-
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  • The worst thing is, every boss knows this, yet treats most of their work force like they're expendable or replaceable, which is not always the case. Sure there may be some intern willing to step up and take the position of a senior IT guy, but they'll never know how to fix the servers when they're down or troubleshoot tech needs with your biggest clients. That's why, u/Hot_Cryptographer552 got tired of his boss praising their pricelessness to the company– because he never saw that ‘praise’ reflected on his paycheck. So when the big boss started bragging about his own hourly wages, OP decided to get a little payback with a juicy ultimatum. Scroll for the full story 'where this employee forced his boss to put his money where his mouth is, winning an epic victory for irreplaceable employees everywhere.

  • 02
    Posted by u/Hot_Cryptographer552 You're better than me because you make $200 an hour? This happened to me way back in 1998. I had been working as a one- man IT shop for a very small
    via u/Hot_Cyrptographer552
  • 03
    manufacturing company. The owner was a tax attorney who had incredibly wild mood swings. One day he called me into his office and told me how great I was, how I was his "data prince", and too many
    via u/Hot_Cyrptographer552
  • 04
    more compliments to count. In the middle of the conversation he suddenly switched gears telling me how much better he was than me because he made $200 an hour, and he could replace me in a minute.
    via u/Hot_Cyrptographer552
  • 05
    I quit on the spot and told him "You'll need me before I need you. And when you call me it'll cost you $200 an hour." Then I left.
    via u/Hot_Cyrptographer552
  • 06
    Fast-forward a year. I'm working another job and making twice as much money as I did at the old job. I get an unexpected call from one of the plant managers at the old job.
    via u/Hot_Cyrptographer552
  • 07
    He tells me that after I left they hired two consultants at double my rate (each) to finish some of the critical work I was doing. One of the projects I was working on was ensuring their ordering system could
    via u/Hot_Cyrptographer552
  • 08
    handle special requirements from a very large national retailer: their biggest customer. Turns out the consultants couldn't do the job, even after paying 4X my salary to them for a year.
    via u/Hot_Cyrptographer552
  • 09
    "Oh that sounds bad" was my response. "Yeah we were wondering if you could do it for us, like on a part-time basis."
    via u/Hot_Cyrptographer552
  • 10
    The owner had sent his lackey to beg me to come work for him because he was too scared to call me himself. "Sure I can do that, no problem."
    via u/Hot_Cyrptographer552
  • 11
    "Really?" he asked me. "Yup, for $200 an hour." After a long silence (I assumed he put me on mute to talk to the owner who was sitting in the same room, because that was his style), he agreed.
    via u/Hot_Cyrptographer552
  • 12
    6 months later at $200 an hour, they had their ordering system in place and were able to maintain their biggest, most lucrative account.
    via u/Hot_Cyrptographer552
  • 13
    BartFly 11 hr. ago kind of blew it by not saying 201 per hour 882 Reply Share doezelx 11 hr. ago Was gonna say the same!
    via u/BartFly
  • 14
    aussie_nub 10 hr. ago Inflation means he should've been asking for at least $205/hour. Honestly, I would've said something much higher than $200. Really put that guy in his place. $400/hour would've been a good start.
    via u/aussie_nub
  • 15
    ol-gormsby 6 hr. ago $200/hour is fine. 4-hour minimum is the way to earn decent $$$. Call me in for one or two hours? 4-hour minimum. I mean, give them value for money and stay for 4 hours. Do a security scan or something.
    via u/ol-gormsby
  • 16
    Phone call for advice? Warn before answering "That's a minimum of $100, plus the hourly rate after 30 minutes".
    via u/ol-gormsby
  • 17
    yupyup1234 9 hr. ago He needs to charge an amount that the other guy will not merely reject. $200 (or $200.01) was appropriate.
    via u/yupyup1234
  • 18
    lukienami 10 hr. ago Man. Everyone is harsh. That's was good revenge. Nice job. You win and made a good amount and found a good job.
    via u/lukienami
  • 19
    USAF6F1715 hr. ago $200/hr is the message. Asking $205/hr or any other amount might have been a distraction. Especially if, as some suppose, the was listening in on the phone convo.
    via uUSAF6F1F71
  • 20
    TranquilTwilight2750 - 9 hr. ago Wow even if it's just part time for 6 months $200/hr is a huge amount even by today's standards. Hope that money helped you a lot and great job on the revenge!
    via u/TranquilTwilight2750
  • 21
    DrunkTides 9 hr. ago I'd have said only if HE asks himself. What a coward getting his workers to do it
    via u/DrunkTides
  • 22
    Kenny741 3 hr. ago Seeing their personality, they would have probably said no. Although it's fun to "own" people, letting go of 200k over 6 months (before tax) is not worth letting go of. This would have been a TIFU instead haha.
    via u/Kenny74
  • 23
    cchillur 3 hr. ago It's a great write and punchline. But they doubled your salary for TWO people and still couldn't get it done? I feel like $200/hr is probably lowballing yourself.
    via u/cchullur
  • 24
    sandcrawler56 - 2 hr. ago Yeah. He should have taken the amount those two guys were getting paid, then added another 50% on top of it. What are they going to do, not hire him?
    via u/sandcrawler56
  • 25
    cchillur 2 hr. ago And OP really I up by not making the old boss get on the phone to beg him back himself
    via u/cchullur

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ultimatum salary epic boss worker salary raise employee manager revenge work coworkers working raise employees petty supervisor workplace Horrible Bosses coworker money wage
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