Manager tells employee to "get a better offer" after denying them a raise, they do and quit instead: 'Get a better job offer and we'll talk'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Oct 18, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

Many times in life you should be careful what you wish for. Especially in business, foolish ultimatums that you think your subordinates won't be able to rise to may only inspire them to call your bluff and look elsewhere for employment.

Being underappreciated in your work really is frustrating, especially since it usually goes hand in hand with being underpaid. Employers often will downplay your contributions, whether consciously or subconsciously, instead attributing the company's success to their own management and operations. Consequently, when it comes to talking salary, they'll think they have the upper hand, and only after you leave will they begin to realize their mistake—even then, they might just find some other way to cope with their declining sales and business.

After receiving a lackluster raise despite their significant contributions, this employee expressed their disappointment to their manager. Their manager dismissed this, saying that they should get a "better offer" to prove their worth before any further salary discussions would be had…

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    RESIGNATION
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    Get a better job offer? Fine! S Worked at Company A for over 8 years, to the point I had no intentions of going anywhere else and planned to retire with them (in ~30yrs) as long as they kept treating me fair. Reviews came up and everyone in my team was given a lackluster raise, even though we had improved the program from years behind on
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  • 03
    contracts to delivering 2 months ahead. I had taken on tasks that should have been distributed across multiple engineers, but they didn't want to pay extra engineers so they became my tasks instead. After the raises were dished out, my team confronted our manager and told him how disappointed we were. His response was get a better job offer and we'll discuss things.
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    So I did just that; I found a better job at a smaller company where I would get a 20% raise and less responsibility. Once I had my offer letter I turned it in, along with a month notice of my resignation. Manager wanted to discuss what it would take to keep me; I met with him with a list of all my accomplishments (which he already had from review time) and told him I believe a better raise was
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    justified. I told him 2 months ago, that's what it would have taken to keep me. Today, you have to beat this offer of a 20% raise and less responsibilities. He responded with he can't get anywhere close to that, I should have told him I wasn't satisfied, etc. He then went through the list of my accomplishments and stated how half of them weren't required for my position. Queue compliance #2. I asked for what was required of my position and did just that the remainder of my time there.
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    Now I've got a better job with fewer responsibilities and better pay, and a boss who doesn't try to gaslight them. Friends in Company A tell me how they still haven't shipped any new product since I left (3 months ago, so now they're behind), multiple people have already left, and the remaining people are looking for new jobs.
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    PN_Guin 12h ago • Managers always get very flustered once their bluff is called. Just pay people's according to their value to the company, don't insult their intelligence and do your own job as a manager properly. You'll have far more happy, productive and loyal employees.
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    • RevRagnarok 12h ago. When I left my last company it was like that. "What if we offered you X% more?" "Well, if you thought I was worth that, why weren't you paying me that directly? It's not like that extra money goes into your pocket."
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    • maroongrad 12h ago. ALWAYS get contact info for your good coworkers. Why? If you leave, they probably want to... and if your new place is good and is hiring? Tell them to apply, give HR a heads-up that you worked with them and they are solid competent coworkers, and you are all happy except the jerks you left behind :D
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    • Mispelled-This 11h ago A couple years ago, my team was informed we weren't getting any raises at all despite 10%+ inflation. So we all went looking for other jobs, and (not planned at all) dropped our resignations one per week until there was nobody left but the director. Nobody from HR even bothered to do exit interviews to find out why.
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    SpecialFX99 • 12h ago Sadly that sounds fairly typical from my experience in engineering.
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    • awhq 11h ago. I was always taught to never accept a counter offer from my current employer. They'll often pony up the extral money but they'll resent you and you'll either be subjected to more of their nonsense and/or be the first one let go when they have to cut costs. Bosses don't say "get a better offer "because they really want you to. They say it thinking you won't be able to.
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workplace discussion employment issues antiwork workplace-stories jobs employee employment-discussion job malicious compliance work i quit satisfying quitting story employees quitting work overworked-employees workplace Horrible Bosses workplace malicious compliance employment in the workplace
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