CEO refuses to grant a raise for an all-star employee despite saving the company $250,000, then the big boss is forced to outsource contractors for twice the cost when the employee quits: ‘[He] resigned immediately'

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Feb 25, 2025 7:00 AM EST

Bosses don't realize that without the workforce, nobody will be around to make them money. This all-star employee proved that to an arrogant CEO after making himself indispensable, giving the big boss a run for his money in the process. 

In my opinion, if an employee carries the business, there should be an altar of worship in their name in the boss's corner office. Although CEOs tend to think of themselves as the most important person in the company, more likely than not, it's the boots on the ground getting the actual work done. Without the workforce, CEOs have nothing—no meetings to hold, no quarterly numbers to boast, and a lot of shareholders to answer to. So when this all-star worker saved his company $250,000, he thought his job security was a guarantee, hoping for a big raise of 15% to cover so much savings. Alas, this idiotic CEO wanted to cut corners on salary spending and despite every supervisor's blessing, he denied this employee's raise request. 

Scroll onward to see how this boss immediately reaps his cheapskate harvest when his best worker quits on the spot. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10471255808
    via ND3000

    (The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.)

    My husband's boss is the epitome of a useless CEO. He essentially cuts himself a huge check every now and then to show up once a month for a company-wide meeting. Constantly praising everyone's hard work and boasting of 'record-breaking profits,' the actual workers who do the job never see a dime more than their meager salaries. Hmm, I wonder who's getting all of those 'record profits' funneled directly into their bank account? If only there were some way to see karmic justice reach those kinds of people… If only…

  • Losing an employee due to CEO's refusal to provide raise... Venting: As a VP, I feel both capable and powerless.
    via Dull_Engineer5633
  • For four years, our CEO has resisted raises. I've fought for my team and secured 0.5-4% increases annually (still not what they deserve).
    via Dull_Engineer5633
  • One employee, hired at mid-range pay three years ago, only received 0.5-1% raises despite excelling. They managed multiple departments, automated processes, and saved us ~$250K/year by eliminating outsourced work.
    via Dull_Engineer5633
  • They requested a 15% raise, which would still make them the lowest-paid on the team. I fully supported it. The CEO stalled, then denied. The employee resigned immediately, securing a 20% higher salary elsewhere and I get it. Completely.
    via Dull_Engineer5633
  • Now the CEO wants to hire contractors at $15K/month (by far exceeding the raise he refused). I'm ped and just wanted to provide some form of solace, that this doesn't make sense to some of us higher ups either. It infuriates me. Teams can't grow like this.
    via Dull_Engineer5633
  • Cheezburger Image 10471256320
    via Ratanakun
  • spicyboi0909 This CEO is fundamentally opposed to the concept of raises. It's not a simple math issue for them. This is about philosophical issue. Rather pay more for outsourced work than keeping someone good is a philosophical issue. He probably thinks it's slippery slope. Anyway, maybe you should shop your resume.
    via spicyboi0909
  • sobeitharry I'm one of those employees. The division I run beat our targets by hundreds of thousands of dollars. No raise, less than average bonus. The market is tough but I've got some decent interviews lined up. My boss fully supports me leaving due to the situation.
    via sobeitharry
  • Competitive_End9116 You would think they would include the potential contractor expense at the same time they are mulling over the raise.. That's frustrating for you. Sorry to hear.
    via Competitive_End9116
  • sumth... Interesting to hear this side of the story, i'm on the receiving end of this currently. In the last 3 years i've saved around 30-40k for our company by doing work which was meant to be outsourced. They thank me and encourage me to do this (obviously). I've presented this as
    via sumth
  • a business case for a raise numerous times only to be brick walled for any type of payrise/promotion. Union has been getting involved in the company, after raising it again I was offered a measly $2.5k "higher task allowance" (per year) which equates to a 97c an hour pay rise. I refused this, and agreed that we will just outsource from now on.
    via sumth
  • So I stopped higher tasking, and the company since Jan 13 has already paid out nearly 6k in fees to contractors to do what I can easily do. There is at least another 5k in the immediate future and by years end I predict about 20k will be spent. I myself also ask, in what universe does this make sense from a managerial perspective?
    via sumth
  • cowgoatsheep 0.5%? Lol. Resume definitely getting dusting off anything less than 4%.
    via cowgoatsheep
  • MrHaphazard1 I feel like this happens more then we think. Nothing makes sense anymore.
    via MrHaphazard1
  • LurkerGhost Hire the contractors. Push your team to move on as well; continue watching everyone leave for more money. Once the team is full of contractors do not train them well and ensure they need to be
    via LurkerGhost
  • micromanaged give them less than they need in order to do their job, push to find another job with an increase in money. Talk to the CEO and demand a double in pay plus a title increase. He will refuse.
    via LurkerGhost
  • Leave. The contractors will self destruct and the CEO will have a storm on his hands. But you are gone with a smile on your face.
    via LurkerGhost
  • pip-whip He's playing a game with the money. The contractor's pay is an expense that ends up in a different column than the salaries. And the contractor doesn't get employee benefits or the 401k contributions so those column's totals go down too.
    via pip-whip
  • Sensitive_File6582 You'll have more employees leave once they hear how much he got. Best first of course. Inflation for anyone under $100k a year is double the official stated CPI. You should sh ot for a raise yourself...
    via Sensitive_File6582
  • Constant-Bet-6600 Loyalty is penalized; being mercenary is rewarded. Just modern corporate policy.
    via Constant-Bet-6600
  • Displaced_in_Space Is the CEO the person that determines market rates for your positions? Does anyone at all do that exercise? There's a tendency for people in leadership to sort of freeze their idea of what a given role is worth pegged to an earlier time. They feel like it's a "set and forget" type thing.
    via Displaced_in_Space
  • It requires some mechanism that you use to benchmark positions against the market data. The thing is, not all jobs WILL increase due to market conditions. I've had situations where we had a person highly above market for 3 years. She got no increases at all. We explained the situation to her,
    via Displaced_in_Space
  • showed her data and told her we would support her if she looked elsewhere. She didn't know it but I later found out that she interviewed at two places and got all the way to selection and the pay they offered was well below what she was making here. So she quietly accepted it until the job market turned around.
    via Displaced_in_Space
  • But some mechanism must be done to ensure that you understand what you need to pay to keep the right people in play.
    via Displaced_in_Space
  • coffeegrounds42 Ask yourself to do you really want to work under a CEO like this? Time for you to work on your resume.
    via coffeegrounds42

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