Worker saves company $500k, is rewarded with a $25 gift card: 'Probably got taxed on it too'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Sep 6, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Gift-giving is an underrated skill. Even if it's not your "love language" per se, you should get good at giving gifts. Because they're important to people. They're an important mode of communication in our society, whether we like it or not. You should know when to bring a host gift and what it should be. You should be an active listener to your friends and thus be able to give thoughtful gifts to them. And if you're an employer (and this is the most important one), you should know how to thank your employees for their accomplishments. 

And you should know that cash is always the most appreciated form of gift in a work setting. You should also realize that your gifts should be in proportion to their contribution. Let's say that they saved you a massive amount of money. Don't you think they should be entitled to at least a little bit of it? Unfortunately, that's not how capitalism really churns. All of the profits go to the top, and it doesn't usually trickle down. But that doesn't mean we can't complain about it. 

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  • A young businessman looks suspiciously at a piece of paper
    via Owen Vangioni

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

  • Take, for example, this story, where a worker did the ultimate favor of saving their company a bunch of money. But instead of being compensated fairly for that work, they were given a gift that was more of a slap in the face than it was an actual present. Read on to see what happened. 

  • Recently saved my company $500k. Received a $25 gift card as thanks.

    I have made it a point to not go out of my way in assisting this company to save money or solve a crisis ever again.
    via u/zackbell20
  • NeppyMan 15h ago Yeah, that's about right. My team (cloud Infra) saved our company over USD$1M in yearly cloud billing costs, through adjusting Infra sizes, removing unneeded stuff, and just general cleanup. We were rewarded by having our team eliminated. Half of us were laid off, the rest were folded into other teams. You're welcome, I guess...
    via u/NeppyMan
  • matt95110.15h ago I once saved my company $300k by renegotiating a bunch of contracts and consolidating some licensing. When I asked for a raise at my review they refused and said they didn't have the money. Now I make zero effort to save any company any money. I take the first quote, wait a few days and then tell my boss it's the best they can do.
    via u/matt95110
  • TreesForTheFool • 15h ago So you have enough to afford 1) gas can and 2) gallons of gas? I think you can even afford a lighter.
    via u/TreesForTheFool
  • flying_bacon 15h ago Put it on your resume and look for your next role
    via u/flying_bacon
  • S1ayer 15h ago . If there was a law saying half of profits must be redistributed evenly among all employees on top of salary, that would fix so many problems.
    via u/S1ayer
  • aizzo4 16h ago Probably got taxed on it too.
    via u/aizzo4
  • OhTheHueMana... 15h ago I feel you. I worked the phones at Best Buy a while ago. A lady called and said she was from a casino. I was the third Best Buy she had called and nobody was willing to help her. She was ready to give up. What she needed was tons of TVs, Laptops,
    via u/OhTheHueManatee
  • Computers, Blu-Ray Players and other electronics to give away as prizes. I said "Give me the chance to figure this out and I'll call you back." After all was said and done she got $100,000 worth of stuff for the month and then $75,000 worth of stuff for every month after that for the next six months. The very next meeting another
    via u/OhTheHueManatee
  • employee was awarded a PS4 for being the Most Valuable Employee because he got like 20 credit cards or some such thing (I don't recall the exact amount but it wasn't an outlandish amount). Another employee asked "What about OhTheHueManatee? He got
    via u/OhTheHueManatee
  • $100k in one sale!" It turned out that didn't count cause it was in a "different metric". I ended up with a Blu Ray of a Mission Impossible movie that was missing the second disc as a "good job". It was also totally dismissed in my next review when I was told I "don't go above and beyond". I was crazy tempted to try to get her to cancel all of her orders since they clearly didn't matter even a little bit.
    via u/OhTheHueManatee
  • A businessman checks his phone.
    via Jozsef Hocza

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

  • Fritzo2162 • 15h ago "Nah, you keep that. That way I'll have saved the company $500,025."
    via u/Fritzo2162
  • Extreme-Slice-1010 15h ago . I bet management got some big bonuses as well
    via u/Extreme-Slice-1010
  • Caucasian_Thunder 16h ago Which island are you scoping out for your early retirement?
    via u/Caucasian_Thunder
  • cecilmeyer 15h ago Same at Ford motor save them a million and you get a new fishing pole that you have to pay taxes on.
    via u/cecilmeyer
  • Content_Tea_6433 · 15h ago Give them exactly what they pay for, nothing more.
    via u/Content_Tea_6433
  • Bigdogwilly 15h ago Thats bulls . A few years ago, I saved a heritage building from burning down. Worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Got a certificate as a thank you. (Im not a firefighter lol)
    via u/Bigdogwilly
  • WarlockOfDestiny • 15h ago Just another daily reminder that corporations are not our friends
    via u/WarlockOfDestiny
  • BlazedGigaB ⚫ 15h ago Did you at least collect your red stapler on the way out?
    via u/BlazedGigaB
  • freeshavocadew · 15h ago I know a guy that through a combination of cost savings and claw backs netted the company almost a million dollars, I think the company made 15-20 million a year, so not an insignificant amount that could just be chalked up to a rounding error.
    via u/freeshavocadew
  • His only ask was being promoted from inside the office to management of the warehouse, something he wanted both for the pay raise and the title. He wasn't their first or second choice but he did eventually get the position. But like, he almost didn't. He told me he was going to quit if they f ed him on this.
    via u/freeshavocadew
  • I haven't yet been responsible for saving a sh load of money but the stakes are higher now that I've changed industries
    via u/freeshavocadew
  • CutePhysics3214 • 15h ago I feel you. My efforts meant around a $50M fine was avoided. Just a "mentioned in dispatches". Edit: still subject to ongoing investigations (multiple regulators), so can't really talk to it.
    via u/CutePhysics3214
  • Retrofool 13h ago . Saved mine about $5 million. I got some points to use in our online store that's not even enough to buy a company sweater lol. They would've. gladly paid some consulting agency $10 million to tell them that
    via u/Retrofool
  • alohadood 15h ago When does the fire start cause I'll bring marshmallows
    via u/alohadood
  • summonsays • 15h ago How does it feel like to get 5% of 1% of the amount saved?
    via u/summonsays
  • vanillla-ice · 14h ago I found a $4MM accounting mistake (meaning we increased our revenue by $4MM). Got a plaque.
    via u/vanillla-ice
  • Alvraen 15h ago Saved my company 5 mil in security things, got told that I would need to take PTO when I asked if I could have the next day off and finish my on call rotation early
    via u/Alvraen

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salary boss antiwork workplace-stories bonus toxic-workplace job bosses work coworkers working gift reddit story toxic-boss workplace reddit thread bad bosses Reddit toxic-work-environment
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