Startup employee resigns after being denied a raise, company falls apart without them: ‘Many bigger clients are upset with service and want to leave’

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Melissa Knudson • Writer
Oct 9, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

Is everyone replaceable at work?

"Everyone's replaceable." We've heard this one too many times at work, usually when there is conflict, or someone starts questioning the office environment. "People would love to take your position." A sentence out of The Devil Wears Prada universe that feels a little too real. But, as it turns out, it is not that accurate. 

Take it from me. I've worked in a handful of toxic workplaces, and those types of sentences get thrown around way too often. Reality is different, though. Every employee brings unique value to the company, and those who work really hard truly make a difference to the company's overall performance. At the end of the day, nothing is more valuable to a business than someone with experience who knows how the business works, from head to toe. Sadly, many companies realise this too late and fail to value their assets in time. 

That's exactly what happens here. An employee at a startup business who managed to help the company get through some very difficult times. One person who, in reality, had many job titles, even when their official title was only one. Someone who knew how things worked from the inside out and had an excellent relationship with clients. 

Per usual, trouble starts when money runs low. The finance team started reviewing all this person's time off with too much caution, and even refused to give them a raise at some point. Unsurprisingly, when this person was offered a new position elsewhere, with better pay and conditions, they didn't hesitate to take it. Ever since they left, the company mentioned has struggled and is losing more money by the second and, with it, some clients. As it turns out, this particular employee here wasn't as replaceable as they thought. 

The general conclusion here is that you must know your work value and take action when you're being taken for granted. Also, if you happen to be the boss, please learn to see employees for what they bring to the table, and move past that old wrong "everyone's replaceable" feeling, which has proven not to be true over and over again. 

I very well know I can relate to this story. But has it ever happened to you?

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  • Unhappy employee.
    via Getty Images ( Via Andrey Popov )

    Unhappy employee.

    Still frame for contextual reference only.

  • I resigned from my last job and the company is literally falling apart

    I joined a startup in October 2019. Little did we know we were about to experience a hard lockdown and a hugely difficult first year.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • We made it through 2020 unscathed and managed to grow exponentially for 5 years.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • I was the sales manager, but also ran the technical team. I basically ran the business but still reported to our silent MD who ran another business full time.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • Little things started happening, one year I didn't get a raise, finance started asking for detailed feedback when I returned from work trips, etc.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • I was constantly in a battle with myself and my wife. On one hand I knew I had to leave, but then I would convince myself that I was overthinking it and needed to stay and keep building the business.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • Fast forward to 2025 and I got an offer to run a new startup with complete autonomy. I took it with both hands! So I printed my resignation letter, walked into my bosses office and placed it on his desk in front of him. His jaw dropped.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • Employee signing contract.
    via superohmo

    Employee signing contract.

    Featured likenesses do not identify those mentioned.

  • He wanted to chat, asked why I was leaving, where I was going. When I told him, he tried to warn me that I was doing the wrong thing.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • Anyways, since started the new business, I have made 3x my old salary in the first year, and about to land the deal of a lifetime.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • I've also heard from old colleagues that they recruited 5 guys to replace me, many of their bigger clients are upset with service and want to leave and they recently lost 30% of their revenue after losing a reseller agency. All things I used to manage.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • I never wished for this to happen to them. I still greet my old boss whenever I see him but he cannot look me in the eyes.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • Maybe paying me what I was worth would have prevented this... who knows...
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • Employee leaving the company.
    via 89Stocker

    Employee leaving the company.

    Representative only.

  • ParkingOne4760 I was working at a printing company as 2nd pressman. I had to take a week off to take my daughter to Sick Kids for her surgery and told the appropriate staff. I got a
    via ParkingOne4760
  • phone call on the Friday asking where I was and told them it was all cleared. He then told me that I was scheduled to work the weekend on the night shift and told him I work during the week on days. Wouldn't take no for
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • an answer he said I was expected to be in that night. I jumped in the car and went and cleaned out my locker and excepted a lower position at a different printing company and within 4 months | moved up to the Head Pressman position.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • Sometimes it pays to stand up for yourself and take action.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • Personal-Comment-457 "Maybe paying me what I was worth...". I wish I could shout a version of this to everyone. I retired in 2023 at age 66, the last 15 years I worked were the best, 5 jobs.
    via Personal-Comment-457
  • I spent my early years being underpaid and not courageous enough to move on to better paying jobs. Unless you have equity in the business, you are a hired hand. Go get paid what you're worth and stop being taken advantage of as part of a dysfunctional family.
    via Regular-Intern-3307
  • IAmADev_NoReallylAm > I was the sales manager, but also ran the technical team. Spotted the problem right there... why do companies do this? I see this all too often. It rarely works out well. I get it when the company is small, but if there comes a point in the company's growth where the sales and the technical side have to diverge... they have to.
    via IAmADev_NoReallyIAm
  • Fearless-Wrap8149 I can relate to this. I've only really had three real jobs my entire life. I always worked d in hard and had great relationships with our clients. Each and every one of those businesses undervalued me. So I eventually walked. All three of them closed within a year or two of my leaving. I've been working for myself the past twenty-one years and I'm very happy.
    via Fearless-Wrap8149
  • asham22222 No need to look back. After all, you are the only one taking care of yourself. They just wanted to use you at full potential. If they recognized anyway, they would have offered and awarded you. However they did not and they would not have done anything. You have made a right decision.
    via asham22222
  • Potential-Common5819 Sounds like they grew too fast and didn't have the employee depth needed to cover the expanded company.
    via Potential-Common5819
  • timetraveler50 Your value is usually only recognized after your gone.
    via timetraveler50
  • Stressed employee.
    via Pexels ( Via Vitaly Gariev )

    Stressed employee.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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employee work place company policy work work life office life resigning Office pay raise overworked-employees company
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