Man Describes How Responding To A Recruiter's Huge Salary Offer Ended Up Ruining His Life After His CEO Retaliated
cottonbro studio / Pexels Most adults who have been in the workforce for a prolonged period of time have their fair share of horror stories: Bad bosses, petty co-workers, long hours and low compensation.
One man wrote to the r/job subreddit to tell his particular tale of workplace woe, and just how bad it can be.
The man described how responding to a recruiter’s huge salary offer ruined his life, after his CEO retaliated.
The man explained that he’d been making “good money” at a small tech start-up. According to his account, the CEO wasn’t a good person, but he loved his co-workers. He’d bought a house and spent a portion of his savings on renovating it.
His story took a turn for the worse when he was contacted by a recruiter, who offered him “a big salary increase at their company.”
“I figured, sure, why not talk to them,” the man said. “I had 2 calls and [the] next was to be with the founder. Turns out the founder knew the CEO of my company. He called my CEO and said I was looking around. I was immediately fired with no severance.”
Photo: Fauxels / Pexels
“Since then I’ve sent out thousands of applications and had tons of interviews,” he said, explaining that for most companies, he did four or more rounds of interviews.
Yet when he did receive an offer, the terms of the job changed once he was about to accept it. He said, “Instead of remote like they initially said, they wanted me to work in their office on the other side of the country for six months before going remote. I turned it down, figuring another offer would come soon. It didn’t.”
He outlined his rocky journey through job seeking, complete with “horrible hiring managers” and getting ghosted by a company after writing a blog post as part of the interview process, only to find his post up on their website later on.
“I won’t even get into being ghosted, hiring managers showing up late or not at all,” he said.
The man’s story shows how little companies actually care about their workers' well-being, despite what they might say.
He finally accepted an offer for “40% less than what they originally said they would pay,” and the man would have to “Travel by train 2 hours each day, but I was desperate, so I took it.”
After accepting the job, the company rescinded the offer “due to restructuring, and they won’t reimburse me on my $300 a month train package I had just bought to travel to work.”
Photo: Ivan Samkov
He reported that the tech company where he used to work is thriving, even though the market is down.
“I’m out of savings and unemployment ran out a while ago,” he said. “My house that I was very proud of is now up for sale. My wife, who was initially supportive, has also now left me saying I can’t provide for her and doesn’t understand how it could be so hard to get a job,” he revealed. “Tomorrow I have an interview at a gas station.”
While his life has taken a downward turn, people in the comments reassured him that he was doing everything he could to get himself out of such a deep rut.
“You did NOT make a mistake,” one person emphasized. “You have a right to look for other employment to better yourself.”
A different person reflected on their own downturn after the market crashed in 2008, saying, “After a stint in retail I bounced back and got a good job.” Another person described their 2008 situation, saying, “I lost everything, contracted mono and had to live with my brother until I recovered.”
“Sometimes, you just have to keep moving forward until you figure it out,” they said. “Stay strong and do what you need to do — It's temporary.”
This man’s story highlights the darker side of the workplace, how we’re told to sacrifice ourselves for the companies we work for, yet aren’t cared for in return.
There’s no shame in working retail or at a gas station, despite what some might say. Work is work, and all labor is valuable. Hard times aren’t permanent; even when it feels never-ending, the only constant is change.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.