I know there are plenty of stories like this but I feel like this may help someone along their path. A little background – I was a software engineer at a fortune 50 company with a shitty boss and low pay considering my field. The company has been extremely shady when it came to our return to office. I’ve been remote for over 2 years and have been doing my job and more every day, thinking if I keep trying I could make it to the next level. A few days ago, we had our raise discussion and I was told I was getting a measly 3% raise. My boss in a meeting yesterday was telling us that starting next week we would need to come into the office for 1 day a week. I know that’s a slippery slope and we will be back to fully in office sooner than later. I essentially responded with “if that’s the case tell HR to send me a box to ship my laptop back”.
My boss said he would speak to HR, and by no one’s surprise they said it wasn’t flexible and that I would either need to comply or resign. I put in my resignation right then and there (I’m pretty sure he thought I was bluffing). He didn’t try to convince me to stay or tried to work with me, flat out no response from him other than an automated email that I was a former employee a few hours after.
I have a 1 year old son and wife who relies on my income. This was not a decision I made lightly, but one I had to make. I cannot let a company that thinks I’m only worth a 3% raise control me. We are all better than that. We are better than the shitty bosses that could care less if we stay or leave. We are better than the companies that can’t even give us raises that keep up with inflation.
I’m at peace with my situation and reached out to a buddy who works at a startup and I’ll temporarily help out there for some income while I figure everything out. It wasn’t how I expected my day yesterday to go, but deep down I know I made the right decision for me and my family. If it wasn’t for this sub I’d probably have sucked it up and lived in misery until I grew the balls to do something. Let’s hope that I’m just the start and more people leave these shitty companies and bosses to go somewhere they are actually appreciated.
Thanks for reading – keep your head up, go with your gut, and don’t let anyone stand in your way of happiness!