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Antiwork

Found out by accident I could make nearly twice as much for the same work in a different department. Wanted to “do the right thing” and let my boss counter offer before I pursued it.

Late last year my supervisor told me my contract wasn’t getting renewed this spring. I had my suspicions that this wasn’t true(turns out he was leaving and was just trying to scare me/scalp me to keep working for him at a new company) but I still looked around for a backup in case because I’ve lost a contract before. Manager tells me later that they are very happy with me here and have no plans to let me go as I am one of their most prized employees and the whole organization/other departments know it, but I’ve already found out at this point that I could get 50-100 percent more than my current pay just down the hall and other departments are actively fighting over me if I choose to leave, have already had talks with them just in case, and know they’re very interested in me starting ASAP. I…


Late last year my supervisor told me my contract wasn’t getting renewed this spring. I had my suspicions that this wasn’t true(turns out he was leaving and was just trying to scare me/scalp me to keep working for him at a new company) but I still looked around for a backup in case because I’ve lost a contract before. Manager tells me later that they are very happy with me here and have no plans to let me go as I am one of their most prized employees and the whole organization/other departments know it, but I’ve already found out at this point that I could get 50-100 percent more than my current pay just down the hall and other departments are actively fighting over me if I choose to leave, have already had talks with them just in case, and know they’re very interested in me starting ASAP. I decide it wouldn’t be right for me to leave without giving my Dept. a chance to make a counter offer considering the supervisor’s surprise departure, so I ask for time from the new department and explain to my boss that I can’t turn down more money but give him the chance to counter. He wholeheartedly agrees to a raise and promotion and asks me to give him time to get it approved by the top level of the org, which will be slow. I say no problem.

That was 3 months ago. I found out from a contact in administration last weekend that while he was telling me he was working on it but it was taking time, he hadn’t bothered to even start the process yet. I didn’t mention I knew, but told my manager I didn’t have any time left to wait and I was sorry but I was now actively pursuing the promotion through a different department. The raise and promotion both magically appeared within a week. He’s now telling me he worked really hard throwing his weight around to get it done faster but I know the truth, and I can tell he’s just worried I’m on the way out, and the promotion and raise are both not the level I can get at the other department. I’m frustrated by the counter offer I expected to match being significantly less, but mostly mad at myself that I trusted my boss to be as honest with me as I was with him. On a happier note, the other departments are still just as excited and I meet with them next week to finalize the move.

The only person you have to be honest and do the right thing for at work is yourself!

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