An indication of a good workplace is employees feeling like they belong there. Unfortunately, according to a 2025 report, 58% of employees say they feel undervalued in their workplace. What’s the solution if you’re in that statistic? You can stay and hope that your boss comes to their senses.
Or you can give them an ultimatum and quit like a boss . Like this guy did, when his supervisor refused to give him a raise and essentially even demoted him. What they failed to predict was that others would follow suit and leave too. A good lesson for companies to appreciate their workers, huh?
Bored Panda got in touch with this employee, and he kindly agreed to tell us more about what “limitless earnings” really meant, what else about the company rubbed him the wrong way, and what this experience ultimately taught him.
A worker was fed up with low pay, even after earning a promotion
Bearded employee in safety gear holding clipboard at worksite, reflecting on wage reduction and decision to leave company.
Even when he got a new job, the owners did nothing to try to make him stay
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Text showing employee reaction after company lowers his wage, expressing frustration over receiving a meager paycheck.
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Employee discussing wage reduction with employer in office setting, showing frustration and concern during negotiation.
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Text excerpt from an employee sharing experience about leaving a company after wage reduction and advice on handling it.
The ‘limitless earnings’ pay structure wasn’t exactly feasible
This Redditor’s success story is quite inspiring, even if things seemed pretty bleak for him at first. We were able to get in touch with the worker, and he kindly agreed to chat with us about the whole situation, especially now that he has completely cut ties with his ex-employer.
“I was intentionally vague and left out identifying details because I was still employed by this company. Now that I’m at a new company , I’m willing to give more details,” u/Ihateskeletons told us via a Reddit message.
The netizen wrote that he was promised a new pay structure with limitless earnings. We were curious to find out what exactly that meant. “It’s called a flag hourly rate pay structure you find in the automotive industry,” u/Ihateskeletons explained.
“For example, a mechanic makes $30 per flagged hour. Let’s say Honda pays a mechanic one hour to do a brake job. If the mechanic completes this in one hour, they earn $30. If the mechanic completes this in five minutes, they get $30. If it takes three hours, they still only get $30. So when I’m told ‘You can make limitless earnings,’ this is technically true, but not realistic.”
“The only person who decides your value and worth is yourself,” the Redditor learned
The culture in that workplace was toxic as well. “In the past, when I received a normal hourly wage (less than $20/hr), I was told I made a fortune over and over. The employer also made sure to let the staff know we make more money than they do,” the Redditor details.
Although it may seem surprising that they didn’t make a counteroffer once he told them he had found another job, the Redditor is not surprised. “I think, in general, they did not want to talk about wages and made many attempts to preemptively shut down conversations about it.”
However messed up and stressful this situation was, u/Ihateskeletons is able to say he learned something from it. “The only person [who] decides your value and worth is yourself,” he said, sharing his lesson. “Sometimes that requires you to take [a] step back and analyze your situation honestly with an outside perspective.”
Some experts advise employees to be wary of accepting counteroffers
It seems that more and more people understand their worth and value in the workplace. Last year in the U.S., 46% of professionals said they were considering leaving their jobs .
In some cases, an employer might persuade a potential switcher to stay if they offer them more perks and a better wage. Even if the Redditor’s boss had offered him better pay, should he have stayed? Some experts actually caution people not to accept counteroffers.
Employers don’t want company morale to suffer, and looking for a replacement can also be quite expensive. But from the perspective of the employee, counteroffers seldom work in the long run.
Eric Freedman, the founder and principal at Professional Resources International, suggests these four reasons why we shouldn’t trust counteroffers:
- You will forever be marked as the disloyal employee.
- The reasons why you quit will still likely be there.
- The boss is primarily thinking about the company, not about your career and interests.
- Consider where the counteroffer raise/perks came from; were they just from your next promotion, granted early?
The experts at Aston Carter staffing and talent solutions advise not buying into emotion, keeping your end goal in sight, and putting your resignation in writing. “Handling your resignation with confidence and leaving no room for doubt will help you avoid conflict,” they write .
After all, statistics show that those who switch jobs increase their salaries more quickly than those who stay at the same company for years. So, maybe loyalty doesn’t always equal better pay?
People believed he dodged a bullet: “Employers need to learn that when someone leaves they are being fired”
Screenshot of an online conversation about an employee leaving a company after a wage reduction.
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Screenshot of a Reddit discussion about an employee leaving a company after their wage was lowered.
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Employee leaves company after wage reduction, discussing pay cuts and reaction to lowered salary in a forum comment.
Screenshot of a user comment discussing an employee leaving after the company lowered his wage.
Comment from user discussing consequences of wage cuts and employee leaving company after wage reduction in a text format.
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Screenshot of a Reddit comment about employee wage reduction and the impact on company staffing and management.
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Unfortunately, this man was just one of many with such stories
Screenshot of a Reddit discussion about an employee leaving a company after their wage was lowered.
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Alt text: Employee describes leaving company after wage reduction and being replaced by an unqualified nepo hire affecting operations.
Reddit comment discussing employee experience leaving company after wage cut and dealing with difficult employer.
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