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    Engineer asked to take over coworker's job, gets denied a $40k raise, quits and costs the company $500k: 'Know your worth'

    Taking on extra responsibilities at work seems like a good idea for future promotions, but it doesn't always work out that way. The truth of the matter is that when you are asked to take on the work of multiple individuals, as this employee was tasked with doing, it is well within your right to ask for a raise. After all, your day-to-day responsibilities have changed, and you have clearly done a good enough job in your current role to be trusted with more responsibility. 

    Unfortunately, this employee was manipulated by his boss for far too long, but at the very least, he was able to triumph in the end and could relish in his now former company's downfall.

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    Author image for Ben Weiss Ben Weiss
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    • 01
      "I cost my ex-employer $500,000" 18 18
      via Unsplash+ (Curated Lifestyle)
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    • This engineer was close to a coworker, who had to leave imminently after a family member suffered a health emergency. Instead of hiring another person to take on that coworker's responsibilities, the engineer was asked to take on all of his work on top of his own. Now, this was not something that he planned to take on but the engineer was willing to do it provided that he got a $40k raise. After all, that's what other engineers at this level should be making. Not only was the raise promised to him, but it also kept on getting delayed to the point that his boss denied ever promising the engineer anything at all. Let's just say that this was the final straw for the engineer!

    • 02

      "I cost my ex-employer $500,000 and two years of productivity over a $40,000/yr raise"

      Years ago, I worked for a small (30 employee) emergency telecommunications company in Western Michigan for $80,000/yr.
      via [deleted]
    • 03
      This company hired me to help make a new embedded Linux product with an IP camera. For a year or so, all was going well until a co-worker's dad had a stroke,
      via [deleted]
    • 04
      and he had to resign during the middle of the project. The co- worker also happens to be my longest-lasting friend.
      via [deleted]
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    • 05
      Upper management's first reaction when they heard about my friend's dad's stroke wasn't, "Is his dad OK?" It was: "Can you finish the project without him?"
      via [deleted]
    • 06
      Mistake 1: I should have quit right then and there, but I was young and naive. Instead of quitting, I asked for a $40,000 raise to cover
      via [deleted]
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    • 07
      the added responsibility of being the sole engineer on an entire project that could have made the company millions.
      via [deleted]
    • 08
      Mistake 2: The CEO (David) told me he would give me the raise once the product was released. (I did not get this in writing. Good god, I was dumb.)
      via [deleted]
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    • 09
      Mistake 3: I continued to work longer and longer hours. For over six months, I worked 80+ hours a week. I was there at 04:30, and I left at or later than 20:00. My
      via [deleted]
    • 10
      marriage suffered, and I became a zombie and d d, but I was naive enough to try and "climb the corporate ladder."
      via [deleted]
    • 11
      I had enough at the 6~ month mark, and I went to the CEO and demanded my raise right then and there. He looked at me and said,
      via [deleted]
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    • 12
      "what raise? I never promised you a raise. We are trying to cut costs to increase their EBITDA! I could replace you in 2 weeks." (I'm not too fond of the very sound of that acronym now.)
      via [deleted]
    • 13
      I immediately started to look for new jobs and found one within three days that was fully remote and paid $120,000 a year. I put in my two-week notice, and in my resignation email, I specifically
      via [deleted]
    • 14
      stated that this is more than enough time as David said he could replace me in 2 weeks. The panic that ensued was fantastic.
      via [deleted]
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    • 15
      City Daily 0000
      via Unsplash+ (Curated Lifestyle)

      The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

    • 16
      Immediately they had to hire a 3rd party engineering company to finish the project, which ran around $500,000. After that, it took them over a year to find a replacement for me, and he left within a year. I later messaged him
      via [deleted]
    • 17
      on LinkedIn, and he said the company had gone to , and they continually blamed me for the failure of the product. The company hasn't made a single post
      via [deleted]
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    • 18
      on social media in almost a year, and they haven't pushed any updates to any of their products in about the same amount of time.
      via [deleted]
    • 19
      Bonus things about my insane time at the company: • The CEO looked at me once and said, "The owner understands sacrifice. He had to sell his summer home."
      via [deleted]
    • 20
      • The CEO also went from a fairly reasonable guy to a straight-up lumberjack looking crazy born-again ranting mad-man with a huge beard.
      via [deleted]
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    • 21
      Know your worth, and quit early. Raises are a scam, and companies would much rather cut off their nose to spite their face. If you are doing extra work you will be noticed, but not for a promotion.
      via [deleted]
    • 22
      You taught the employer that you will do extra work for nothing. No job is worth your health or your family.
      via [deleted]
    • 23
      Friends dad edit: He lived. The tough-as-nails spent three days on the floor before a neighbor found him on the brink of My friend moved to the Bay Area for a year and took care of his house, finances, and physical needs while he recovered. He still
      via [deleted]
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    • 24
      has trouble fully forming sentences and doesn't have fine motor skills anymore, but he can walk, talk, dress and bathe himself now!
      via [deleted]
    • 25
      My friends dad having the stroke made my friend re-evaluate how hard he had been working and decided that famiglia should always come first.
      via [deleted]
    • 26
      Thus_Spoke The moral of the story is never, ever work for a promise. That promise could be a promotion, a raise, a discretionary bonus, or an equity
      via [deleted]
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    • 27
      grant. If you don't have it in hand, on paper, and contractually guaranteed, it's not worth a cent.
      via [deleted]
    • 28
      Businesses function on the basis of contracts. The reason you don't get a contract for any given promise is because they intend not to fulfill it.
      via [deleted]
    • 29
      [deleted] You didn't cost your employer that your up employer cost your employer that.
      via [deleted]
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    • 30
      TheinimitaableG There promise of the raise AFTER the release of the product was always bogus... The real plan was always to have you finish i the project andthen replace you.
      via [deleted]

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