Man upset as colleagues who submitted resignation letters received counteroffers from company and now earn more than him

SINGAPORE: A man expressed that he felt upset after discovering that two of his colleagues who had handed in their resignation letters were promptly rewarded with generous counteroffers and now take home significantly higher salaries than he does.

On Monday (Feb 16), he took to the r/singaporejobs subreddit to share that this “weird resign culture” has been happening in their department (which is a niche in their industry) for quite some time.

“There have been many cases of people resigning and ending up getting countered/promoted because of this. Some even get it twice/thrice!” he said.

“In my case, I have two peers that throw [in a resignation] and get countered. Suddenly their salary will be a lot more than mine, and with the salary cap, they will move on after some complaints. I am as capable in my work too, and probably more, just that I don’t go outside and ‘test water.’”

He added that a senior colleague told him this is becoming more common, as companies often find it less expensive to give experienced employees a raise than to hire and train someone new.

Even so, the man admitted that understanding the logic behind the practice doesn’t make it any less irritating. 

Watching peers benefit from resignation threats has left him questioning the value of loyalty in modern workplaces. “Feels like I’m at the losing end. Loyalty doesn’t pay,” he wrote.

“Doesn’t work in my field because we’re all replaceable.”

In the comments section, several Singaporean Redditors chimed in with their own observations and experiences.

One user shared that they had seen a similar tactic play out at a former workplace. “I know someone who did that two to three times in my ex-company,” they wrote.

His colleague went from a S$6k pay jump to S$14k in 5 years. The man claims that his colleague’s skill sets are not worth the pay rise. How his colleague was able to get the pay rise was through threatening a resignation letter when the team was “lean or unstable.”

Another user, who said they were an HR professional and had previously worked closely with a CEO, offered insight from management’s perspective.

“Well, sometimes the business rationale is, if the person seems contented and happy at work, how to justify a pay raise with no strong impetus, but if you threaten to quit or show up with another offer, then now we have a reason to review, so it’s a different story.” 

“But typically even if they counteroffer, very often, local companies will be looking for replacements behind your back and then just offloading you once they’ve secured one.”

A third commenter pointed out that this approach doesn’t work in every industry. “Doesn’t work in my field because we’re all replaceable, and the firm won’t want to set a precedence by counteroffering because that will just trigger everyone into doing the same.”

Meanwhile, another user warned about the potential reputational risks. “Not sure how niche your department is, but in smaller industries, word travels fast,” they wrote. “You might get a salary increment fast, but your reputation might take a blow if you keep playing this same trick.”

In other news, a 28-year-old woman who was laid off due to company restructuring shared online that she now feels completely lost after spending an entire year searching for a new job and coming up empty.

In a post on the r/askSingapore subreddit, the woman explained that she holds a degree in psychology and previously worked in the consulting industry, specifically in risk management.

Read more: ‘It’s eating me alive’: 28-year-old Singaporean shares despair after a year of job hunting