In this day and age, where cost of living is increasing and job security is decreasing, not many people would turn down the opportunity to earn more money. But that’s exactly what Dhawan’s friend did.
Problem kya hai? If he accepted the raise, he would have had to compromise on work-life balance. It would have meant working on weekends, managing a bigger team, and staying up at odd hours for meetings. “The problem was everything that wasn’t written in the offer letter. Travel he wouldn’t be able to refuse. Weekends that stay technically free and never actually are,” Dhawan explained. The founder of business consultancy firm UAbility ended his post with a profound thought — “Every offer letter tells you exactly what you’ll be paid.
Dhawan explained that his friend earns ₹ 45 lakh per annum. The raise would have taken his salary to ₹ 65 lakh. “His father called the same evening he said no and said: ₹ 20 lakh extra mil raha hai. Calls with the US team 4 nights a week.
Because the hike came with a set of unwritten terms and conditions, aaj kal log 10% hike ke liye job badal lete hain.” (Also read: IITian turns down ₹ 32 LPA Gurgaon job to stay in Bengaluru: ‘This city feels like home’ ) According to Dhawan, his friend turned down the offer. A team almost double the size, which means his calendar stops belonging to him and starts belonging to 12 other people.
However, he chose to turn down the raise for a reason that his father deemed “absurd”. None of them tell you what you’ll be paying,” he said.
(Also read: ‘At 5 pm, your manager leaves before you’: Indian man explains why Canada’s work culture stands out )
Taking up the ₹ 20 lakh raise would have meant compromises he was not ready to make. He added that his developer friend was planning to have a child next year. “He and his wife are planning a kid next year. He trains five mornings a week. He eats dinner at his parents’ place every Wednesday. “People don’t realise that past a certain salary , the extra lakhs stop coming out of the company’s pocket and start coming out of yours. His evenings, and the version of him his wife married,” he explained.
