- A senior female tech lead quit after receiving a disappointing 3% salary hike
- She stayed loyal despite offers, believing in the product and team dynamics
- Other managers received hikes of around 10%, including underperforming teams
A female tech professional earning nearly Rs 50 lakh per annum has quit their job, citing a disappointing 3% salary hike. In a post on Reddit, the woman, a senior technical lead working in the data/AI space at a product company, said she "stayed loyal for years", but still faced disappointment in her appraisal.
Despite getting multiple opportunities to switch to better roles, she "chose to stay" as she "believed" in the product and was comfortable with the team.
Although the techie mentioned that she wasn't expecting anything "unreasonable", 3% hike shocked her. "I tried discussing it, but it went nowhere. Just vague responses and delays. As an alternative, I was offered some ESOPs because I am a valuable employee. It didn't feel like meaningful compensation," she wrote.
The techie stated that several other managers and leads saw significantly higher hikes of around 10% and even more. Even the teams that weren't performing got better appraisals.
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I stayed loyal for years. A 3 percent hike made me realize what was really going on.
by u/Data-Maiden in IndianWorkplace
Challenges of the tech industry
The tech industry has seen significant changes in recent years, with salary hikes becoming more selective and skill-driven. While some companies offer aggressive raises, others have been conservative with their increments.
The woman also sparked a debate on the difficulties faced by female employees, especially in the tech industry.
"And I'll be honest, there's another layer to this that's difficult to ignore. Being a woman in a deeply technical leadership role, I'm used to having to prove my depth more than once," she wrote.
"But this is the first time it has felt like there's an invisible ceiling not just on influence - but on compensation as well."
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Social Media Reaction
She said she has accepted another offer with better compensation, and since then, she has felt there's a sudden push to retain her. She also heard rumours that the management was looking for a replacement.
The tech professional's decision to quit highlights growing employees' concerns about job security and fair compensation. Many feel that loyalty is not rewarded, and companies prioritise profits over employee well-being.
In the comment section, one user said that it's not because of the gender. The user explained, "It's a common tactic. A lot of corporates deploy this because they know that these are the types that'll never question back so we can churn them out till they are here."
"Problem is job search and switch is easy only on reels, in the real world it's terrible difficult, complicated task," another user wrote. "We live in bharat here crowd and over competition ruin us daily just at my company every month many many guys are interviewing."
