Man Loses Rs 26 Lakh Job Offer After Boss Verbally Promises To Match It: 'Painful Lesson'

An employee received a painful lesson that may have jeopardised his career after he refused a Rs 26 lakh per annum (LPA) move to stay with the current employer, owing to a verbal promise from the boss to match the compensation offer. Amit Shekhar, founder of Outcome School, shared the cautionary tale of one of his students who was deceived after not properly documenting the professional agreements.

"One of my students was working at a company near his native place with a CTC of 15 LPA. He interviewed elsewhere and cracked an offer of 26 LPA," wrote Shekhar in an X (formerly Twitter) post.

After the employee put in his papers, the boss approached him and offered to match the pay from the next month. Based on this assurance, the employee rejected the new offer and decided to stay. However, after a month, when the two sat for a meeting, the boss refused to approve the pay hike.

"Fast forward one month, after the joining date of the new company had passed, another meeting happened.This time, the message was: “We won't increase anything. Your CTC will remain 15 LPA.” That's it."

Shekhar said he advised his student to make the switch, as it was only verbally communicated but the latter decided to stay, saying the company was really good.

"Lesson: Verbal promises don't matter unless they're written. Trust is important, but documentation is protection. The only reason he stayed back was the proximity to his native place. But as always, I leave it up to the student to make the final decision."

Check The Viral Post Here:

A real story. A hard lesson. One of my students was working at a company near his native place with a CTC of 15 LPA.

He interviewed elsewhere and cracked an offer of 26 LPA.

When he informed his manager about resigning, the manager said: “If you really want to work here, stay.…

— Amit Shekhar (@amitiitbhu) December 25, 2025

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'Painful But Real Lesson'

As the post gained traction, social media users highlighted that it was a painful lesson for the employee and that he should not have trusted the counteroffer if it wasn't properly documented.

"Accepting counter offers make you lose your worth. Once resigned you are marked as flyer. It backfires. Move away if you have resigned, it's always a good decision, irrespective of matching figures," said one user, while another added: "Once you get an offer to move, move. Even if you stay back at a higher package, you may not be treated well."

A third commented: "This is a painful but very real lesson. So many people trust words because they want to believe. Sadly, in corporate life, if it's not on paper, it doesn't exist."

A fourth said: "That's very immature move to reject new offer without official pay revision letter from HR. Once resign, if you don't get revision letter on what's promised by last day of notice, then simply leave."