Not low performance or unprofessionalism, Bengaluru man shares bizarre reason why his manager asked him to resign: ‘I haven’t done anything…’

He was asked to resign. Not because he had a bad performance, or he did something unforgivable like skipping work. His crime? His salary was apparently too high. Taking to the subreddit Indian Workplace, a Bengaluru-based programme manager revealed how his manager changed two months ago and the new manager asked him to submit his resignation before the appraisal. The reason was not even a poor performance or unprofessional attitude. He didn’t fail to meet targets, his performance didn’t dwindle, and he was not caught for slacking in his job. His salary was the culprit, apparently.

“The reason given is that my current salary is already quite high, and the team apparently doesn’t have the budget for it. The timing is concerning because the next pay cycle is around the 24th of Oct, and I’m being asked to resign before then…” he said.

He then asked what would happen if he did not voluntarily resign and the firm decided to terminate his job.


A commenter suggested that he should not quit but rather concentrate on obtaining a promotion from his manager, with pay that reflects the elevated role. If the manager is unable to provide the promotion, the burden should not rest on the employee.

The commenter also recommended clearly expressing his expectation for a salary increase during the evaluation period, noting that the manager could be trying to withhold a raise from him. Instead of quitting on his own, he ought to wait for the company to provide formal notice and then fulfil the two-month notice period while looking for other positions within the organisation or pursuing options outside.

Another said that people will never write a high salary on the paperwork but only say that the employee has low performance compared to their salary.

Another told him not to resign but to wait and apply to jobs and resign till he had a better opportunity.

Another suggested to him, "Don't resign! The manager is literally bullying you, but please be strong enough and don’t succumb to pressure. Document all interactions in mail as much as possible, and also CC it to your personal email. On the side (rather than keep this as the main objective), start looking out for another job. The only reason you need to fight it out with your current manager is to ensure you keep getting income. Your manager might as well give you a 0% increment and continue with that if he is unable to terminate you. He wouldn’t give you valid project work either in the future. So start preparing to leave.”