A lot of folks don’t talk about money with their co-workers, but you can understand why someone would be perturbed if a new employee came in making more than them right off the bat.

And the person who wrote this story on Reddit’s “Malicious Compliance” page sounds like they were pretty over it when they were given an ultimatum on the job.

“Go get another offer” – Okay!

“This happened last summer.

I’d been working at an office for about three years. We were starting to come back to a hybrid schedule. Perhaps not coincidentally, not long after I caught COVID and I was just so tired for next month.

The work kept piling up.

My workload had been getting ever higher and higher. Every time I’d tell my manager I had too much to do and we needed to offload some of it to someone else, he’d tell me “Well, you’re doing a good job, keep it up!” He generally didn’t listen to anything you told him, and my job was simpler the more I avoided him.

I’d previously been at a place I enjoyed, but I took a chance on a move to fill some experience in my career I felt I needed. Even up to this point, despite the burnout, I felt like I was in the position I wanted to be in.

They got some news from their manager.

Then my manager starts telling me about how he’s working on hiring someone who used to work there before I did, who was at the place I had come from. He has the same level of experience as me, but he’s commanding a salary 20+% higher than I was making.

And they were not happy with this turn of events.

This really upset me. I tried to let it go, but after a few days I confronted my manager saying that if the new guy was coming in at a higher salary then I should get a bump in pay too.

They received an ultimatum.

“Go get another offer, I can’t do anything unless you get another offer.”

Something in my head snapped. Between COVID fatigue and burnout I realized how exhausted I was and that it was time to leave.

It was time to go!

That day I called my previous employer, and three days later I had signed a job offer. I’m now making that 20% more, have an appropriate amount of work, and report to a manager who listens to what I say.”

Check out what Reddit users had to say.

One person said this reminded them of their own situation.

Another individual made a great point.

This Reddit user had a similar story.

One person talked about good vs. bad management.

This Reddit user talked about how it all worked out for them.

When you gotta go, you gotta go.

Words to live by!