Woman Shares The Absurd Counteroffer Her Husband's Job Gave Him When He Put In His Two Weeks' Notice
They basically didn't even try to entice him, and when he didn't give in, they just doubled down.
skynesher from Getty Images Signature / Canva Pro Employers are lacking in lots of things nowadays, but one thing they seem to have in abundance is audacity. One woman's story about her husband's recent experience with his soon-to-be former boss is a perfect example.
A woman shared the absurd counteroffer from her husband's employer after he quit.
Though it's certainly slowing down, America's "Great Resignation" is far from over, with workers still leaving jobs in droves to seek new ones with better pay, better benefits, and better management.
Jess, a TikToker known as @jesstheprequeldoesmiami on the app, recently shared a story that perfectly illustrates why all this shuffling around is still happening. Her husband Alex's recent experience with putting in his two weeks' notice pretty much says it all.
Her husband recently accepted a job that pays 25% more and comes with all kinds of other benefits.
"This is how delusional employers in America are right now," Jess began her video before explaining the sweet new job her husband just locked down.
"His new job is paying him 25% more," she explained. Plus, "they're buying him his own tools and they are putting him in an apprenticeship" to grow his skills and career path. Obviously, that is a very sweet deal.
Given the current job market, Alex's employer was obviously keen to convince him to stay when he put in his two weeks' notice and explained the amazing compensation he was offered at the new position. But rather than get an enticement to stay on, the counteroffer he got was jaw-dropping in all the wrong ways.
His boss' absurd counteroffer was to give him extra hours so he'd be making the same money as his new job.
"They tried to get him to stay, and not by offering him more money, tools, an apprenticeship, anything," Jess said. What did they offer instead? "They tried to get him to stay by telling them they could give him more hours at the same pay."
That is, of course, not a counteroffer. Like, not at all. And, of course, Jess and Alex couldn't believe their ears. "They thought they were countering by saying, 'we'll just work you more,' and then are surprised he declined that," Jess said in shock.
As a professional in a "blue collar" job, workers like Alex are hot commodities. The skilled labor and manufacturing sectors are experiencing crisis-level worker shortages. Consequently, pay for these jobs has soared, benefiting people like Jess's husband.
So obviously employers like Alex's soon-to-be former job want to retain their workers by any means necessary. But to say they'll need to do better than simply offering overtime is a wild understatement.
As Jess put it, "That's some top-tier delusional thinking. Imagine thinking that working someone even more is going to be what gets them to stick around and be like, oh, that's all I was looking for this whole time, was to be even more overworked and underpaid."
But if there's a lesson to be learned here — and there is — Alex's former employer hasn't remotely learned it.
In a follow-up video, Jess shared that when Alex's boss heard he would be willing to stay for more money, the boss took that to mean "he's still weighing his options," and that ultimately, he'll decide to stay put.
"He is wearing the baseball cap of his new job at his old job!" Jess exclaimed. "He couldn't be more decided, and the guy's like 'We'll just wait him out, he'll come around.'" Hah, good luck with that!
With experts and professionals in the skilled labor and manufacturing fields predicting the current labor shortages will continue to persist for years, employers like Alex's might want to wise up and learn from stories like these.
Money talks, as the saying goes, and it always has.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice, and human interest topics.