Employee says colleague stopped working after receiving lower hike than others: ‘This is making my job more hectic’

Employee says colleague stopped working after receiving lower hike than others: 'This is making my job more hectic'

Employee says colleague stopped working after - A recent online conversation has been ignited by an employee's account of a colleague's decline in work performance following a disparity in salary increments. The individual shared their experience on Reddit, highlighting how a teammate’s productivity dropped sharply after receiving a smaller raise compared to the rest of the team.

Salary Hike Disparity Sparks Teamwork Strain

In the post titled “Colleague stopped working after latest hike numbers,” the user explained that most team members were awarded around 13% increases, while one colleague only received 7%. They noted that the colleague’s efficiency declined significantly post-appraisal, forcing others to shoulder extra responsibilities.

“So this colleague of mine is not very technically sound, they take a lot of time to learn stuff and sometimes been caught for just sitting on the tasks when they have been assigned days ago,” the user wrote.

Workload Imbalance and Frustration

The employee expressed concern that the lower hike might have been tied to prior performance issues. However, after observing the discrepancy in raises, they claimed the colleague became disengaged, leading to a noticeable slowdown in their contributions.

“Now that they reached the ‘Find out’ stage of ‘f***ing around’, their efficiency has cratered, like if they used to do 6 tasks in a day, now they just do 2, and are constantly with ‘away’ status on teams like 6hrs out of 9hrs they are away,” the employee wrote.

Despite the added pressure, the Redditor emphasized they wanted to protect their colleague’s job. The two had joined the organization simultaneously and maintained a good rapport socially, though the growing workload had become challenging to manage.

“What do I even do in this situation?” the employee asked.

Public Reactions and Advice

Commenters on the post offered mixed responses. One user expressed disbelief at the colleague’s performance level: “I can’t believe someone with that kind of performance gets 7% in this job market.”

Another suggested maintaining focus on the team’s tasks: “Anchor down, do your part and not theirs. Numbers won’t lie and their results will come through, do make everything can be measured though by your system ideally if it’s measured,” they commented.

A third user criticized the colleague’s attitude: “How can you be on good terms with someone so selfish? They are actively making your job more chaotic because they are unfit for theirs and are basically throwing a temper tantrum for not getting a raise they think they deserve,” wrote a third user.

Another advised addressing the issue with management: “You gotta talk to your manager about the workload imbalance, not about punishing him or whatever. Just lay out what's happening to your own tasks and deliverables since you're covering his work. That's a legitimate business problem that affects the team's output, and your manager needs to know you're drowning. You're not throwing him under the bus by saying 'hey, I've got double the work now,' you're just being honest about what you can actually handle,” said another.

Disclaimer and Author Information

(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)

Bhavya Sukheja, a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times, has over six years of experience in digital journalism. She focuses on stories that capture everyday human experiences, often highlighting viral videos, social media trends, and human-interest features that resonate with readers.

Known for her strong news sense, Bhavya excels at identifying emerging trends and framing them into compelling narratives. Her work spans pop culture, entertainment, global affairs, and the internet’s most discussed topics, helping readers contextualize online conversations and understand what drives social engagement.