A 60% raise or job security? The story of this tech worker is sparking debate

A Bengaluru-based tech professional has sparked a debate on whether employees should prioritize job security over hefty salary hikes. Sharing the experience of a worker who left a stable role for a 60% pay rise only to lose the new job months later, he argued that stability has become a crucial factor in an increasingly uncertain tech job market.

A 60% pay rise can make even the most cautious professional stop and think. After all, career advice in the corporate world has long been simple: if a better offer comes along, take it. A higher salary usually means career growth, more responsibilities and an opportunity to improve your financial future.But a Bengaluru-based tech professional is challenging that logic, arguing that in today’s uncertain job market, stability can be worth much more than a bigger salary.The advice, shared by Sunny Kumar in a much-talked-about Instagram video, has struck a chord with many professionals navigating an IT industry that looks very different from what it was just a few years ago.

A tempting offer gone wrong

Kumar told the story of a friend who worked at MasterCard in Pune. According to him, the employee had what many professionals would consider an ideal setup, a respected employer, good pay and a role he was comfortable with. Then came an offer from a smaller consulting firm.The catch? An impressive 60% increase in compensation. For most employees, this jump would be hard to ignore. Kumar admitted this in his video. Few people, he said, would willingly turn down that kind of money.His friend didn’t. He resigned from the multinational and joined the consultancy, believing that the move would accelerate his career and his earnings. Instead, it became a lesson in how quickly fortunes can change in the tech sector.After six months, the consultancy would have lost the project for which it had been hired. Without this business, the company no longer needed the paper. The employee has been asked to resign or face termination.Eventually, he lost his job. The lucrative increase that had convinced him to suddenly change companies meant very little.

Why the advice is resonating

Using the incident as an example, Kumar urged professionals to think twice before chasing higher salaries, especially in today’s market.“If you work in a stable job, good pay, good company, I would recommend that even if you get a 60-70% raise, even 100%, at least for six months to a year, don’t change. The IT sector is really volatile these days,” he said.His warning comes at a time when workplace safety has become a growing concern in the tech industry. The post-pandemic hiring frenzy created a generation of professionals who grew accustomed to frequent job changes and rapid salary growth. But the world has changed dramatically. Redundancies, project cancellations, restructuring exercises and cost-cutting measures are increasingly common in the industry.For many employees, the question is no longer how much a new job pays. It’s whether the job will still exist a year later.

Not everyone agrees

However, Kumar’s advice quickly divided opinion online. Several users pointed out that large organizations are hardly immune to layoffs.One commenter revealed that they had recently lost their jobs at HSBC, arguing that no employer can guarantee safety. Others noted that major corporations across all sectors have announced workforce reductions in recent years, despite posting strong revenues and profits.Some questioned whether Kumar’s friend would necessarily have been safer if he had stayed with MasterCard.“What if he got fired from MasterCard too?” one user asked, reflecting a sentiment shared by many professionals who have witnessed the restructuring of some of the world’s largest companies.Another comment perhaps summed up the opposing view more succinctly: “You can get fired from a big company and you can get fired from a small company. The difference is one paid you 60% more while you were there.”

The real problem is not the size

Beyond the debate about large versus small employers, several professionals argued that company size is only part of the equation.What matters most, they said, is understanding a company’s fundamentals. Revenue growth, profitability, customer reliance, future hiring plans, investments in emerging technologies, and overall company health often paint a clearer picture of stability than employee numbers alone.An underperforming multinational can be just as risky as a struggling startup. Similarly, a well-managed niche company can offer greater long-term security than a large organization facing structural challenges.The comments section effectively became a master class on the modern job search, with users encouraging professionals to do more research before accepting offers.

A changing definition of success

The debate reveals something bigger about today’s workforce. For years, career success was largely measured through compensation. The bigger pay packages often justified the risks associated with changing jobs.Now, many professionals add another factor to the calculation: predictability. In an environment where entire teams can disappear overnight and business priorities can change in a matter of months, stability has become a valuable currency in its own right.This does not mean that employees should never change jobs. Who is to say that every small business is risky and all multinationals are safe. What it does mean is that salary increases, while attractive, no longer tell the whole story.For professionals weighing their next move, the lesson may be less about choosing big companies over small ones and more about understanding exactly what’s behind the offer letter.Sometimes the biggest number on the page isn’t the most important.