Candidate rejects ₹72 LPA offer ‘after considering the cost of living’, also cites company's strict WFO policy

A software developer shared the story of her friend who rejected a ₹72 LPA job offer due to a strict work from office policy, among other reasons.

For many, a salary of ₹72 lakhs per annum may seem like too good to pass up on — but one candidate’s rejection of the offer highlights how priorities shift with age and experience. A software developer shared the story of her friend who rejected a ₹72 LPA job offer due to a strict work from office policy, among other reasons.

Why one candidate rejected a company's ₹72 LPA offer (Representational image)

Ragini Pandey posted a screenshot of her friend’s rejection message to the recruiter on the social media platform X. “My friend just rejected a 72 LPA offer,” she captioned the photo.

Man rejects ₹72 LPA offer

The screenshot opened with the recruiter, named Manish, requesting the unnamed candidate to accept the offer so the company could move forward with other formalities.

The candidate chose to reject the offer instead, noting how the company did not have a leave policy in place and was only offering him a raise of 25%, along with no relocation allowance.

He also highlighted how the contract seemed heavily tilted in favour of the organization rather than balancing the needs of employees.

“If I were in the early stages of my career, I would have accepted it. However, at this point, the contract feels heavily tilted in favor of the organization rather than being balanced for both sides,” he added.

Reasons for the rejection

Sharing the screenshot on X, full stack developer Ragini Pandey explained that her friend chose to reject the ₹72 LPA offer due to several reasons. Besides the one he mentioned in his message, the candidate was also unhappy with the company’s strict work from office policy.

“Reasons: 5 days strict WFO; No leave policy; Zero relocation support,” she wrote on X.

She added that the most surprising thing was that her friend did not feel any sense of loss in letting go of the job offer to protect work-life balance. The incident, she said, highlighted how money is not the biggest priority for many professionals.

“What shocked me the most? He had zero sense of loss. It’s fascinating that people like these exist who are willing to let so much money go because of work life balance,” said the techie in her X post. “Priorities have changed bhai. Money isn’t everything anymore.”