'Like sabzi market': Indian techie blasts 'disrespectful' HR after botched salary negotiations

An Indian techie criticized a company's HR for low salary offers, likening negotiations to haggling in a market.

A frustrated Indian techie sparked a debate on social media over salary expectations after he accused a company’s HR department of “disrespectful” salary negotiations, comparing the experience to haggling in a sabzi market.

The techie said that the hiring process ended in a lower salary offer than what was initially discussed.(Representational image)

The post, made in the r/developersIndia subreddit, struck a chord with many in the tech community who say they've experienced similar treatment. The techie, a data specialist with four years of experience, said that the hiring process ended in a lower salary offer than what was initially discussed.

The techie said that the NCR-based firm required relocation and in-office presence, prompting him to quote ₹19 LPA during salary negotiations. discussions. However, after all interviews were complete, the company returned with a final offer of just ₹16 LPA.

“This doesn’t make sense,” the user wrote, explaining that the new offer would barely result in a meaningful salary increase once taxes and living expenses were considered. “I hate negotiating like in a sabzi market,” he added.

Social media reacts

The post quickly attracted comments from fellow tech professionals, many of whom shared the sentiment. "No matter what, always ask for more than you need because HR will always lowball. I have not encountered any HR who gave an offer based on expected compensation," suggested one of them.

Another shared, "I have experience with these HRs. They don't have any professional expertise from which they can distinguish good candidates from bad ones. They usually end up choosing low-skilled candidates. Seriously, I hate applying for jobs."

A third user suggested, "I have been in a similar situation before. During the first offer, you won't get much hike. So you basically need to stack up multiple offers to get a 100% hike. I followed the same approach a couple of days back."