Gurgaon recruiter rejects techie who earns Rs 8 LPA, wanted Rs 19 LPA: 'Dreaming big is okay but...'

The recruiter claimed that although the candidates asked for exorbitant hikes, they could not justify it with their skills. (Representational image: Unsplash)

A Gurgaon-based real estate recruiter has sparked a discussion on social media over the steep salary hikes that some software engineers have been demanding without being able to convince him why they deserve it. Bhandari, who goes by @GurugramDeals on X shared two instances where techies asked for a 100 percent hike without justifying it with their skills or expertise.

"A guy we interviewed for a tech role was getting Rs 8 LPA and asked us for Rs 19 LPA!" Bhandari wrote. "Dreaming big is ok but asking for such a big jump without being able to justify it kills one's chances of getting selected. Maybe such candidates are happy in their current role and will only switch if they get a big hike."

He further said that the maximum hike that candidates can ask for is 50 percent and proceeded to add that he has "more experienced and articulate candidates than that joker".

The post, however, went viral and drew a lot of backlash from online commentators who assumed that Bhandari was unwilling to pay more money only because of the software engineer's previous salary bracket. Many commented that recruiters and companies should pay employees salaries depending upon their skills and not their last drawn paycheck.

"This post clearly shows why pay transparency should be a norm!" commented writer Vedvrat Shikarpur (@I_am_Vedvrat). "If your budget is 24LPA but you judge someone for quoting Rs 19 LPA because they're 'currently on 8LPA,' the problem isn’t the candidate’s 'entitlement,' it’s your mindset stuck in the colonial era."

A lead tech manager at Airbnb, Vinay Gaba (@VinayGaba) wrote, "I don’t get the concept of compensation based on the last company. The person might have been low-balled, and since the person has great skills and understands the value in the market, they are asking for the same. It might also be possible that they have levelled up so much in the last 1-2 years." He added that if candidates are clearing interviews and exceeding recruiters' expectations, they should not have any problem hiring them if the budget allows.

Another X user and teacher Sita Giri (@sitagirinair) said, "If he was a fit for the role then he is a fit for the salary you budgeted. He may have settled for a lower salary due to some economic pressures. That doesn't mean he should pay for that mistake all his life. Only in India does HR base the salary on the last pay."

The backlash prompted Bhandari to issue a clarification. "Every business is a for-profit entity. Jobs exist because the business turns a profit. Unless you work for a loss-making PE/VC-funded startup. Very important to justify the value you bring to the company when asking for a big hike," he said.

He also cited a second example in which a candidate asked for a 100 percent hike so that she could send her child to an international school whose fee was "very high".

"Since my last post on a techie asking for a 137.7 percent hike ruffled many feathers, I am sharing the salary demand of another lady we interviewed. She only asked for a 100 percent hike (from Rs 12 LPA to Rs 24 LPA). When asked to justify it, she said that the international school she wants her kid to go to has very high fees and she needs the hike to be able to afford that!" he said. "There are numerous such examples we come across ever so often. Candidates asking for the moon without being able to articulate 'why they deserve it'."

Read more: Techies getting paid more than other engineers, can't be taken for granted, says Sridhar Vembu