IITian founder’s email to candidate who declined offer a day before joining is viral: 'The action...'

The post rapidly gained traction, with some sympathising with the founder and others defending the candidate’s right.

Srijan R Shetty, co-founder of fintech startup Fuze Finance, has gone viral on social media platform X after sharing his response to a candidate who accepted a job offer at the company, only to withdraw a couple of days before joining. Shetty, an IIT alumnus currently based in Dubai, revealed that the engineer had backed out of the position after receiving a “better offer” elsewhere.

The post, which has garnered widespread attention, sparked a broader debate online around workplace etiquette, candidate behaviour, and the ethics of continuing a job hunt after accepting an offer.

“One of the engineers who was due to join today sent a message over the weekend that they won’t join,” Shetty wrote in his post on Monday. “Bit let down, but I sent them across the following message,” he added, attaching a screenshot of the email he sent in reply.

In the email, Shetty began by acknowledging the candidate’s right to explore other opportunities but expressed disappointment over the timing and the lack of open communication.

“The two reasons you provided seem a bit off,” Shetty wrote. “You’re free to shop for offers in the market — it’s a free market after all. But you could have come back to us and we would have been happy to have a chat about the new offer that you have.”

The candidate had reportedly told Shetty that he was unable to confirm his joining date due to “personal reasons” and had instead accepted a “better offer” from another firm.

While acknowledging the realities of a competitive hiring market, Shetty emphasised that his startup valued transparency and mutual respect.

“I believe that life is a positive sum game, and that’s how we treat everyone at Fuze. A lot of my folks at Fuze have worked with us over the years in different startups and we have ensured that we do what’s best for them — even if it means joining another company with a much better offer,” he wrote.

In a candid rebuke, Shetty stated that the candidate’s last-minute decision reflected poorly on his professional conduct.

“The action of rejecting an offer a day before joining reflects very poorly on the person partaking in the action. I hope you do not do the same with any other company and choose to prefer open communication instead.”

The post rapidly gained traction, with some sympathising with the founder and others defending the candidate’s right to make career decisions in his best interest.

A user named @abbas commented in Shetty’s support: “I think everyone that’s arguing against this is missing a critical piece of information. As far as I understand, this person accepted your offer and decided to bail one day before. Everyone shops for offers. That is perfectly fine. But if this was me — once I’ve agreed to an offer, there’s no way I’m shopping around for an alternate offer.”

However, others argued that candidates often feel unsafe or uncertain about disclosing ongoing job hunts.

“You're the top 0.0001% that would've done what you mentioned,” one user wrote. “In most places, this dude would have instantly lost this offer to someone else had he shared he was exploring other offers.”

Another user added: “I understand and kind of agree to what you proposed, but as a candidate it’s pretty difficult to do open conversation.”

"I think everyone that’s arguing against this is missing a critical piece of information. As far as I understand this person accepted your offer and decided to bail one day before. Everyone shops for offers. That is perfectly fine to do. But if this was me once I’ve agreed to an offer there’s no way I’m shopping around for an alternate offer. I would ideally have just asked for more time to say YES. Worst case if there was an alternate company I’d rather join I would at least have an honest conversation. Nobody wants someone on their team that isn’t fully committed or interested so you or any other founder for that matter would prefer a clean exit vs a messy one. Communicate lads!" a user remarked.