India, March 17 -- A manager's Reddit post about losing their "best engineer" over a $2,000 (approx. Rs.1.8 lakh) raise has ignited a massive debate online regarding employee retention. Despite the company's strong performance, a strict 1.5% salary increase cap was enforced across the board, leaving no room for negotiation. The team's lead engineer, feeling insulted by the measly raise, promptly secured a new role with a 10% pay hike. The manager's frustration is clear: to save a "peanut" amount, the company sacrificed a vital lead, leaving a massive hole in projects and specialised knowledge.

"My best engineer quit today over $2000," a Reddit user wrote, adding, "It's that time of the year again where we have performance reviews and sal...