A Gurgaon-based actual property agency proprietor has reignited the wage expectation debate with a viral submit criticizing tech professionals for demanding what he calls “unjustifiable hikes.”
The controversy started when the entrepreneur, recognized as Bhandari, shared on X {that a} tech candidate requested for a 137.7% bounce—from ₹8 lakh to ₹19 lakh each year—with out clearly articulating their worth proposition.
The backlash was swift, with many calling his stance outdated and reflective of poisonous recruiter tradition. However Bhandari has doubled down. “Since my final submit on a techie asking for a 137.7% hike ruffled many feathers, I’m sharing one other instance,” he wrote. This time, it was a feminine candidate asking for a 100% hike—from ₹12 lakh to ₹24 lakh—citing her little one’s worldwide faculty charges as justification.
“There are quite a few such examples we come throughout ever so typically,” he added. “Candidates asking for the moon with out with the ability to articulate why they deserve it.”
He went additional, claiming the post-COVID wage increase within the IT sector has skewed expectations. “The sense of entitlement amongst these this submit triggered is astonishing,” he wrote. “Most are in for a impolite awakening.”
His core argument: wage hikes should be based mostly on benefit, not private want. “Each enterprise is a for-profit entity. Jobs exist as a result of the enterprise turns a revenue. Except you’re employed for a loss-making PE/VC-funded startup,” he added, warning job seekers to justify the worth they bring about when asking for giant jumps.
The web, nonetheless, had different concepts. One consumer wrote, “If you happen to’ve determined to rent somebody, what they at the moment earn is immaterial. You may have a price range and an evaluation course of. Make your finest provide and transfer on.”
One other known as out “colonial-era pondering,” arguing that “corporations who worth their staff pay based mostly on expertise and the price range for the position—not on final CTC.”
The talk underscores a deeper cultural pressure in India’s hiring practices—between a legacy of cost-to-company pondering and a rising demand for skill-based compensation and transparency.