‘Low pay for exposure, be grateful…’ Ankur Warikoo lists 5 green flags, one red to consider while staying at your job
In a post on LinkedIn, author and entrepreneur Ankur Warikoo outlined five signs you can look for to assess whether a job is worth staying and just one red flag that indicates you should walk out the door altogether.
The founding CEO of Groupon India said many workers and job seekers face pressure to accept low pay in exchange for “exposure and learning” and demand to be grateful “at least you have a job”, adding that “respect, growth and fair pay are not luxuries” but “minimums”.
In an interactive post published on professional networking site LinkedIn last week, Warikoo painted a picture: “Endure long working hours and accept low pay in the name of ‘exposure’ and ‘learning’. If it gets too hard? ‘At least you have a job – be grateful.’ But gratitude shouldn’t come at the cost of your health or dignity.”
He added: “A good job can be challenging, but it won’t make you feel small. It will challenge you without hurting you. Respect, growth and fair pay are not luxuries. They are the bare minimum.”
Five signs a job is worth staying and one sign of a toxic job
Here are the green flags that make a job worth staying:
- You are respected for who you are
- There is appreciation for what you do.
- You are rewarded according to how well you do it
- As you do this, growth will occur
- You get mentoring when you lose your way
Red flag that will point you towards better opportunities:
Netizens agree that work culture is important: ‘If you don’t worry about your health, no one will.’
Responses to the post were mostly in agreement; users added their own experiences and other issues that create a toxic work environment.
The user, a consultant, noted: “Employees often stay in organizations for stability or because they truly appreciate the culture. However, in my work as a psychologist, I see the quieter, more toxic obstacles that often go unnoticed: struggling to fit in, slowly losing interest in work, or constantly second-guessing decisions and tasks.”
Highlighting invisible stressors, he added: “These experiences may not always be visible, but they gradually erode trust and commitment. This can eventually lead to Sunday evening anxiety or restless/unpleasant Monday morning! If left unaddressed, it not only affects performance but can lead to mental absenteeism and eventually burnout.”
Another user stated that one should pay attention to one’s health and said, “If a job makes you feel small, try losing your health to the last drop. Eventually you will realize a shocking truth; no one cares. If you can’t worry about your health, no one will.”
One user also felt that overwork was normalized: “I totally agree. We need to stop normalizing burnout as greed and gratitude over justice. True leadership measures success not just by output, but by whether people feel respected and valued while doing it,” he wrote.
One user also felt that the line between gratitude and guilt was blurred by toxic traits often glorified as “character building” and that the better method was to challenge employees by being fair. “This is a very important line to draw. Gratitude is healthy. It’s not guilt-based gratitude. The phrase ‘be grateful you have a job’ is often used to normalize people who underpay, overwork them, and call it ‘character building.’ A challenging job can wear you out, but if it’s constantly costing you your health or self-esteem, that’s not growth. It’s exploitation with better branding. ‘Exposure’ and ‘learning’ are money to pay the rent.” “The best workplaces challenge you while treating you like a human: fair compensation, clear boundaries, and feedback that improves you,” the user added.
