'My wife thinks I'm insane': Man shares dilemma after employee he fired offers him job with 20% higher pay

A man who once had to fire an employee over repeated attendance problems is now considering working for the same person after receiving a job offer from him two years later. The unusual situation was shared on Reddit's r/careerguidance forum, where the user, posting as u/Curious_Plate_2464, asked whether he should accept the offer or risk putting himself in an uncomfortable professional position. The user said he had previously supervised a warehouse team and was responsible for informing an employee that his employment had been terminated following repeated attendance issues. He stressed that the decision had not been personal, explaining that HR had made the call and he had simply been tasked with delivering the news.

Two years later, the user found himself interviewing for an operations position at a manufacturing company. To his surprise, the person sitting across the table was the same former employee he had dismissed. The former employee had since become the company's operations manager and recognised the interviewer immediately. According to the Reddit post, he laughed about their previous association, but the interview itself proceeded normally. The encounter took an unexpected turn when the former employee offered him the position. The user said the new role came with a salary around 20% higher than his current pay, better working hours and a direct reporting arrangement with the man he had once fired.

What made the situation even more unusual was the former employee's reaction to their shared history. The user said the operations manager told him that he respected the way he had handled his termination. Despite the professional nature of the interaction, the offer left him uncertain about what to do. FIRED him then got a JOB OFFER from him https://t.co/8uWk11x5j4 -- Prem Palhade (@premwomp) November 13, 2026 "My wife thinks I'm insane for considering it. I genuinely can't tell if this guy has completely moved on or if I'd be putting myself in the most awkward professional situation imaginable," he wrote.

He ended his post by asking whether anyone had ever worked for someone they had previously fired. Reddit users debate whether he should accept the offer The post prompted a discussion about workplace relationships, professional maturity and whether a former employee might hold a grudge against someone involved in their dismissal. One commenter suggested there were two possible explanations for the offer: the former employee could be seeking revenge, or he could simply be a mature professional who recognised the recruiter's value to his company. "The more realistic reason is he is a mentally mature, well adjusted adult and sees you as an asset to his company.

The termination deal is water off a ducks back," the user wrote. Another commenter encouraged the man to accept the position, suggesting that if the former employee later dismissed him without a valid reason, he could have grounds for legal action. The commenter also wondered whether being fired had served as a wake-up call for the former employee. A third user argued that the former employee had probably moved on and was behaving like a professional. "The guy is in a better place. He is being a normal person who probably was going through a hard point in his life," the commenter said. The advice was straightforward: "Stop overthinking it."