‘My Salary Doesn’t Match My Workload’: Gen Z Worker’s Exit Note Hits A Nerve, Video Goes Viral

Pratishtha Gupta, a 21-year-old content marketing strategist, quit her job with a brutally honest resignation letter that has since gone viral on Instagram. In the letter, she cited poor pay and a terrible company atmosphere, humorously listing the multiple roles she performed for what she called "the price of a sourdough toast."

When Pratishtha Gupta decided to quit her role as a content marketing strategist at a Lucknow-based firm, she minced no words in her resignation letter. Conversely, her letter released months of suppressed annoyance at her poor pay and terrible company atmosphere. Due of its harsh honesty, the 21-year-old professional posted a copy of the letter on Instagram, where it has been rapidly gaining popularity. Pratishtha stated in her resignation email that she would be leaving immediately and listed all the instances in which she performed more labour than she was compensated for.

In her resignation letter dated March 9, Pratishtha laid out this and other issues she had with the firm. “I’m hitting you with this email to announce my departure officially. My last day is today, March 9th, 2026. Consider this my final log-out,” she wrote. “To be Fr (for real), the math has stopped mathing, the vibes have rancidified, and the ROI on my sanity is in the negatives.”

“I took a look at my daily tasks vs. my bank account and realized I’m out here playing a 5-man battle royale as a solo traveller.” She continued to mockingly enumerate the several positions she purportedly had at the firm in spite of her low salary.

“The Video Editor & Designer: Making sure the brand doesn’t look like a 2005 PowerPoint. The Analyst: Auditing data while questioning my life choices. The SEO & WordPress Dev: Fighting Google’s algorithm and faulty under designed and under optimised pages,” the letter read. 

Additionally, she stated that she worked as an HR liaison, director, and content strategist “while secretly crying inside.” According to Pratishtha, she balanced all of these responsibilities for "the price of a sourdough toast."

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Many on Instagram laughed at the resignation letter's directness. One individual commented, "Crazyy." Another said, "Mam, please reveal the company's name as well."