Everyone loves a workplace breakthrough.
You find a shortcut.
You automate something painful.
You shave hours off a process that used to take days.
You imagine your boss shaking your hand, maybe even talking promotion or bonus.
But for one IT worker, a discovery worth six figures didn’t feel like a win.
It felt like a threat.
And instead of reporting it, he decided the idea is going with him to the grave.
A Reddit user posting under u/GL510EX dropped a bombshell in the r/antiwork community with a confession that instantly lit up the internet.
“Working in IT. I spotted a way to save $100,000 per year. But by doing so, it puts 2 people out of a job. No question… just had to tell someone because I sure as hell am not telling management.”
That’s it.
No extra drama.
No long explanation.
Just a quiet admission that he knows how to make the company richer — and refuses to.
The $100,000 Problem
In tech, spotting waste is practically part of the job.
Maybe it’s a tool nobody needs.
Maybe it’s a manual process that could be scripted.
Maybe it’s overlapping roles that software could replace.
To executives, that kind of discovery is gold.
To the worker who found it, it can feel like a guillotine.
Because in this case, the savings don’t come from trimming fat.
They come from cutting people.
Two salaries. Two lives. Two families.
That $100K isn’t abstract — it’s rent payments, health insurance, groceries, daycare.
Once the company realizes the work can be done without them, history suggests the outcome is brutally predictable.
Why He Won’t Tell the Boss
Some might wonder: Why not report it and get rewarded?
Workers in the comments were quick to answer.
Because in many companies, saving money doesn’t mean sharing money.
It often means:
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leadership celebrates,
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budgets tighten again,
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and the employee who helped eliminate jobs is handed even more responsibility.
Sometimes without extra pay.
One commenter summed it up perfectly:
“You don’t get a bonus. You inherit the workload.”
So from that angle, silence isn’t sabotage.
It’s self-preservation.
Internet Calls Him a Hero
Inside r/antiwork, the reaction was immediate.
People described him as protecting coworkers.
Standing up for human value.
Refusing to be the instrument of layoffs.
Many admitted they’ve done the same thing — quietly noticing ways to automate tasks but choosing not to volunteer the information.
Because loyalty, they argued, goes both ways.
If companies can cut staff the moment profits dip, why should employees race to help eliminate each other?
The Automation Anxiety Everyone Feels
This story lands hard because it reflects something millions of workers fear.
Technology keeps advancing.
AI keeps improving.
And more often than not, the benefit doesn’t show up in paychecks — it shows up in reduced headcount.
One clever improvement can erase entire roles.
So the ethical question becomes uncomfortable:
If innovation mainly rewards shareholders, is a worker obligated to help it happen?
u/GL510EX clearly decided the answer is no.
A Secret in the Server Room
Right now, somewhere, two employees are still working.
They have no idea their jobs exist partly because one IT professional chose humanity over efficiency.
In meetings about budgets or optimization, he stays quiet.
The solution sits in his head, unused.
A private act of rebellion.
And maybe, in today’s corporate climate, a deeply understandable one.
What would you do if you were in his shoes? Would you take the “win” to management and hope for a promotion, or would you protect your coworkers’ jobs and keep the $100,000 secret forever?
Let us know in the comments—and tell us, has your “efficiency” ever backfired on you?
Source: Reddit
Working in IT. I spotted a way to save $100,000 per year But by doing so, it puts 2 people out of a job.
by u/GL510EX in antiwork
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