[alienthrowaway]

> Of every developer I have seen leave, their primary motivation was a higher pay.

That's the polite thing to say, without bruising egos or burning bridges. I left my last job because I felt unappreciated after being skipped over promotion, even after accomplishing all the tasks I had agreed to with my manager would give him the capital to push for my promotion. Instead, other members of my team got promoted - and that was the primary reason I started looking around.

The fact that I'd be paid more wasn't the primary reason, few people leave a job for a lower paying one, so it's often an effect, rather than a cause. When asked in my exit interview, guess what I said my primary motivation was? Hint - it wasn't "I'm disgruntled because you didn't keep your end of the bargain"

[yurishimo]

Curious why you didn’t feel it was worth it to be honest with them in that moment? It’s not like they could stop you from leaving.

I left a job recently and had a great conversation with my boss about what went wrong and how I think they could improve and after talking to some old coworkers, it seems they have taken a lot of what I said to heart.

I get it not wanting to talk about it, but at the same time I think that feedback is the most valuable and I would want someone to tell me if I was in their situation.

[krageon]

> why you didn’t feel it was worth it to be honest with them

Being "honest" with folks who might be persuaded to give terrible references later and tell all their friends you are an ungrateful piece of shit is a bad idea. Never be honest with people that have more power than you, unless it is praise.

[atatatat]

...or you care more about your word, and society, than maximizing your 401k.

[krageon]

If I can be ruined by saying the wrong thing (this means any kind of criticism) then your portrayal of what I do is entirely missing the mark and frankly extremely dismissive of the realities of life for people that aren't filthy rich.

[baq]

if the manager had any brains, he connected the dots without feeling offended. whether he takes action on that or not, not the OP's problem anymore.

to put it bluntly, there's no upside to telling the whole truth.

[delinquenz]

Depending on how well your manager takes criticism, you might burn a bridge there without gaining anything.