u/11th-personality

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​I need to vent and get some advice. I’m an engineer and working in a lala company in gurgaon. I’m also pursuing my M.Tech in Environment while working full-time.

So,​My agreed-upon salary is 50k from this April which was supposed to come by 10th of the month. However, this month I only received 40k and that too on 12th. Last month they withheld my salary till 16th or 17th. Now,when I reached out to management, they told me that the remaining 10k—and my upcoming promotion—is "on hold" until the company brochure is finished.

Now the problem is

​It’s not in my JD. I was hired for tender management, proposal writing, and technical site visits. I am not a graphic designer or a marketing professional.

​It was a verbal "ask." They threw this brochure task at me a while back, and I tried to be a team player, but it was never discussed as a condition for my base salary.

I’ve helped this team secure massive projects, yet they are nickel-and-diming me over a marketing pamphlet.

​It feels like they are using a task outside my professional scope as an excuse to cut costs. I’m already balancing corporate life, site visits, and my Master's studies. Being penalized financially for a "brochure" feels incredibly disrespectful to my technical expertise and my contributions to the business side.

How do I tell them that my technical output shouldn't be held hostage by a marketing task?

​TL;DR: I’m a Civil Engineer in BD. Company withheld 20% of my pay and stalled my promotion because a brochure—which isn't in my job description—isn't done yet.

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​I’ve been with this "lala" company for two years now, and I’ve reached my breaking point. When I first joined, the role was actually well-defined and professional. I was designated to the Business Development team, and my scope was clear: proposal writing, bid documentation, and coordinating international collaborations. I enjoyed it, and I was good at it.

​Fast forward to today, and my Job Description is basically a piece of fiction.

​The "scope creep" has become a nightmare. Here is what my life looks like now:

​Project Management (Without the title): I am currently coordinating 3–4 different projects simultaneously.

​The Report Factory: I’m drowning in weekly reports, monthly reports, and status updates for projects I wasn't even supposed to be leading.

​Random Creative Director: Out of nowhere, they expect me to manage the company website, design brochures, and handle marketing collateral.

​The "Lala" Culture: There is zero structure. Anyone from the senior management can walk up to my desk and dump a random task on me that has nothing to do with my KRAs, expecting it to be done "urgently."

​The worst part? They’ve started judging my performance based on these random tasks. If a project I’m "coordinating" (read: babysitting) has an issue, I’m the one in the line of fire. I went from being a specialized Bid/Proposal expert to a glorified personal assistant for the entire office.

​I feel like I’m being set up to fail because I’m spread so thin that I can’t give 100% to my actual core work. I’ve tried to raise it, but in this kind of environment, "flexibility" is just code for "we’re going to exploit you until you burn out."

​Has anyone else dealt with this kind of massive scope creep in a corporate? How do you push back when they expect you to be a BD expert, a project manager, and a web designer all for one salary?