I have hesitated to share this story because I feared that it could impact future job opportunities, so I’m doing this anonymously.
I worked for a popular tech company and rose quickly during the year and a half I worked there. I started as an admin assistant and was promoted to portfolio manager for one of my directors (we’ll call him Sam; he’s the one that got me fired). After being transferred to a new manager (we’ll call him Dan), I was up for promotion as a permanent program manager.
Sam wanted me to continue doing work out of my scope even though I was no longer reporting to him. I stretched myself thin, often crying through late nights of work. I was doing work that Sam was responsible for while juggling my own work load. My new manager, Dan, was initially very impressed with my work and I even had a meeting with the Vice President who said they planned on promoting me soon.
However, after a few months I noticed they stopped talking about it. When I asked, Dan said they decided to open a requisition up and I was more than welcome to apply for the position. The holidays passed and with tensions growing between Sam and I, I knew I needed to get out of that department fast.
Unfortunately, I was informed a few days before my end date that I was being “laid off due to budget cuts.” When I asked what happened to my promotion on the last day, Dan informed me that Sam constantly complained about my quality of work from the time I was transferred from his team. I really wish I would’ve gone to HR like some of my colleagues suggested, but honestly leaving was a blessing in disguise.
Has anyone else dealt with a toxic work environment?