Hey all, wanted to get a bit of insight on my partner's work situation. It's a bit long so bare with me.
My partner started at this marketing agency right out of university, from the get-go things weren't great. He was a graduate with only a year of industry experience (and they knew this when they hired him) and he didn't receive much formal training, just dropped in the deep end, given verbal instructions, was informed if something was done wrong even if he wasn't trained to do that thing properly, and it was only his first/second/third time doing that specific task, etc.
Anyway, he's been in this job now for about a year and a half. He accepted a fairly low salary to start off with as he was a graduate and had less experience than what they were originally looking for. He got a pay rise in February, but it was still less than what the original job description advertised. He is now confident with his main job role and even does extra projects on the side for the company, he approached his manager (who is young, and still being mentored as a senior management team from what I've heard, but gets approval of all decisions and whatnot from the company director) and they are still refusing to give him what the job originally advertised.
Instead, they have given him a six-month-long progression training thing where a lot of the things they want him to do involve account management and invoicing which branches out to the account manager/client services area of the business which is not what he is. He is in the marketing department. This progression training also smells a lot like it's going into the area of management. I understand if the company want to train him to be a part of senior management, but he's currently on £25k a year and the role was originally advertised at £27-£29k. They said that they will have a pay review with him at the end of this “progression training”, but I wouldn't be surprised if in 6 months' time they give him the original advertised pay rather than a higher salary after all the additional responsibilities they've given him.
My partner's confidence has been knocked in this job, his manager barely gives any positive reinforcement, even when he regularly works extra hours to meet with the demand as their team is very small and very overworked. She doesn't make an effort to be talkative or friendly, she feels more like a corporate robot (despite it being a small agency) than a human from when I've been home and heard their calls. He thinks he would be in a similar position in a new job if he looked for one, despite me begging him to look for work somewhere else and that he won't get a pay rise if he stays where he is, and that not all managers will be the same.
So, I suppose my question is if the progression training is normal in order to give my partner a pay rise? Is it suspicious they're not disclosing how much he'd be getting after six months? Does this place sound shitty and he should leave? Some evidence from fellow Redditors might give him the push he needs! He gets approached by recruiters on LinkedIn quite often, he just hasn't taken the jump.
TL;DR: Boyfriend is having to go through a six-month progression plan which gives him extra responsibilities outside the original job description (inc. accounts and management stuff) to be potentially paid only what the job description originally advertised. Works extra hours to meet with demand with not much recognition. Should he leave?