[Throwaway to try prevent this blowing up on people who are still involved]
So I recently left my job of 9 and a half years, due to the company execs being toxic, lying, abusive, manipulative, all the usual tricks. I was told I would never find a job that never expected me to be in an office [spoiler alert – my new job is exactly this].
Our team adjusted well to working from home during the pandemic, and never wanted to go back to the office. One thing led to another, and we were forced to go back 1 day a week. On our first ever day in, we found most of our equipment was gone from our desks [most of the team couldn’t work], our manager’s office had been turned into a dumping ground/storage area, and one of our team members had lost his office after around 15 years of working in the same office. All of his personal items were moved without him even being told this was happening. We also found out that the CEO at the time had demanded a larger office, and the reshuffle that resulted in most of the issues we encountered was as a result of this.
As a manager in my team, I completely lost it, and the response from the exec we report to was essentially “let us know what is missing” – and disregarded everything else I said. I knew in that moment what I was dealing with and that I could never trust them again.
We worked our way up to 2 days a week – negotiating a possible intermittent 3rd day.
At this time they discussed me moving from 1 to 3 months notice period, for a pay rise that I should have got 3 years prior. I agreed in principle, and told them to send me the updated paperwork to sign, which they never did.
A few days after this, without any warning whatsoever, the executive that we directly report to decreed “everyone back to the office 4 days a week – no exceptions”. I was approached by my new employer a few days later, after word got out that I had finally lost all faith in things ever getting better on the other side.
When I resigned with 1 month notice, they attempted to enforce the longer notice period, even though it was never put into writing – and given that the “4 days no exceptions” incident happened right afterwards, I had zero intention of following through even if they did. This resulted in me paying thousands in lawyer fees to get them to back off, and this affected my handover to the rest of the team in my notice period.
My last ever meeting was with the brand new CEO [the one who demanded a bigger office had been forced out – for reasons that can only be guessed]. The new CEO dismissed me and the rest of the team the entire meeting, sat on his phone the entire time. When he did address me, he called me by the wrong name, even though I was very well known, and my name was on his screen in the Zoom call.
It’s been over a month since I moved, and I’m extremely happy in my new job. It's a very small business, and everyone has been extremely respectful and trustworthy. I can't imagine ever going back.
I now have whatsapp messages from the new CEO, asking me to call him. I know from those left behind that the executives are trying to reach out to everyone who left [there are a lot of us] to try to see what they can do to get us to come back. Rather than try find out WHY everyone is wanting to leave, apparently.
I’m very tempted to reply “Sorry [wrong name] I don’t have time right now”
All joking aside, is there any way to calmly and diplomatically tell them that my trust and faith in them has been utterly shattered. That I have been left with severe PTSD and have zero interest in ever coming back?