TLDR at the bottom. Also karma payback from the universe.
This happened in the early 2000's. Back then I was working for a computer company. I wont name name it but I can tell you its big and blue.
So the company was also doing some BPO work. Both internally and externally. I was working in an account which outsourced internally. Basically the same company in another country (a) would outsource certain processes to itself but in another country (b). Due to the currency exchange (a) could have (b) do the job cheaper. The difference would be profit.
So I started from the bottom, from an entry level position and got to a position where I was doing the KPI reports. These reports are sent to the main comp (a) and the client. From this report they found out things like productivity, faults, how much to charge the clients, penalties (if any) and data for future projections. Now there are only 2 people who knew how to do the reports. One is a 55 year old guy (lets call him Bruce), and me. Bruce was just waiting for retirement. Everytime we connected online to discuss and compile the data for the report he would tell me on what he plans to do once he retires. Sometimes he would complain and say “Just these bastards wait till I retire”. Otherwise he was a nice guy.
I had asked Bruce “Once he retires, who will replace him?”. He told me that management in (a) have decided to just promote me to his level and have (b) hire a replacement for me. To say I was shocked was an understatement, because it meant that I would report to operations in (a) and part of my KPI would be to visit (a) twice a year for a week a time. So after about a year and a half of doing the KPI report Bruce announce his retirement during one of the Weekly Business Review (WBR). They also announced that his replacement would be announced on the next WBR.
So the next week came and I was in the WBR. The moment came when they were going to announce Bruce's replacement. And….. it wasnt me. It was some lady that (b) had hired externally. I was shocked. I called the Operations Manager for (a) (lets call him TB) and asked him why I wasnt selected. TB told me that the local manager in (b) (lets call him ON) said that he had another candidate in mind and since I still reported to (b) he should have final say in my internal transfer and promotion. I later also found out that the lady they chosen was a friend of ON's. They hired her externally just for the job. A job she apparently had no experience doing.
I immediately tendered my 24 Hrs notice. One good thing is that TB did fight for me to get 2 months severance. They did call me a few times aaking to train the lady. Told them that since I no longer work for them they would have to hire me as an external contractor. I pulled a ridiculous out of my ass and told them thats my hourly rate. They stopped calling me after that. I got a new job 2 weeks later.
I am writing this all because last week I was at a dinner party and met a guy who used to work there. We got a-talking and he told me that ON's wife got cancer 2 years later. He quit his job to take care of his wife full time. She died a year. Apparently he stepped on a lot of toes coz nobody at the office actually went to her funeral. The account I worked on when into a slow decline and was shut down after 1 year. Without an accurate KPI report they didnt know how much to charge the client and when penalties were handed they didnt know how to counter them. As for ON, I heard he tried to re-apply back to (b) but the company was now headed by a guy who knew of his toxic management how he mistreated people and they 'politely decline' him. Also his track record of destroying the account was well known. He is currently working as a level 1 Admin in a call center.
TLDR:
Work ass off for job.
Was promised promotion.
Got shafted, promotion went to manager's friend
Quit job
2 years later. Account crumbles and closes.
Ex-manager's wife gets cancer and dies
Ex-manager now working entry level job as he's been blackballed in the industry.