I’m female (23) and I have a coworker (30 & let’s call her Zoe) as well as a boss (34 & calling him Paul) I’m single, Zoe is married with a kid, and Paul is single as well. Ever since I got moved to a new job role two months ago which isolates me from others, Zoe and Paul get to talk ALL the time. I’ve talked to her about Paul not talking to me much and she told me she and him mainly talk about work and he isn’t too talkative, which isn’t necessarily untrue.
My problem is, our department is severely understaffed. We need about 9-10 people to our jobs well but we’re operating with seven, which means our manager is doing triple the work that all of us are doing. I am eager to learn more to help out the team (though Zoe believes I’m trying to do too much) but Paul says he only trusts ME to do the work I do, which I do with one other person.
I’m so jealous that Zoe and Paul get to talk so much and I’m frustrated that Paul isn’t letting me learn. I cannot work for hours at a time by myself, and we are about to lose another coworker in May, so our team will have six, including me and our manager. I feel there is no professional way of saying – if I don’t learn and have the chance to talk with others, I WILL find a new job that won’t destroy my mental health. But I’m at my wits end.