This is my first reddit post. I have changed names and titles to anonymize the story.
I spent five years working for a small to medium-sized tech company with a few thousand employees. My department consisted of about 25 people, and my role focused primarily on consulting projects for other companies, including tech audit testing, automation development, and process documentation. The first three years were typical of consulting—filled with ups and downs—but by the end of the third year, I was generally content. I had established myself as a key contributor, particularly in product development and process automation.
At the time, I reported to two key leaders: Tom, the head of our group, and Mike, the VP overseeing the advisory side of the department. Mike was the best leader/boss I’ve ever had. He consistently encouraged my career growth, praised my work to higher-ups, and even advised me to ask for a raise during performance reviews, pointing out that I was underpaid by the end of my third year—something no other boss had ever done for me.
A few months later, I received a job offer from a large corporation with a 45% pay increase, bringing my salary into the low six-figure range. I informed Mike about the offer, explaining that it was a significant opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Mike asked for a day to see what he could do. He went to the CFO and successfully negotiated a matching offer, so I decided to stay. Although I was initially nervous, knowing that companies sometimes match offers only to replace the employee later, that never happened. Mike’s actions reinforced his value as a leader, and things were great for the next year.
However, things began to change. Before I received my raise, we hired a director named Dan, a subject matter expert in tech with an impressive resume. Directors sit two levels below VPs, and Dan was two levels above me. While we used a variety of programming languages to build automation, Dan wasn’t very technical—his expertise was mostly limited to basic Excel macros. Though he was decent at client interactions and easy-going in team management, something about him always seemed disingenuous. He would solicit ideas from our teams on how to approach testing but always pushed his own ideas through, regardless of the majority’s opinion, with no sense of compromise.
About 6-9 months later, Dan was promoted to the other VP position (probably from kissing up to higher-ups) alongside Mike. In this new role, Mike served as a check on Dan’s decision-making, and vice versa, creating a balance of power. This dynamic lasted for about six months, but Mike grew increasingly frustrated as he was blocked at every turn in his efforts to benefit the department. He also ended up doing most of the work that should have been shared among Tom, Dan, and himself. Eventually, Mike accepted an offer from the CFO for a higher-paying, less stressful position elsewhere in the company, becoming the CFO’s number two and, ironically, the boss of both Tom and Dan.
After Mike left, our department began a downward spiral. We signed fewer deals, our workload decreased, and we fell far below our end-of-year projections. With Tom being a hands-off department head, Dan’s decisions—many of them poor—began to dictate reality, unchecked by any oversight. Over the following months, Dan implemented toxic practices, such as sending public shaming emails for minor clerical errors like missing project projections or time management updates. He also showed blatant favoritism, assigning some people 45-50 billable hours of work per week while others had only 15-20 hours leading to bad burnout in some. Any attempt to address this imbalance was immediately shut down without discussion.
Dan also took complete control of promotions, which had previously been decided through department-wide discussions among the higher-ups. Promotions now went to his “favorites” rather than the most deserving and hardworking individuals. After facing backlash for his promotion choices, Dan instituted another unpopular policy: requiring the tech side of the department to obtain certifications that were 95% irrelevant to our work. He then informed people who should have been promoted that they didn’t make the cut because they lacked these certifications—two months after the fact. Unsurprisingly, I was one of those people.
Since Dan took the reins, our department has lost work, signed fewer deals, and the quality of our work has decreased. Clients unhappy with Dan’s uncompromising attitude weren’t coming back, and we’ve experienced significant turnover this year alone. Some people left because they felt cheated out of promotions, while others who did get promoted (not the favorites) received minimal pay bumps, breeding dissatisfaction. The total turnover so far—and it’s only mid-August—is seven people. In a department of about 25, that’s nearly 30% of tenured employees.
Now we come to me, the eighth person to leave. I believed I was due for a promotion this year because, during my 2023 performance review, Tom, Mike (before he left), and Dan all agreed that if I showed leadership, trained younger staff, and successfully ran projects for that year, I’d be promoted the following year. I took those points to heart and worked tirelessly, often to the point of burnout. I made sure every higher-up below Tom and Dan knew I was the go-to person if they needed something done fast and right. I often worked late to meet deadlines, and everyone seemed appreciative.
Then came my 2024 review. This time, it was just Dan on the call. He started by saying, “You’ve had a fantastic year. You’re a role model for the younger guys, and you always go above and beyond.” He noted that I consistently exceeded expectations and then informed me that my salary would increase by 3% as a result of my hard work. I was in utter shock, thinking it had to be a bad joke, but the rest of the review was a blur. During the wrap-up, I mentioned to Dan that I was disappointed not to get promoted, and his only response was, “Well, there were only so many promotions to go around. Our department slightly missed its goals, and the company didn’t hit its targets, so we had to be very selective this year.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
The next day, I asked to meet with Tom to discuss the situation. I explained that they had told me I’d be promoted if I did everything they asked, and I had practically killed myself doing it. All I had to show for it was a 3% raise, which doesn’t even keep pace with inflation. Tom was sympathetic, but his response was noncommittal, suggesting they might promote me when a spot opened up due to turnover or during mid-year reviews.
A month later, a person in the role above me on the tech side quit, and his position opened up. I applied the day it was posted and informed Tom. I listed every higher-up I had helped the last year as a reference to my hard work and dedication. My direct higher-up, Mark (my acting manager), had my back and pleaded my case as well, arguing that Tom and Dan had a rare opportunity to remediate the situation as they knew I was upset. However, Dan was completely against promoting me, citing the lack of irrelevant certifications as a reason. It was the equivalent of requiring someone to know Spanish to pass a math test. He also mentioned he was not a fan of me going to Tom the day after not being promoted and felt I should have just accepted the outcome without complaint.
At that point, I decided it was time to move on. I began exploring opportunities at competitors, many of which were places where former coworkers had gone. Two weeks ago, I received a job offer at a competitor for 30k more than I was making, plus an uncapped bonus (my bonus this year was 4%). I accepted the offer and called Mike to let him know. I really didn’t want to leave the company, but I couldn’t see a future for my career with Dan in charge. Mike was sad to hear the news but completely understood, wished me well, and said we’d keep in touch. The consulting world is smaller than you’d think, so our paths may cross again. Which would be nice.
I then sent my letter of resignation to Tom and Dan. Tom seemed to see it coming and didn’t even attempt to counter. I have yet to hear a peep from Dan, but that’s not my loss. My coworkers now see Dan in a very negative light, and morale is at a historic low, but that’s his fault. I’m still working during my notice period because I didn’t want to leave my coworkers in a bind, but I’m happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll be watching from the sidelines to see how Dan continues to drive what was once a well-oiled, profitable department into the ground.
More updates to come.