I have been working for a company for the past 3 years as an engineer. The past year I got pushed into a production leader role due to someone getting injured and not being able to work. I thought this would be a good taste of management, it was and it turns out I really don't like managing people. I really enjoy my operators but my day is made of running around ragged and running in circles because upper management has a hard time communicating what they want for daily production needs. Add labor shortages and the company pushing harder and harder to produce more the stress has made it unbearable, plus working 12hr shifts sucks.
I have two process techs that work under me. One of them mentioned to me he had heard a rumor that management wanted me back into my engineering role. I was shocked but excited cause I really wanted to get back to engineering. Why did no one say anything to me about it? I confronted my boss about it and he acted like I shouldn't have ever head of that, and that the role they were talking about was 1-2 years away. This solidified my decision to get out. I have been so burnt out and this made me really step back and see I wasn't going to go anywhere in this company. I really wanted to get back to an engineering position to actually use the degree I pay $800 a month to have.
Applied to another company a couple weeks later, went throguh their interview process and they offered me 20k more than what I make now. Holy fuck. Husband and I decide we are going to move for this job, it's a great oppertunity for my career and he is willing to quit his job and find something else. It's closer to my family and our friends so it's a no brainer.
I write my resignation letter and hand it to my boss. He is shocked and was first concerned if I was under a 5 year contract. I said, no I was only under contract for moving expenses and that was only they first 18 months of employment. Then he says that he can get me in that engineering position by the end of April and can raise my salary 15k. I was caught off guard by this and didn't really know how to say no. He urged me to talk it over with my husband. I called my husband and I knew I wasn't going to take it I just needed some advice on how to say “no” and make sure all my thinking is in check. I walk back to my boss and tell him I was thankfull for the offer but my resignation stands.
I go and start to tell my techs and operators in person that I put in my two weeks. One of my techs was appalled (same tech as before), this was odd because I haven't really been quiet about how fed up I was with my position and how the company has been handling issues. He asked me if I had talked with my boss and and responded with “yeah I just gave him my resignation letter.” He was dumbfounded and he tells me that last week my boss had come to him and asked him if he would be interested in taking my current position because they were going to offer me the engineering position the day I happened to put my two weeks in. He said he was sworn to secrecy not to tell me anything. I was angry but I think I dodged a bullet, had they actually offered me the position a week prior I probably would have taken it. I got responce from HR to my resignation letter stating “we are very sad to see you go, Boss was going to offer you the engineering position but I guess our timing was off” wtf is that shit
My questions are:
Is this unprofessional to tell someone under a person about their future promotion? I can understand their reasoning but it just seems kind of fucked up
How do I address this in the exit interview or just forget it?