I still can't wrap my head around this. It happened about a month ago, employee in a different position quit and the company needed to fill the job, so they approached my coworker. The head of our department came to her and said: “I've heard good things about you, you are hardworking, reliable and good with technology, so we would like you to do this job instead. Unfortunately, you will be demoted and get a pay cut.” When she complained about being punished for good work, she was told: “You should feel lucky you have a job.”