We’ve got a lot of unpack here and will try to keep things vague-ish for fear of retaliation.
I started to work at my current company nearly two years ago and was quickly promoted to a senior position. In this new leadership position I made it my personal mission to not only establish new and more efficient processes but I really wanted to be a good boss- someone people felt comfortable approaching and would stand up and fight for their needs. I feel I did this part very well and can collaborate with everyone at the company. Within 6 months I started to notice the lack of support in my department. The workload more than tripled and they never hired a single additional person. My team of 3 (including me) handle all the marketing needs of every department in the entire organization. It also felt like a lot of the complaints I encountered were repeat offenses- the same stuff that had been brought up years ago and never addressed.
My boss saw that I was quite efficient in my role and someone who didn’t mind putting in the extra hours. This quickly became a way of life and before I knew it I was working 12-15 hour days. I would leave work at 8-9pm then go home only to continue working after a shower and quick meal. After a year of this- I decided to resign. I had voiced my concerns so many times and if fell on deaf ears. They asked me to stay on for one month instead of the usual two weeks because it would be “so hard to replace me”. Well the month came and went and on my final week the second in command to the CEO approached me to ask if I would consider staying on as an independent contractor which would allow me to work most days from home. I accepted a 3 month trial of this because I was still very adamant about leaving and took this role with the understanding that it was temporary. During the final month of this agreement I was told my team would be assigned MORE work as we just signed several new clients and once again- NO hires on the horizon anytime soon. My 3 month contract ended this week and they only sent me a renewal on the LAST day of my agreement. I told management I didn’t want to stay any longer and they told me if I wanted to end things on good terms I should accept another 3 month agreement to help them hire and train my replacement. I felt cornered so I said I would but I haven’t signed the agreement, in fact, no one has even followed up with me about it lol- but my co-workers continue to to email, call and text me with work questions. Would I be a terrible person if I just refused to renew my agreement and didn’t go back? I really don’t appreciate them implying if I don’t I’m not a good employee. I’m concerned this will negatively impact future job opportunities if a new employer decides to call them for a reference. What do I do?