COVID was hell for me eployment wise. Being the everything IT/IT Manager/IT Director/CIO/"what hat do you want me to wear today" for a local healthcare organization.
We had a very aggressive implementation plan for many new technologies, COVID not being the driving factor, but just things we had to get done that we had always wanted to do. COVID hit, we went home (sometimes), but still had to be in the office a lot to do on-site tasks.
Company furloughed a lot of staff and put their staff under me, I became Help Desk manager with no pay increase, but at the time was willing as I was under the guise of "at least I have job and the company is paying me". I had never wanted to be Help Desk manager, I was an infrastructure manager. Then the company "retired" the Director. Then a new Director was put in charge. Had about 3-4x worth of staff turnover. Then in 2021 the majority of the staff left, and the only other senior member on the team was furloughed because they didn't meet the healthcare mandate. Was essentially a team of one with a non-technical director running an entire healthcare organization. Whilst losing my grandfather and my mother being diagnosed with cancer.
2021 was a terrible year, and I know I wasn't a perfect IT Manager, I struggled a lot, and was not supported whatsoever. No one helped me or checked in on me. I ended 2021 with the company not happy how the performance of the department was and executive leadership brining in their own previous IT people from other jobs. This new staff started in the beginning of 2022 as my alleged peer/equal.
Then in 2022, my immediate director left... we didn't always see eye-to-eye but we had an understanding being through a lot of the "weeds" together. Any rate, executive leadership choose to make this new "peer/equal" manager the new director. They told this newer staff member that they offered me the posistion but I declined it... I was never offered the role. I was only told by the senior management that this would be my new boss and it'd be a "wonderful learning opportunity as a mentor". Come to find out later on, this new "peer/equal" never knew I wasn't offered the role.
I started to realize how much I had given, especially during COVID (x10... staying up till 1am figuring out Microsoft Intune, telehealth, SCCM/Endpoint Manager), and how much my health, personal life, sanity and what not was suffering. If any of this seems murky, I am leaving a lot out and making it vague, but it was a terrible combination of being taken advantage of, gaslighting, lying, no compassion and nepotism.
I have been unemployed since August and it is a tough market. I had to get out. I was beyond miserable and needed my sanity. I have a lead that I'm hoping goes somewhere within the next couple weeks to get back working and bringing some $$$ back in.