UPDATE: Manager rejects engineer’s ideas in private, then implements the same solutions as his own, after the construction professional refuses to demote himself

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Dec 7, 2025 9:00 AM EST

Manager gave that whole speech about lack of experience and not being "invested," and ever since then, the dynamic has started to feel a little rigged. The engineer points out issues, offers fixes, does the boring thinking-ahead part of the job. The manager waves it off in the moment, only to circle back later and roll out the same idea with his own name attached once reality proves the engineer right.

When the backup area might be unavailable, the engineer suggests putting a clear procedure in writing. Manager insists it will always be free. Of course the first time they need it, it is not available, and suddenly the concern everyone brushed past becomes a fire to put out. On the construction site, the engineer spends time talking with the company, gets them to agree to clear junk on the condition of a written order. Without a laptop handy, the plan is to send it the next day and keep things moving. After a call, the manager tells them not to send anything. Later, when the workers ask for that written authorization, it comes straight from the manager along with the praise.

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  • I think ma manager is sabotaging me...

    A construction worker in a hard hat and reflective vest looks down with a worried expression while holding a tablet at an outdoor job site. with a quote: "I think my manager is sabotaging me"
    via Sayan Puangkham

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • After a few rounds of that, it is no surprise the engineer starts wondering whether this is sabotage or just ego dressed up in a tie. Either way, the result is the same. The person actually doing the groundwork feels smaller and more uncertain, and the person with the title gets to look decisive. Shifting more of the conversation into email, keeping a quiet trail of who suggested what and when, is not petty. It is just protecting reality from memory.

  • I made this post a while ago. TLDR: My manager wanted me to apply to a lower position that the one I'm currently filling, because he thinks I'm lacking too much experience.
    via Rhaenelys
  • To be fair I am young. But I'm also the only one currently working in my department, and it took them a year to hire me.
    via Rhaenelys
  • I doubt that, if I leave, they'll easily find someone to replace me. The job requires 5 more years of experience than what I have, but it also pays less than what I could have if I go.back to the probate sector (but I have 10 weeks of paid vacation a year, so, in the end, I enjoy my position).
    via Rhaenelys
  • The thing is ever since we had this discussion, I found his treatment of me odd.
    via Rhaenelys
  • A construction worker in a hard hat and reflective vest looks down with a worried expression while holding a tablet at an outdoor job site. with a quote: "What do they want, a song and dance as you do your tasks like a Broadway show?"
    via Sayan Puangkham

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • For a while, I thought I was really scummy at my job, and that I should indeed go somewhere else at the end of my contract.
    via Rhaenelys
  • But here is the thing : many things I said would happen happened, and many suggestions I made that got rejected got done in the end, but by my manager.
    via Rhaenelys
  • For instance: 1 warned the people on the project that we should create a clear document about how to do a procedure in case the area we need to use is not available.
    via Rhaenelys
  • My manager told me it will always be available. What happened the first time we needed to use it?
    via Rhaenelys
  • It wasn't available ! Another example: on a different area where we needed to do some constructions work, people had left their junk.
    via Rhaenelys
  • With some negotiations, I managed to convince the company doing the construction to do the work.
    via Rhaenelys
  • They agreed, on the condition that they would receive the written order. Sounded fine to me, but since I didn't have my computer at the time, I couldn't send it.
    via Rhaenelys
  • So, I delayed until the next day, but I called my manager in the meantime to inform him about the progress of the construction, and the condition of the workers.
    via Rhaenelys
  • He told me not to send that email. Sure enough the day the workers did it, they asked for the email, and my manager is the one who answered: "you did great, here is your authorization".
    via Rhaenelys
  • There are other examples, but they're just other occurrences of what I just described. I'm wondering if my manager is intentionally doing this, or if he just changes his mind on a regular basis.
    via Rhaenelys
  • Anyway, I feel like I'll need to exclusively go by email with him from now on, to probe that I wanted to do the right thing, but got denied.
    via Rhaenelys
  • Thoughts?
    via Rhaenelys

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