Worker finally resigns after a five-year promotion stall, only for the company to offer the immediate role they claimed didn’t exist: 'Your loyalty should be to yourself, not to a company that won't hesitate to string you along'

For years, this employee did everything the company asked. They did the extra projects, the late nights, and had the quarterly "career conversations" that went nowhere. Each meeting came with the same script, promising that a promotion was coming; they just needed the right timing.

By year five, that timing still hadn't appeared. What had appeared was burnout, frustration, and the sinking feeling that loyalty was being mistaken for complacency.

That's the quiet part no one says out loud in corporate life. Some companies will gladly keep you exactly where you are if you let them.

Author image for Isabella Penn Isabella Penn
Add us on Google
Advertisement

  • The turning point came when she realized that waiting wasn’t a strategy. She found a new role, one that paid 30% more and offered actual upward mobility. When she handed in her resignation, her manager claimed he was blindsided, despite months of her openly saying she was losing steam. Within hours, the company rushed out the long-promised promotion as if it had been sitting in a drawer the entire time.

    But the damage was already done. She walked away, and her manager was left holding the operational reins of a department that had quietly depended on her expertise for years.

  • "They kept me hanging for a promotion for years. The look on their faces when I resigned was priceless."

    For almost 5 years, my manager kept telling me a promotion was "just around the corner." We'd have meetings every 3 months to "plan my career path," but it always ended with us waiting for the perfect role to magically appear.
    via joys_tiller
  • Advertisement
  • Honestly, I was at my wits' end. I even told my manager that I was burned out and had no motivation left in my current role, hoping he'd understand that things needed to change. A year passed, and still nothing.
    via joys_tiller
  • Cheezburger Image 10583119616
    via Toa Heftiba For Unsplash+

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


     

  • So I started looking for another job and got an offer with a 30% salary increase for a position I was genuinely excited about. When I gave my two weeks' notice, my manager had the
    via joys_tiller
  • Advertisement
  • audacity to tell me he was "completely blindsided" by my decision. We had a 45- minute conversation where he asked what could be done to "make things right" and convince me to stay. I
    via joys_tiller
  • almost laughed. Later that afternoon, the company suddenly came through with the promotion they had been promising me for years. I just smiled and told him that the ship had sailed a long, long time ago.
    via joys_tiller
  • The thing is, I was the go-to person for my area of expertise and managed a critical operational department. No one else on the team had enough experience with the work to take over. Even my manager
    via joys_tiller
  • Advertisement
  • always said he relied on me to get everything done without needing to be micromanaged. Now, he'll have to oversee my responsibilities himself and train someone new from scratch, which will likely take at least 6 months.
    via joys_tiller
  • Cheezburger Image 10583119872
    via Toa Heftiba For Unsplash+

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


     

  • I learned an important lesson: your loyalty should be to yourself, not to a company that won't hesitate to string you along.
    via joys_tiller
  • Advertisement
  • JL9285 I'm in the exact same position as you. It felt amazing! Got sick and tired of the lies. Oh if you take on this extra responsibility then maybe.....no. Found a job that was great. 3 round interview process and got the offer. Every single thing on the offer is better than my current job. Handed my notice in and they couldn't believe it. They asked to match it, no thanks. 10 years experience walking out the door because they wouldn't give me a £3k a year (very deserved) pay rise. Taking adva
    via s
  • six_seasons_ I've experienced this too. And honestly i believe it is part of a lot of upper management's strategy, obviously get as much work from a high performer for as little cost as possible. This guy just didn't play it right and lost you from stretching it out too long. This is what they all do, and trick everyone into thinking it's about merit, or the budget, oh there isn't enough money for that this year, blah blah. It's all fake. Get what you need and get out of there, always. Big congr
    via s
  • Snurgisdr The "completely blindsided" line wasn't for you, it was practice for the conversation he's going to have to have with his own boss about how he let this happen.
    via s
  • Advertisement
  • RaspberryPrudent7765 So glad you didn't accept their proposal. Honestly, the worst time for a company to offer a "promotion" is when you're already on your way out. I recently learned that this is actually a manipulation tactic. In the last five years I went through two "dry promotions," and it took me a while to really see what was happening. My manager wasn't the stereotypical micromanager, she came across as someone who genuinely cared about my growth. But looking back, there were a lot of ga
    via s
  • Okay_Periodt This is a lesson everyone should know by now. Companies no longer do promotions, so you have to actively look for them across your organization or elsewhere. In the rare circumstances someone gets one, it's because someone leaves or dies.
    via s
  • Mba1956 This problem is common to a lot of industries. The only way of paying you more money is to make you a manager, but if they move you into management they will miss your expertise. Management skills and doing skills are different and the best manager isn't always the best person that does the job. Until companies realise this and allow those doing the job to be paid more than the manager things won't change.
    via s
  • Advertisement
  • No-Oil6234 They are probably the ones laughing given the 5 years lol. I had around 40 % clean increase right after they fired me on spot with 3 months bonus (law) and extra 2 months due to no waiting period. Ironically 3 months after I wanted to quit myself when they gave me a new role and slight increase to stay.
    via s
  • ScarfingGreenies Similar position but have not yet secured an opportunity to do my Fuck You walk out. I'm sick of waiting. Since July 31 I have applied for 150 jobs and nothing has worked out. And this is tracking that I did well after I started heavily applying over a year ago. I feel like I have to keep tolerating the bullshit just to remain employed and some days it is so hard to have a enough fucks to log in.
    via s
  • matcouz 2 week old account with only one post, generic shloppy content, no OP response in the comment... we got a karma farming bot, people.
    via s
  • Advertisement
  • Holiday_Armadillo78 That happened to me at my previous job where I had been for 9 years. I was significantly underpaid and they kept hiring new people that made way more than me. My boss kept promising raises and bonuses. He also acted blindsided when I gave him my 2 weeks notice. I left for a company that immediately paid me 17% more. 15 years later I'm still with the company that company Because they have always treated me right and my salary has gone up 133% in that time.
    via s

Stay up to date by following us on Facebook!

Tags

salary promotion employee job revenge work i quit pay raise entitled people karma operation Horrible Bosses company resignation
Scroll Down For The Next Article

Also From FAIL Blog

‘I'll keep my mouth shut’: Boss demands employee stay silent during project presentation, trying to take credit for employee's work, VP puts boss in her place

‘I'll keep my mouth shut’: Boss demands employee stay silent during project presentation, trying to take credit for employee's work, VP puts boss in her place

Trending Now

15+ Employees who quit their jobs on the spot: '[Boss] said, "If you leave I can replace you..." So I did'

15+ Employees who quit their jobs on the spot: '[Boss] said, "If you leave I can replace you..." So I did'

01
Boss tells employee to be grateful she has a job after reprimanding her for taking her 30-minute unpaid lunch break, forcing her to make a hard decision about the future of her employment: '[I] sent out 5 applications during my lunch break today'

Boss tells employee to be grateful she has a job after reprimanding her for taking her 30-minute unpaid lunch break, forcing her to make a hard decision about the future of her employment: '[I] sent out 5 applications during my lunch break today'

02
Employee social fund gets tense when 23-year-old fresh graduate new hire asks for evidence of costs, coworkers single her out for being "stingy" and not contributing: 'I told him I’d be happy to once I got the breakdown I’d asked for'

Employee social fund gets tense when 23-year-old fresh graduate new hire asks for evidence of costs, coworkers single her out for being "stingy" and not contributing: 'I told him I’d be happy to once I got the breakdown I’d asked for'

03
‘I quit that job about 3 months later’: Mechanic is left alone after coworkers walk out on an overbooked post‑Thanksgiving Saturday, grinds through the chaos, gets praised with a fast-food gift card by management

‘I quit that job about 3 months later’: Mechanic is left alone after coworkers walk out on an overbooked post‑Thanksgiving Saturday, grinds through the chaos, gets praised with a fast-food gift card by management

04
Company promises accommodation for new hire during training out of state, then refuses to provide it after they signed, forcing the employee to quit: ‘They lied to get me on board’

Company promises accommodation for new hire during training out of state, then refuses to provide it after they signed, forcing the employee to quit: ‘They lied to get me on board’

05
Supervisor demands employees file help tickets for everything, employees maliciously comply by refusing to accept verbal requests: 'Enjoy waiting for your own approvals'

Supervisor demands employees file help tickets for everything, employees maliciously comply by refusing to accept verbal requests: 'Enjoy waiting for your own approvals'

06
Advertisement