‘I’m totally fed up with nepotism’: Contractor promised conversion for months, only to lose it to his manager’s old friend, and left fixing Nepo hire’s mistakes with zero days off

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Jul 6, 2026 1:00 PM EDT

Nothing builds character quite like watching a promotion vanish the exact moment someone's childhood best friend strolls through the door. It's the corporate equivalent of a magic trick, except instead of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, your manager pulls a broken promise out of his you-know-where and calls it "seat availability"

Here's the thing about "seats" at most companies: they're basically Bigfoot. Everyone insists they exist, there's always a blurry account of someone who's seen one, but the second you go looking for actual proof, it disappears into the woods. Funny how there's never a shortage of seats when the person walking in shares a golf course with the guy making the decision.

Companies love to dress nepotism up in professional language, like "cultural fit" or "he already knows the systems," when really what they mean is "we went to the same fraternity, and he still owes me twenty bucks from 2003."

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  • I'm in my 40s and am going on 20 years of professional experience. Before this job market I've never had to work contract to hire but had no other choice after being laid off & unemployed for nearly 6 months.
    via amnComm

  • Totally F-ed by nepotism

    Man sitting at a table with laptop, notebook, and papers, holding his head near large windows.
    via Olga Rolenko

    Man at a laptop with his hand on his head, looking worn out from a problem that keeps landing back on him

    Illustrative image only. Person shown is not connected to this story.

  • My manager has praised me the entire 5 months I've been there. He said on hire he'd probably convert me to permanent in July. I brought it up in our
    via amnComm
  • one on ones until I was confident he was still sure about it and convinced myself to have hope.
    via amnComm
  • Then a new hire was randomly there... Oh and he's an old friend of my manager. Most concerning, he's not got
    via amnComm
  • the `(Contractor)` label in our company chat. I was worried but surely after this much discussion I'm fine.
    via amnComm
  • Yesterday was my first one on one in July and I brought up conversion again. "No... I don't think we'll be able to convert in July, there's no seats open".
    via amnComm
  • No seats? You've been telling me for months there was a seat and it was mine. "Oh yeah... The new hire took that
    via amnComm
  • seat. There was just no way to make it work to get him hired on without making him perm".
    via amnComm
  • Man standing by a table with a laptop and papers, reading a document near large windows.
    via Olga Rolenko

    Man reviewing paperwork beside a laptop with a tired, focused look, like he's sorting through a promise that fell apart,

    Stock photo used for editorial context. Individuals in image are models.

  • The entire perm staff, oc including the new hire, is off today and I haven't had a day off in 4 months and I'm not 10 hour days to get working Friday off, f that.
    via amnComm
  • I am just so ped and feel entirely betrayed by this manager. I started applying for other positions immediately, but with the job market I'll
    via amnComm
  • probably have to stay. The company is getting bought out by private equity too so hopefully the first thing they do isn't cut all contractors...
    via amnComm
  • Edit: Note contract to hire, not a contractor sadly. I have no power here.
    via amnComm
  • Edit 2: Literally fixing the new guy's work today lol, oc
    via amnComm
  • Mykittenismychicken So I don't know where you live but usually contractors in the United States I thought they aren't like employees where the employer
    via amnComm
  • can't dictate your time like that. If you haven't had a day off in months that seems like it's an employee role and they are mislabeling you? May want to speak to a lawyer
    via amnComm
  • amnComm OP No this is contract to hire not being a contractor. Weirdly different...
    via amnComm
  • I work for a third party company hourly and the company I actually perform labor for pays them and they pay me. I get no time off, expensive healthcare, paid hourly, etc etc. It's a real sh way to work which is why I've avoided it my entire career.
    via amnComm

  • All of this is less meritocracy, more inheritance, except instead of leaving you a house, they leave you their unfinished spreadsheets and a Slack thread full of typos you now have to fix.

    And to top it off, the person actually doing the work gets to watch all this unfold while working through a fourth consecutive month without a day off, like some unpaid intern in a Charles Dickens novel, except the orphanage has a 401k match.

    The job market being what it is, most people can't just storm out in protest. So you keep showing up, keep fixing someone else's mess, and keep telling yourself it's temporary, right up until the private equity firm shows up and reminds everyone that loyalty was always just a rumor anyway.

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management workplace discussion nepotism employment issues boss workplace-stories hr coworkers colleague Horrible Bosses
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