Job fiasco but AIBU?

[Blutopia]

I'm not good at brevity but I'll try. Have worked in a fairly niche aspect of the financial industry for nearly 20 years, have worked my way up to a decent level - not quite at the top, but middle management.

Was recently caught up in a restructure where my relatively senior role was absorbed back into a larger team, where it's meaning/value has been somewhat diluted even though I just about clung on to the title. Was promised all manner of senior management tasks within the revised role, autonomy, potential to build a team, viewed as an SME etc etc - all borne out by the job description, which I signed.

And now I find myself essentially being used as a "fill-in", running around covering the menial tasks of more junior personnel where we have poor resources, pushed around by a manager, talked down to and treated like a minion, writing up time consuming trivial reports that I have no enthusiasm for and being tasked with shit I moved on from 10 years ago, when I thought I'd never look back.

The job description was written so broadly I can't claim I didn't agree to general work where needed, but AIBU to feel cheated? I have tried to voice my concerns to my manager but he just keeps saying it's temporary while they're short staffed, then in the next breath orders me to cover another shit task that I'll be lumbered with forever. I've gone from running my own diary and clients, to working the weekend to keep up with bullshit paperwork.

If I'd wanted this sort of role I wouldn't have run away from it for a better offer 10 years ago. I'm frantically looking for another job but it's so quiet out there and the options are limited. I don't know what to do, I want to scream and stamp my feet and say it isn't fair, I was doing something with my career and now it's all wasted. But nobody gives a toss, we're all expendable.

Have they down graded your title or pay? As long as those are in tact for looking elsewhere, you'll be able to move up or at very least across in your sector.
Have you talked to HR about poor use of your skills? It makes no economic sense for them to pay for dogsbody work on a managerial salary. If some of the work you are being tasked with is time wasting, don't do it. Or pass it down the line, provided you're not overloading a junior. Can you see work at your level that needs doing but isn't being done? How much autonomy do you have?

Also, while all job descriptions state 'and help with the general running of the dept as fit and necessary' that isn't listed as your main role and shouldn't be made it. You can fairly take this up with HR too. Not as a grievance but as a concern on behalf of the company.

But long term, I'd keep looking.

They wanted to downgrade my title, but I did fight that and won. No change to pay.

Good idea about HR and poor use of skills - I keep starting emails to them or go to call, but in my head all I hear is "waah I wanna be special and everyone is mean, boo hoo" so I abandon it and bash my head on the desk instead. Thank you for giving me an idea as to how to articulate it better.

There is work at my level needing done, but its either client-centric so I can't take it upon myself without it being contracted, or its down to one of the other managers who look after the junior teams. I'm sort of nowhere, I don't run any of it now.

I have about...30% autonomy now, where it was pretty much 100% before.

I was going to say similar. Has your salary and benefits remained the same? If so you can either....do the easier work for more pay and enjoy the fact you get paid for doing little. Or take it up with people more senior than you.....these sorts of restructuring exercises bare normally about saving money....so if you are being overpaid for a more junior role then it is not meeting the company objective. You may end up talking yourself into redundancy....this might be ok if your package is worth while. If however, you took a pay cut to keep a job, then it's probably a bit tough. Look for something else either internally or externally.

Look for something else before they "restructure" you out the door. They start restructuring is a tell tail there is an issue somewhere along the line.

The work may be "easier" (less responsibility) but there is more of it and it's repetitive, time consuming and demoralising.

When this initially happened I asked them outright if I was being managed out, but they specifically said I had a set of skills no one else has (debatable, but ok) and they were keen to keep them. But now they don't seem to be in use.

If I object they insist that this is all temporary and there are bigger things in store for me. I'd be ok with biding my time if I only trusted the lying bastards - I've seen what they've done to other people.

I'd say "Ok, fine, what bigger things have you got instore for me as I like to keep control of my career progression and I would like to know which direction this bigger thing is going to take me?" you will either get a straight answer or a flustered brush off. I predict the latter, I think they are stalling for time to prevent haemorrhaging staff. I've been promised all sorts of stuff over the years by employers and very little has actually come about. I'd put the feelers about elsewhere, update the C.V, LinkedIn etc

I don't know about the financial sector, but in my line of work, things certainly seem to be suddenly picking up. I'm being headhunted and that hasn't happened in a while. get your CV really sharply up to date. have a browse at what is required of the level above yours in other companies and make sure the 'essential skills' buzz words are on your revamped CV. You could end up being promoted elsewhere.
Get your CV up on all the main sites definitely including LinkedIn and get some friendly managers, bosses and people who've worked under you to add endorsements.

As the OP I have resurrected this year old thread - I knew I'd posted about it at some stage, and I searched for it because NOTHING HAS CHANGED!

The "bigger things" they had in store have predictably come to nothing, because the proposition that was going to get me a new complement of VIP clients has barely got off the ground.

I have a handful of big accounts, the rest are just odds and ends. I'm very much tacked onto the outside of the main team -
in their eyes this is because I'm separate and not to be viewed as "just another consultant", but to me it simply seems that I'm surplus, not special bloody ops. I still haven't had a 1 to 1 or an appraisal, so I last had one pre-restructure in 2018.

In April I got a surprise bonus - this was never discussed, I have absolutely no idea how I earned it or what target I met to receive it, and my manager has never mentioned it. I was grateful and delighted of course, but what was it for?! I haven't asked, just in case it was en error and they want it back.

I just requested a change to my work pattern due to a change in personal circumstances, the details of which would be outing - they essentially said if I went ahead with the change there was no guarantee that they could continue to support my role.

In the meantime, a potential opportunity elsewhere has just presented itself - and my change in circumstances wouldn't impact upon it at all. I'll know more in a few weeks, but I'm hopeful. If I am successful, I'm wondering whether I could go ahead and make that change they can't support, but offer to take voluntary redundancy from my current role - and just move on to the new job afterwards? I've been here 3 years and 9 months.

Maybe I'm being a bit grabby trying to make a few quid out of them on the way out, they've been good enough to keep me on and keep paying me all this time - but it's a Plc with investors and shareholders, so I doubt I'm only here out of the goodness of their hearts.

If you can get the voluntary redundancy and then walk into a new role, do it.

I managed to somehow get into a similar situation where I was told that they were looking to phase out my role (amongst others) so I ended up finding a new role elsewhere and just applied for voluntary redundancy rather than handing my notice in. I even negotiated only having to work two out of my three months notice (still too long - that was a boring couple of months!) but getting the full 3 months of notice pay.

Just make sure you don't let on that you are moving on to a new role to your current management. I was lucky that I could get a reference from a senior colleague who was in the same situation as me.

Are they making other redundancies at the moment?

Hmm, having a bit of a read around I doubt I'd get anywhere actually as voluntary redundancy hasn't been offered - although I strongly suspect they won't replace me if I go.

No, there are no redundancies planned but my manager has let slip a couple of comments that they are having to watch the finances closely, and already have one too many people in the central team (that I'm attached to).

They keep banging on that I have special skills, and I'm probably one of about 5 of us with similar experience, but I'm the only one working alone and not managing a team. They could cover the work without me, quite comfortably.

It feels a bit risky to try and play games, I think I'll just secure my new job and quietly move on.