Boss is arranging a work lunch soon to get our team together. She is keen for all of us to go, particularly as we are now at full compliment in terms of staffing & it will be an opportunity to greet two new members of staff. I want to stay away. Mainly because I went for one of the jobs that another person got and I don’t want to sit there smiling & pretending I’m all ok with the order of things, because I’m not.
I was a strong candidate & was encouraged to apply by my manager, and the person they’ve essentially nicked from another team to fill one of the seconded posts doesn’t have any direct background in the field. I also think it was mostly a budgetary decision - I’m at a lower banding than the other candidate so they’d have had to pay more for me to jump up a couple of levels. For him they’ve paid approx. £15000 less. I’m a reliable, capable and skilled worker, and I was told by a few colleagues in my work stream that it would be a shame to lose me from the projects I’m in. (One of these was the wife of one of the interviewing managers!) So adding all these things together has made me think it was about more than operational capability. Which has right pissed me off.
So I don’t want to go to the sodding meal, which is going to cost me a small fortune anyway and it’s miles away from where I live which means a shit ton of petrol in the tank & thus more expense. But given a lot of emphasis is being placed on the event, would I be too conspicuous by my absence? I really would prefer to take leave and spend the time with my kids (it’s during the first week of the summer holidays).
AIBU? Advice from others who’ve been there? I feel really undervalued and sidelined by big boss but my direct manager I get on well with and in my own little team/work stream I’m quite happy. So I'm not unhappy if that makes sense, just don’t really want it rubbed in my face any more than it needs to be. I just feel I want to distance myself from them a bit (again not my own team, just the wider team.)