Things are a little odd at work.
My manager appears to be limiting interactions between staff, I think because she fears we have negative things to say. She even ensures she attends any social gatherings and will sabotage small group interactions about mini shared work projects by joining the meetings unnecessarily also. I feel very 'checked up on.'
My deputy manager happens to be a friend of mine from school. When she first joined our department we got along really well and met up a few times outside of work, but the last couple of times she seemed to want to keep it private as if we were sneaking around by meeting up.
We haven't met outside of work for a while despite me trying to organise something. I also confided in her that I was finding our manager challenging and unsupportive. I've since discovered from another member of staff that she and our manager are "very close" so I feel like an idiot. Now I know why she has been avoiding me. I'm a bit gutted they're close as she is a great person and (or so I thought) confidante.
I recently met up with two other work colleagues who are experiencing similar difficulties to me. We also know that management are taking some privileges such as very flexible working that we don't get. We all felt we'd done something wrong by meeting up and confiding in each other and met in a village where we know we won't bump into anyone else from work.
We all work from home too which makes it feel more sneaky.
Who do you confide in/speak to in these situations? I don't even know who my managers manager is!