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Return to work after mat leave… confidence rock bottom and feel an outsider

2 replies

ShorehamShore · 12/01/2025 12:04

I have been back at work, in a job I previously loved, for 6 months after 1 year maternity leave. I am quite surprised how much the team has changed while I was away. Colleagues I was closest to have left and the team now feels quite gossipy and backstabby, which it didn’t previously. I don’t feel
i fit in anymore and feel quite isolated. I have been cracking on with my work and feedback has been good from clients but I feel constantly patronised by people treating me as if I am entry level staff, reminding me to do very basic tasks which I am always on top of, and I am not being kept as busy as previous. I am really shocked at how differently colleagues treat me, it has really dented my confidence. I am also paranoid people are talking about me negatively as whoever is not around is always being talked about in the office now. I don’t trust HR or my line manager and have no allies within my team anymore that I could confide in or speak to for moral support, so feel quite isolated. If my confidence wasn’t so low, I’d look for another job, it doesn’t feel like a good time to move when my confidence rock
bottom. Anyone felt similarly, or any advice? I feel quite stuck and it is making me feel anxious when I should be enjoying my weekends and family time.

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Suzuki76 · 12/01/2025 13:55

This happened to me. No advice sadly as the company closed about a year after I went back after mat leave but I did stick it out. I think the idea of major upheaval of a new job alongside a 1 year old put me off. Maybe you could give yourself a timeframe to start looking in X months which takes off the immediate pressure?

ShorehamShore · 12/01/2025 17:46

Thanks very much for replying. Could call on setting a time limit before I decide to look for a new opportunity. The biggest issue is how low my confidence is right now at work, not sure how to address this.

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