Do they want me to leave?

Question

I took a sick leave of more than 3 months after having neglected health problems, and an evaluation meeting exacerbated my situation. I completely lost interest in the project.

My boss asserted once that my contribution was important, especially when it came to complex tasks.

I lost faith in my employer after seeing how my contribution was important, without interesting rewards, while my colleagues with limited skills were quickly promoted.

Some colleagues were promoted even if they were in a conflict with the customer itself, but they were in good terms with the bosses.

Anyway, the current situation now is that my boss called me and asked if I would stop my sick leave to work in a less stressful project and I accepted and got paid last month without doing anything. I just had a meeting and a PowerPoint document describing the project.

This boss then scheduled weekly meetings starting from January 2021.

During the last meeting, my boss said that nothing is ready and the project is being negotiated etc.

I am now comfortably getting paid and no one asks me about what I spend my days doing (working remotely).

Is there something going behind the scenes (are they waiting for me to resign gracefully)?

PS: My contribution in the previous project was always impressive, and when left in late 2017, it was a great loss according to my boss, and when I came back in 2019, the team started doing well again. Every time I take part of this project I make things work, but my boss always look for excuses to dismiss my promotion/raise.

Answer 1

It's not possible to read your bosses mind, but it looks like he's retaining a staff member for some reason even though he has no work at the moment.

This is often a budget concern. He may have a staff budget that he needs to use or may ultimately lose in the next budget allocation. Or you can just take it at face value that the project is not ready yet.

If you're planning to resign anyway then there is not much point worrying about this. You'd be better served job searching while you still have a revenue stream and plenty of time on your hands.

Answer 2

You ask:

Do they want me to leave?

I ask: Does your decision depend on what they think? Why does it matter?

To elaborate, if you feel your contributions are repeatedly getting neglected and you're being a subject of indirect discrimination (or negative favoritism), you should already look for a new job. Remember, do not wait until the company (or your boss) can find some excuse / reason to let you go (or fire you) - keep your options ready. Getting paid for a long time without any work assignment / output - not a very good sign. Gear up and start the job search, while you still have a steady source of income.

As soon as you can sense your requests for fair treatments are being ignored and you're not happy with the compensation for some times now, start polishing up your CV and start looking for a new job.

Answer 3

Simple answer: "The two(!) of you need to talk!!"

Rip down the barriers to communication. Present your issues (from "perspective #1") to this other-person ... who is actually not your adversary at all ... who necessarily holds and represents "perspective #2."

Now, between the two of you, "hash it out." Both your personal perspective and the business one. Your boss's primary job is to be the interface between the two ... and, if you have never yet been there, I understand that you really don't understand what this means.

So – "just lay your cards face-up on the table," and rely on the idea that (s)he at this point knows more than you do; has seen more than you [yet ...] have. Seriously.