Joined a company as it was starting up in my city. They didn't have a HR department, there were no supervisors, the training environment was still being built. Everything was completely fresh and it was a fantastic challenge.
Initially, I would extend myself far beyond my job duties. There were a few months where our department was staffed by less than 40 employees, we didn't have the proper equipment and the seniors were unable to keep up with the pace. Our original department manager would visit frequently and chatter about plans to close this department, stating we would all be let go. I voluntarily picked up the workload and worked 12-15 hour days so we could keep our jobs. This effort was recognized by the original CEO and he allowed me to sit in on future meetings (I would later give input during these meetings and they were implemented into the system).
A few months after that I was placed on multiple projects (building articles and setting up computer systems) and asked to give feedback on the new QA department. They had a few different programs to install and I had to test them out and determine which one would be best for our system. It was exhausting honestly, but I was able to complete this task and they later added the passable program into the QA system we currently have.
And then enters our new department manager. He wrote me off, immediately. He assumed because my metrics were different I was not doing any work. He didn't believe that I didn't have any role in any of the systems or current programs. My supervisor and teammates, trainers, and upper management corrected him. He avoided me for a while, then began assigning me small tasks and mispronounced my name for about 2 years. I continued to attend meetings and complete projects.
COVID shifted us to WFH. I had a very painful back surgery and tried to work through it, as a result my work suffered. The department manager knew about the surgery, it was discussed in depth several times while we were at the office. During a meeting he remarked that my performance, while I was recovering, wasn't great. He had a separate private meeting and was extremely condescending towards me. At that point, I honestly stopped caring about the job. Then I started doing the absolute bare minimum according to the job description to the disappointment of my supervisor and peers. A few quit because of the workload. Currently, there are two group chats and everyone has been exchanging job opportunities and complaining.
My question is how do I get back into the groove of things? I like this job, its stable and it feels like family. Or from an outside perspective am I just a problematic employee and its time to go?