u/largese

I work in a government office. My strongest employee applied for a supervisor role that she was basically already doing on top of her regular work, and the director didn't even interview her. Then he brought in someone with no background in our field and no useful experience, and now it's expected that someone will teach this person how things work here. I'm almost certain there's some favoritism or an outside connection involved.

This employee is honestly one of the kindest, least demanding, most capable, and hardest-working people I've worked with in a long time, and she has completely lost interest. She now does exactly what's written in her job description and doesn't do anything extra, and it's obvious she's upset, hurt, and angry about what happened. She told me outright that she will not "train" the new supervisor. The new supervisor has been here for several weeks and still seems lost on basic things.

I understand why she's upset, and at first I thought maybe she needed some space to cool down. But it's been about four months, and if anything has changed, it's that she's become more discouraged, not less. It also doesn't help that the people above us haven't explained anything to her, or even to me, about why they handled things this way or what the real issue was.

How do I help her? And honestly, how do I keep the department functioning? Ever since she stopped carrying that massive amount of extra work, things have started falling apart quickly.

Has anyone dealt with a situation like this before? Can someone come back after being burned like this and made to feel undervalued? My gut tells me she's already applying elsewhere and will leave as soon as she finds something good, and with a work ethic like hers, I can't imagine that will take very long.

When you're just starting out, there's a lot of pressure to have a clear plan early on - career direction, certifications, job titles, relationships, and all that. It's very easy to chase anything that feels urgent instead of focusing on what will matter later.

But some of the choices you make in the first few years of work have a strange way of coming back to affect you when you least expect it.

There's an old saying that we are merely custodians of this world for the next generation, not its owners. But it seems many of you have forgotten that part.
You destroyed the economy and the entire planet for your short-term gains. You never stopped to think about the kind of world you're leaving for your children and grandchildren.
And please, spare us the lectures about God and personal responsibility.
This is exactly the reason why places like this sub are growing every day. The anger has been suppressed for years, but now it's finally exploding.
Honestly, I hope people keep quitting their dead-end jobs. I hope this whole thing leads to a general strike, just so you can finally taste a bit of the anxiety and despair we live with.