My current job is getting strange and I think I need to move on.
Anonymous
My current job is getting strange and I think I need to move on.
I’ve been in this job for more than 5 years. It’s actually a decent job, at a large company, that pays well, has good benefits, and allows me to work remote most of the time (90% work from home). Recently they had a major reorganization and many people were let go. They keep having reorgs. They’ve had 2 major shakeups this year. The first impacted my team but at the global level. They consolidated Marketing and Technology into “MarTech”. The global management team is now led by people who have no idea about technology and are only trying to save a buck. My regional team was not impacted. However, due to this reorganization, the global team is taking over more and more of our local, regional, roles in the name of “efficiency”. Since I work in the tech field, they are taking over all systems and applications that we used to manage more efficiently on the regional level. It has impacted the way that I work but not the actual work I do. At least so far. We had another reorg and although my department wasn’t impacted, many good people were let go, jobs were consolidated, teams eliminated, etc. I feel like the writing is on the wall. Although, I always get good reviews and bonuses, I’m just seeing things slow down due to the regional reorganization and the global “take over” of much of the technology that I work with. We have less freedom in the region and the overhead to get something approved (even a simple project) is becoming more difficult. Yes, this is budgetary but it’s also political. To make matters worse, my supervisor left the company over a year ago and they haven’t found a replacement. Both my coworker and I applied and were told it “was too strategic” or too big of a role for either of us even though we both have tons of experience and knowledge (the role manages 3 people and I was told they were looking for a “unicorn” that has managed large teams. What?!). So I’ve been reporting into someone who is a nice person but doesn’t really have time to truly manage. This isn’t a huge issue for me as I’m pretty much on autopilot and I do a great job, go above and beyond, and don’t need much managerial support. Although it would be nice to have someone who is interested in my career development. I feel like the global team is pushing the regional teams, myself included, out and no one is on the “ground” to protect us from this. We don’t get projects directly from our supervisor and no one is really paying much attention except when things “magically” get done and we get recognition for it. I have been a director of a department, a people manager, a project and product manager (with Agile PM certification) but I can’t seem to break through to the managerial level here.
My question is, how do I go back to managing teams directly when I’ve been on project work (at a senior product manager level) but currently have no direct reports? It seems every managerial role I apply to wants current people management skills. I’ve literally built huge e-commerce platforms for my current company, managing multimillion dollar projects, managing agencies and working with cross-functional teams across the org. I feel like I have tons to offer but no one is biting. Any advice would be appreciated.
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