In mid-2024, my director gave me an extremely negative performance review, claiming that she was informed by a colleague on the team that I was not doing my job and not meeting expectations. These allegations were entirely false. The colleague who made these negative comments discriminated against me based on my gender and race. I also noticed that this colleague was friends with contractors and manipulated them to accuse me of not doing my job, while silently listening in meetings as the contractor made these accusations. This colleague and my director have been Facebook friends for over 12 years and often text and share jokes via emails and Teams chat.
In my mid-year performance review, my director mentioned that with the negative feedback she received, she could not protect me from the next round of layoffs. She advised me to look for another job immediately or face a potential layoff in October 2024.
I started applying for internal positions to transfer, but each application was either rejected or canceled, coinciding with the times I informed my director about my transfer attempts.
In October 2024, my paid time off (PTO) was unexpectedly paid out, which I suspected was related to my impending layoff. When I asked my director about this, she pretended to be surprised and claimed to have no idea why my PTO was paid. She told me to wait and see what the leadership would decide regarding my layoff between March and May 2025.
I suspect that my director is preventing my transfer to another department. I've noticed a change in her behavior—she's no longer pushing me to look for jobs and now praises my work during our one-on-one meetings, claiming I've improved. She has even begun giving out employee recognition, and the colleague who used to criticize me is now offering praise and points whenever the director acknowledges my efforts. This sudden change is very suspicious; I believe they are plotting to lay me off in the March-May 2025 round while keeping up a good facade to avoid suspicion about their true intentions.