Fifty-eight-year-old Angela Tan had served her workplace for 25 years, leading a customer support team. She trained new hires, steadied the ship in a crisis, and was the colleague everyone turned to.

Then came a request from her boss: Could she mentor a younger colleague? Ever the diligent worker, Angela agreed to this. It was only later that she realised this colleague was being groomed to take her place. The promotion Angela had quietly worked towards – customer support manager – never came. She was told she was “too valuable” where she was, and the organisation wanted a manager with “fresh ideas” to modernise the customer experience.