<prompt> Human: Background: Ive been with my current employer for almost 4 years. I was hired as a service techinician servicinginstalling bank equipment - locks, safes, pneumatic tube systems, burgfire alarms, cctv, etc and was promoted to Service Manager Jan 1 2018.Im the third person to take and now lose this job since Ive worked there - Its a small company of 6 employees, and the boss is a hothead and very hard to please. I knew this going in, but I figured for the money it was worth an attempt.I was making 19hr hourly working full time before, changed to 50kyr salary once I took the manager job.Today, I had a pretty bullshit 6 month review - He sat me down and basically said, I dont think this is working, so Im making you a tech again, Ill pay you 20hr. Take the rest of today and tomorrow off, come Wednesday well get you rolling in the field again. He has his reasons, and I dont disagree that there were challenges in working together - but nothing was ever documented on paper, I would just have to sit through angry outbursts once in a while every time he didnt like the way I did something. Most critically, I just took a 9000 dollar pay cut - having just purchased a car, and this puts a huge crunch on my finances. Im going to spend some time today redoing my budget, and I already dont like how its going to turn out.Here are my thoughts. If I stay here, that management experience withers away, and loses effectiveness on my resume the longer I continue as a technician.Going back to work there is going to be awkward. That much I can manage, but I see it causing some interpersonal drama now that Im back working alongside 4 techs I was previously in charge of.Lastly, would this qualify as constructive dismissal? I understand that my job duties are changing as well as my pay - but this is an 18 pay cut that was decided unilaterally. Would I be better served declining it and accepting dismissal, trying to survive off of unemployment while searching for something in the vain of what I was previously doing?This is the first time something like this has happened to me, and while my head is spinning a little, I feel like I can make the best of the situation somehow - just need a little guidance.I appreciate in advance any advice you can offer - and if there are any questions you have for me Im happy to answer them.Assistant: Update the resume, start the job hunt. Start thinking of how to spin your promotion, and later demotion, in a positive light when you interview. Until you find something, be supportive of what-ever sucker get your old position. They will most likely be your reference when you jump ship. See if you can swing some overtime to cover your reduced pay - but really focus on the job hunt and networking til then. Human: The interim service manager has always been the boss wife. I gave her a passdown briefing this morning. They apparently discussed this at length over the weekend before springing it on me at 8:30 this morning. The emotional abuse I received is nothing compared to what he hurls at her - Every one of us has come back to the shop at some point to see tears in her eyes.It really is a toxic place to be stuck all day, and I wont be sad to leave. Having said that, Im not expecting any sort of positive reference out of there despite 4 years of great service. Hes petty, and takes everything personally. Hes either sharpied out or cut out former employees from holiday partycompany trip photos. He feels genuinely betrayed when someone leaves for a better opportunity. I fully expect him to perform some massive HR fuckup and defamelibel me if I put him down as a reference - Im obviously already prepared to explain that in an interview, and a couple of the techs will absolutely back it up if I need them to. Needless to say, if I can do an adequate job of painting the picture of hostility and negativity, any sort of oddball reactions the hiring manager gets SHOULD be seen in context and not cause much of a problem.  <response>: Do not bring drama of any kind into job interviews. Literally none of the things you are talking about should be brought up. You havent lost your job, keep it and start looking for new ones. Tell the hiring managers you are looking for a company to grow with and advance with that has similar values to yours. 