Comment by 10111001

> Do they know they are, essentially, expending you?

I don't about the OP's specific situation, but there are definitely managers and management consultants that consciously try "expend" their employees.

Jeff Bezos is a famous example. IIRC, to avoid "complacency," he wants constant turnover of employees. Hire new people, burn them out while they're new and enthusiastic, then replace them. That's why it's occasionally leaked that Amazon consider such-and-such employment market mined out (e.g. everyone's either worked for them or is wise to their ways), so they have recruit further afield.