History PlayingWith / VetinariJobSecurity

* '''Straight''': Bob is vice president in charge of accounting at TropeCo/TropeCo When he retires, newcomer Alice is assigned his job, and makes serious mistakes that cost the company millions.
* '''Exaggerated''': Bob is the leader of a large country, which instantly collapses upon his death.

** The accounting department is thrown into chaos for a week, but the problems are fixed once Alice figures a few things out.
** Alice finds that while Bob was capable of running it well singlehandedly they could only do so reliably with a team which cost three times, meaning that while he was considered overpaid for one person he was actually a very good bargain.

** Bob uses a custom-made program, method, or computer to do his accounting with high speed and efficiency. He's the only person who can use it, though.

** Bob was incompetent, and when Alice takes over she fixes most of the problems he created or exacerbated and helps the company greatly.

** Alice's job is incredibly important, but none of her colleagues knows, cares, or both, leading to them denigrating her.
** Alice takes steps to prevent her being ''that'' indispensable, knowing it leads to ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest.

** Alice takes the others' mockery to heart and falters at her job.

* '''Enforced''': The writers wanted to show that Bob was good at his job, and Alice has his very big shoes to fill.

** Even if Bob makes everything run smoothly to the point that it looks like if he so much as takes an extended bathroom break everything will come crashing down, he ''still'' gets fired/killed/etc. It may be that whoever does so is too full of UnstoppableRage (or is AxCrazy or actively desires anarchy) to care, or it may be an attempt to deliver a message that '''nobody''' is irreplaceable (either to Bob or to everybody else), or it may be that Bob has committed so many violations that the PowersThatBe have decided it's better just to take their chances with the inevitable 'reconstruction' period.
** Bob is fired and his work outsourced as soon as the boss gets fed up with his antics. If he lasts any longer after his warning, it's because his boss decided to secures a good deal for it before turning Bob redundant.
** Bob's boss absolutely refuses to give him any position of power that he could exploit to become indispensable/entrench himself within the company. If Bob is actually given some promotion, it's always because he is being KickedUpstairs.

** "Is it better to be feared or loved? [[TakeAThirdOption No. It's better to be]] ''[[TakeAThirdOption indispensable]]''[[TakeAThirdOption .]]"
* '''Implied''': Bob is said at first to be the [[OnlySaneEmployee most composed and competent person on the board]], then [[TheManBehindTheMan the person who really makes it all run.]]

** Bob will never be fired because he's so indispensable, but unfortunately this means he will never be given any raises (at least in an official manner) or promotions (for fear of succumbing to ThePeterPrinciple). Additionally, if he loses his job somehow, he will be unable to find similar work because other business owners won't want him usurping their authority.

** Being impossible to fire no matter what is the kind of power [[WhatYouAreInTheDark that challenges people's character and morality very greatly]]. Because of this, Bob becomes a JerkAss very quickly. Consequently, Bob will walk the road to becoming so hated that people will risk their complete ruin for the sake of smacking the sneer off his face sooner rather than later.
** Bob might be irreplaceable within his company, but the company isn't irreplaceable within the economy. If it goes bankrupt, even despite him, he will be unemployed.
** The steps Bob has taken to become indispensable are such that, in the event shit just happens, [[ThereAreNoCoincidences everybody else just immediately assumes]] that it's one of Bob's schemes and tell him to cut it out [[CassandraTruth even as Bob insists it's not his fault and he can't fix it]].

*** Alternatively, Bob takes Defied #1 further and manages Alice and a couple of other competent staff to run the jobs with him. Alice learns Bob's old jobs, while Bob learns new management skills which their office was starting to look for. Alice and her colleagues can now run the division [[JustFineWithoutYou just fine without Bob]], while Bob gets promoted onto a higher position that just became vacant recently, which needs both his old trade and his newly acquired management skills.
** Bob is given {{immortality}}.
*** Alternatively, the job dies with him and/or other people change it into something more manageable.

** Bob avoids getting sick through good hygiene, a healthy diet, and extensive exercise.

** A combination of AllTheOtherReindeer and Bob living paycheck to paycheck means that his job security is the only thing keeping a roof over his head. He has to go out of his way to make sure he's irreplaceable lest he end up on the street in a hurry.

** Bob is a horrifyingly psychotic kingpin who terrorizes the town constantly, but the local underworld behaves like a well-trained (and whipped) dog to every one of his commands. His chief [[TheRival rival]], Alice, is either more incompetent or more indiscriminate in her violence, possibly both. YouDoNotWantToKnow what will happen if he leaves -- the casualty projections for the opening MobWar alone make most people decide to leave Bob alone and protect him from the other half who want him gone no matter what, a decision that they can only bear with [[INeedAFreakingDrink a lot of liquid courage]].
** Bob is a BenevolentDictator. He is not only loved enough by his people that [[TheHero Hiro]] will not find any allies within his realm, [[LesCollaborateurs they will turn him over to Bob]] and Bob will demonstrate to Hiro [[ColdBloodedTorture why that trope contains the word "dictator"]], which [[CruelAndUnusualDeath won't end well]]. Furthermore, one of the reasons why Bob's subjects love him is because [[TheCaligula compared to all his rivals]], he definitely is the least evil.

* '''Played for Drama''': Alice gets no training before being given a job far above her skill level. Inevitably, she fails, whereupon everyone in the company blames her completely.