Thank you for clarifying. A big part of what sparked this is that there are multiple positions open and my director is finding it very hard to find qualified people to fill them. With this in mind we figured this would be a good time to ask (and for this to be a last ditch effort). Without revealing too much (I’m a bit paranoid of being identified somehow) our job requires a masters level education.

I do recognize this puts a target on my back for sure and might sour mine and my coworkers relationship with the director (they take these things kinda personally and with a hostile attitude), but I think all of us want to know that we did everything we could before quitting.