This may be a controversial or unpopular opinion, but if you are expected to work more because a coworker is unavailable you are bad at managing expectations an

This may be a controversial or unpopular opinion, but if you are expected to work more because a coworker is unavailable you are bad at managing expectations and controlling your career. When a coworker is suddenly unavailable, you may need to switch priorities but you should never allow a company to tell you to work more to cover for them. Shifting priorites can be an effort or morale drain but these things can happen for a multitude of reasons regardless of coworkers and should be managed the same way regardless. If jane got hit by a bus or joe left the company would your project survive? In any scenario you are expected to pick up the slack, you should be making it very clear the terms necessary for you to continue to be successful and especially clear what isn’t going to get done by changing priorities. This is especially true for things like increased on call rotation. Making it clear that that will effect other things and that your time is not free is crucial for managing expectations.