They could be telling the “not about you” to everyone, though, and that would also act as some kind of free carrot for them, I.e. you feel somehow appreciated in a very abstract way with no cost to the company. I haven’t seen any organisation where one person can keep things running, so hard to believe this as an argument. I assume, like most companies outside segments such as hospitality, yours also did well in the last couple years. In that case, the excuse that people were on leave is insulting and should be insulting to you too.