I'm wondering if you might have taken away the wrong lessons in this.

I have been in Jess's position and it looks very different from that perspective.

Feeling appreciated isn't about having someone say "nice work" all the time, though of course that helps.

It's about people paying attention, taking your inputs seriously and fairly considering your suggestions. If the manager repeatedly dismissed Jess's input, no matter how many times Jess was proved right, then that's being unappreciated.

More than that, if the manager is in the wrong, over and over again, and has too much ego to take on board advice from someone junior who does actually know what they are doing, it erodes the employee's respect for management: leadership cannot be trusted to make good decisions.

A "hands-off manager" is not managing; it's as simple as that. They have abandoned their line report, have absolutely no idea about their line report's capability, and is making those bad decisions based on inaccurate information.

They have failed to do their job properly and need to learn fast or be removed from that position.

It's a shame Jess chose to do the bare minimum. In Jess's position, I have simply found another job where the new manager properly respects and appreciates their team.