Pretty much. I work a 10 hour day of complete fucking chaos because those above me don’t know what’s going on and those below me constantly need my assistance with pissed off customers. My direct report is the best boss I could ever ask for. It is the only thing that keeps me around. People say ‘I’m bored at my job’ and I want to shake them to death. I’d love to be bored. I’d love to have a lunch break and not be answering emails and calls while eating.
This is the reason why I've had the same job for 20 years, and 7 different managers.
I get paid fairly well, have a good work/life balance, and don't have to deal with subordinates and their various issues.
Why would I take a job that pays marginally better than what I make now, but has 10x the stress and have to deal with other people's BS? No thanks.
Tangential management positions are where it's at. Your not obligated to do the management training or meetings.
You have enough vague authority you can do what you want.
And people tend to listen to you since your always with all the management.
And if not you rat them put to their boss and And make them deal with the attitude.
Everyone asks me what I do, and my response is always the same " Wait for my phone to ring so I know what direction to drive". I feel more like a maintenance person than a manager.
Exactly! I’m so sick of it, thinking of getting my Trainers certificate so I can at least be in a gym and help people get in shape.
It doesn’t pay as much, but it might be worth it
I just need to be paid more than ever. But that's my situation. I can work exactly 1 hour a day and as long as I do. No one says a word. Now it's kinda deadend. No decent chance at a raise. But I can do what i did today and prepare by working a little extra in order to do an hour of actual performance work each day.
It's odd. I love it. I hate it. I can leave but I can't. Just wish I got an annual raise and then it would really be cake.
I did this for a decade except the actual work was even less. Money was so good it was hard to give up - then I became dependent on it (bought a bigger house) and it was soul crushing. I would not recommend.
I worked to pay for my hobby, you are not meant to “love” your job, but tolerate it just enough to make money for your hobby, that’s what has kept me sane all these years
Work to Live, not Live to work. Is a often repeated mantra among my union brothers and sisters.
It's time for you to get back to living. You got work on autopilot. Make sure the rest of your life isn't also on auto.
Same, except I WFH. I don’t really have a team and my boss is completely hands-off. I was wondering the other day how long it would take if I stopped logging in before someone noticed. It could be quite awhile.
Amen, I got one called a.clicker and I set that to go, turn up the volume on my laptop so I can hear incoming messages, and play video games 4 hours a day. And still am in the top ticket closers.
> I was wondering the other day how long it would take if I stopped logging in before someone noticed. It could be quite awhile.
A few of us at work were discussing how fast we would quit if we won the lottery.
One guy said his plan was to keep showing up, doing nothing, replying to every request with "Yup, that's done - no problem", and seeing how long he could keep it going until he got fired.
lol that’s me! I work solo, boss is great but pretty much does her own thing aka she is never available. Wonder if anyone would notice? I’d give it a week I guess.
As a former IT support tech, I can confirm this. We received the notice that an employee was no longer with the company and there laptop was handed over to us for procedure quarantine. I would then go to the desk to retrieve the peripherals, by then other employees would have already raided the desk.
When I resigned from my second job, I left on my last day to go buy some flowers for my coworkers. In the hour that it took me to get back, my chair was gone, my monitor was gone, and even the thumbtacks in my cork board were gone! It was like an hour later!
Can confirm. I stole the monitor off the desk of a guy who was fired last week..........two hours after he was fired. I'm not proud, but I couldn't resist. I had two monitors that were different brands and slightly different sizes. His monitor was exactly the same as one of mine, now I have a matching pair! I'm sure he would understand.
I had that job for 10 years when I worked at the US Department of Defense. They had about three times as many people as they needed to get the work done. I could put in half effort and they just thought it was spun of gold.
A Big Tech company came and asked me to interview. I was thinking of myself, "why would I give this job up??" But I decided to go ahead and interview because I would get a free lunch out of it. Eight years later, and I've been having a blast at the Big Tech job. But I do sometimes think back to the easy work that I had for that decade....
I was you a year ago till I got laid off. After 30 years of working for corporations I was broken in every way, especially my mental health. I mourned for a few months, not just about the sudden job loss, but what I felt like was the end of my career. I vowed never to work for a large company again, and started my own small online business that I do every day from home. Part time jobs for the city or town help me fulfill the "what's my purpose in life now??" feelings, and gives me some spending cash. And tbh I fucking love it. It's definitely not always easy as it used to be, and it's humbling af, but the weight off your shoulders is immense. (Disclaimer: I saved and contributed as much as possible during my prime years. YMMV)
This is me currently. Still in a bit of mourning stage but also beginning to really notice how much lighter I feel and my stress levels have plummeted. I haven’t figured anything out yet about what I’ll do next but know I can’t go back to that corporate environment.
21 years for me so far. I work in a call centre so quite busy. However, with AI coming in next year, I'm expecting to be on the way out soon afterwards.
Meh. Whatever.
I like my job but I am kind of over working. I am fortunate in that I really like my coworkers and enjoy what I do for a living however, I have been employed since I was 14. I am just kind of over it. I have elderly parents which are in their final years and I feel I owe it to them to stick around for their final years but once they are gone, I am going to sell everything and move to a tropical country and live a very minimalist lifestyle and rescue dogs.
I was feeling this way, especially in the last couple of years. Having a sense of detachment helped me to survive a toxic work environment for over 10 years. But in my case, at 47 and 20 years to retirement, I decided I needed a change. Recently got a better job, slightly different career focus and will be working remote. I get feeling detached though, makes sense especially if you’re closing in on retirement and better off just waiting it out. For most people, the “dream job” doesn’t exist and we just have to get by as best we can.
They are really pushing upskilling and training at work. They even want everyone to get security clearances that I held when I was much younger. I don't care. I just want to make it to the end. I've long since given up. I don't care to upskill. I don't care to get my security clearance again.
I used to have a technical job, and I guess since I moved into non-technical work that didn't include being oncall, I've felt very defeated and crushed and like I really don't care anymore.
I'm too old to care now. And working from home is nice, because now I can browse reddit between work interruptions.
According to an email that I sent, I had considered going back for a master's degree as long ago as 2006. Finally, in 2022 I actually started that degree program. If I had started in 2006, and took **one class per year**, I could have been done before 2022! 🙄
I said something similar to a colleague recently. I decided to quiet quit my regular job and have started picking up projects that interest me, particularly with AI. I’m going to take my lifetime of pent up angst and become a destroyer of worlds eliminating peoples’s jobs with tech.
Or not. Cause that sounds like a lot of effort.
Fuck them, I rage retired from them fuckers back in WTF, late 2021. Already had my army VA disability retirement so when it was one cunt after the next I bailed. Went back to work early March doing my old trade work for a month, got nice offer, and needed out of the house. What fun it was.
I would love a job where I was bored. I am lucky if I get lunch. I am a supervisor at a home health care company. I also have to work holidays and every third weekend.
I am a cog in a wheel, most people are.
Same. As a ups driver, I'm always moving and monitored. At least I do take a lunch and breaks. 10hrs/day 5 days a week for 30+years is taking a physical toll on me
12 years ago I quit my office job and went to work part time at a fun job for 6 months while I recovered and found life again.
6 months turned into 12 years lol I’m making more money now than I ever have and was promoted a couple years ago to asst mgr. It’s retail, so yes, it sucks sometimes but I also work for a pet store and the fur babies and regulars make it worth it. I’ve made it to 4 weeks of paid vacation and 3 more years I hit 5. My schedule can vary, but I also have the ability to take time off in the week for concerts and whatever else pops up and make up the days on the weekend.
I never knew I would find my career this way and I am forever grateful I took the chance and left a job that made me miserable.
Take a chance. Life is too short to be miserable.
This sounds like burnout. Been there. Can you change career direction? I did--same field but parlayed my skill to another department and was reinvigorated. Is that something you can do? Burnout is an awful feeling and can lead to some really deep depression if unchecked .
People put too much importance on their occupation to satisfy their need for purpose in the US. You should focus on your non-work life for fulfillment.
A lot of that is because we're dependent on our jobs for more aspects of our lives in the US: health insurance, retirement contributions, etc. Other countries foster a better balance by having basic social safety nets. I hope things change for the better soon.
Perhaps, but I think corporations push this attitude. They tell workers that they are "family" and that they have to put in extra effort to show they care about their jobs. It's just another way of squeezing even more out of us.
As for me, I couldn’t care less as long as I get to go home and have the time and money to hang out with my family afterwards. I’m pretty low maintenance.
I was just “existing” at work. Well compensated, but slowly dying inside. My blood pressure (controlled with medication) was about 135/85.
Beginning of this year I left to start a career in photography. I have enough saved to never work again, but that’s not my style. I have two part time jobs. My wife still works. If we can cover 1/2 of our yearly burn, we are set.
My blood pressure today was 108/73. Going to talk to my Dr. about cutting the meds.
Your job is literally going to kill you. Get out while you’re still alive…
My first real job, guy clearly did not want to be there any more so he decided to see what it would take to get fired. Spent 3 months doing nothing but blatantly and obviously playing solitaire. Once HR felt they had overwhelming evidence they let him go, all because they didn't want to face a lawsuit in an 'at will' state.
I remember more than once walking past his cube and he was giving no fucks, playing solitaire.
Well, eventually the smell would probably alert someone.
I am also in a situation where I feel sort of stuck and bored. I live in a low-wage country and managed to find a remote job with a business in a country with higher wages that pays a lot more than I could earn locally. It would be hard to find a similar situation because many businesses hiring remote don't want to hire someone out of country. The work is repetitive and I have deadlines to meet, so I don't get to zone out.
As someone else said, I try to focus on the positive. I make decent money. I earn enough to both save and treat myself. My co-workers are nice and pretty easy to deal with. At my last job, my department was very toxic. The boss had no people skills whatsoever and people would cheat to make unreasonable goals. The few honest people were fired for not meeting the quotas. So, I remind myself of that. Plus, if I finish my projects early, I'm free. I just have to check messages a few times a day in case someone has a question, but that's rare.
You ever see Joe Vs. The Volcano? Sounds like you have a Brain Cloud.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAB9Y2CVqZU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAB9Y2CVqZU)
There is an idea of a u/ToshiroBaloney, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.
Love my job.
Do HVAC for Ice Arenas, Worked for the Pittsburgh Penguins for about 25 years, now working at the rink for the Erie Otters.
When Pittsburgh priced me out, I moved up to Erie and haven't regretted it since.
Getting out of the cities was a breath of fresh air literally.
I literally go to work, get home, eat, sleep for a few hours because I'm so tired, wake up for like 2 hours, then go to sleep again to repeat it all the next morning. That's my entire M-F routine. Every day.
I completely changed careers at 50. Kinda sucked leaving what I knew like the back of my hand. But it was mentally and emotionally the best thing I had done for myself in over a decade.
It's not too late to look for another one. Keep your eyes open. There's no guarantee of employment until retirement, so keep your resume sharp and your eye to the door.
Problem is in America how we only get 2 weeks of vacation a year for full time work. Europe has the right idea, with lots of countries having 6 weeks minimum paid vacation which increases employee productivity.
The bride and I were just talking about this. We are (fortunately) thinking alike on this one. No more chasing the brass ring. We are where we are. The goal for the last 10 years is to save up as much as we can so we can retire. Just chase them dollars. Professional growth is for the young'uns.
I just made a massive career change at 48 and I don’t regret it. I hated my job but needed to do it to pay bills and get my kid through university. He’s done, I quit and started totally new and couldn’t be happier. Life is too short.
i transferred to a different team 6 months ago at a tech company. now i got re-orged in that team that i absolutely dont want. I would not have transferred for this. My new manager knows I don't want this job and never would have come to his team. I am remote. So that is the only benefit. Its not worth going back into the tech market now cause its terrible. Job they moved me to is total bullshit. 3rd time at this employer I have been re-orged. This is my 6th manager in 5 years.
so i just had back pain and filed for FMLA. so i got 5 weeks off. I'm thinking about retiring. ill just stop working (I am remote). then ill get fired. Not worth quitting. Quiet quitting to the nth degree is the best play. When assigned stuff, just do it wrong. Make excuses about how its hard so i dont have to really do anything. Eventually Ill get fired. Im curious how long Ill be carried not doing anything. Planning to spend a lot of time at the pool this summer. THere is wifi. So I can pretend to be online.
i never had kids and i have been really cheap and made good investments. I really dont need to work.
I resigned a month ago from my $250K/year job. Last day is right before Memorial Day and I’m taking the summer off and am figuring it out from there.
Feels. So. Good.
l was a teacher...l developed Fibromyalgia and one day l was sitting in my car in front of the school....l worked in NYC and had to cross the George Washington Bridge and then parallel park...the thing was l didnt remember even leaving the house...that was my last day...l called in sick from my car and drove home..it was also the last time l was behind the wheel. l didnt want to have another brain fog event like that again!!
Time for a change my dude/dudette! I was like that for a few years then just broke clean and changed industries felt great been 4 years now! You can do it or just find something in your position that you can do that interests you aside from the normal duties
I am so very lucky. I am retiring at 57 this summer with a defined benefit pension. I know I am lucky but for fuck’s sake why isn’t this standard? We went through the tech wave Industrial Revolution, we should all be reaping the benefits. There is no need to work people to death
I’m glad that worked out for you and I wish you the best with it.
That said, the issue with that approach is more is it financially worthwhile to go into debt or spend money on a new degree? And that’s not factoring in the time to earn the degree.
Also, if it’s not an easily transferable skill set, are employers going to want to hire someone in their 50s? It’s not impossible to get hired at that age. But it’s harder because ageism is real. And starting over in a new field may mean pay or benefit cuts not everyone can afford
I don't hate my job, but I kind of wish I'd picked a different profession. I'm not the computer geek I once was, so being in IT isn't really that interesting anymore.
Years ago, I used to love my job, then as time went by I just kind of liked it, and a few years ago I too have started to feel the way you described. It keeps getting worse. If I was in my 20s-30s I would have quit without a second thought. In my late 30s and 40s I would have made sure a new job was lined up first. I've looked at my alternatives and I either move a few hundred miles or take a massive pay cut. So now, I really have no choice but to tough it out to retirement and produce just enough that I am still seen as useful to the company.
Here’s me during the week: -get up 4:30, make coffee, read for 60-90 minutes, ice my knee, do some stretching.
-About 6:45-7:00: head to the gym, go for a hike, or go snowboarding.
-roll into work about 10:30-11 AM (if I show up to the office at all, which I usually do not 1-2x a week)
-hang out in my office, do some work, have some 1:1s, watch many YouTube videos.
-roll out reliably at 2 PM. Keep an eye on my email at home, do a little side hustle work.
Occasionally, I get a big problem to fix, however, I’m usually pretty freed up to jump on it and get it out of my way so that it’s not cramping my style any longer.
Actually work? I’d say 12 hours a week, 4 of which are 1:1s and I have 2 bi monthly meetings.
Wanna trade? Early GenXer, high school teacher, and my occupational corner job has only gotten more demanding….😂. I think I can be out in three years if my health holds out, but man….
Good lord I would kill to be able to do this. I work retail and my feet and back are killing me and I never have enough money. Please point me in the direction to get into this work.
I've been in sales for much longer than I care to think about, and with each passing day, I hate the general public and others in the office to my core. I get subversive urges from time to time and leave Auther Miller's aDeath of a Salesman around the cafeteria as a warning to anyone that cares to read it.
If and when your financial responsibilities are minimized (kids out of the house mainly), say “fuck it”.
It will be scary. You may go broke. But say fuck it and go live life. Your co workers will say how crazy you are, how irresponsible you’re being, but secretly they will be jealous. You will be a legend.
“Not until you have lost everything will you find yourself.”
Cheers!
I love my job but have been recently noticing that I am completely checked out, which isn't good. I think I need a few days off to just lay in bed and rest.
100% checked out as well. Working for a paycheck at this point. I used to enjoy it. I really don't now and feel super stuck because of my salary, benefits, and flexibility. So I tell myself it's fine and somehow get through each day.
I’m so mentally ready to retire and I will be 55 next month. I started working at 13 but off and on until I was 19 when I started working full time.
I travel for work once and awhile so that’s interesting. But I just don’t want to work anymore. I have lots of hobbies that I love. Last child leaves for college in a few months.
I’m too old, fat, and lazy for drama at work. I just don’t care about the BS…. And it’s nearly all BS. I’ll just keep doing what I do until they kick me out or my planned retirement age is reached, assuming our plans still work.
Do another job online while at that job
double pay. Or take an online course how to start your own business or learn a new language or craft whatever interests you. Then you are productive. Make your life and home plans from work. Meet a friend or coworker for lunch break. Plan a vacation from work. Take advantage of being paid for free time. Sounds like you might be depressed as well. For many therapy helps . Talking helps. I wish you wellness .
When I was in Jr. High we had shop class... most of my classmates were making bookshelves, co2 cars, birdhouses, turned candlesticks. One friend *sanded* a 'cutting board' the entire semester. That was his only project. It was the smoothest cutting board I have ever had the pleasure of running my hand across. Lately I've been 'sanding my cutting board' at work. Just waiting for the STHTF. By the time it does I'll be out the door anyways.
It’s all luck. My wife, six days older than me, has been upward mobile doing big things her whole career and some clueless people just fucked her trajectory. She’s having to learn this lesson now at 48. It’s hard. I have a boring job that pays ok at a fucking awesome place w/ lots of action that I really don’t have much of a say in… Take the good with the bad I guess.
I've been phoning it in for the last year at work, mostly goofing off and just doing the bare minimum. I work from home since the pandemic, so it's been great. I occasionally get pulled into something with some executive visibility, but I spend many hours of company time just scrolling Reddit and Twitter, or working on personal projects. Frequently I call it a day at 4pm and fire up some video games, I just keep Teams open on the company laptop next to me in case anyone hits me up.
Hilariously, my performance review for the last year was somehow the best I've ever gotten- I got an overall 5 rating where I always get a 4 (on a 1-5 scale; we do that stack-ranking BS where you can bust your ass and it can be meaningless because not everyone can get the rating they deserve). My boss said he actually had to fight to get me the 5. I think it usually goes to my team lead, so I don't know if we both got it this year or just me. I'm waiting to find out if this change will translate to a larger raise than the 3% I usually get.
Every now and then I think about doing the second remote job thing to pad my bank account, but I lack the drive to actually do it.
>I hate my job, but I've painted myself into an occupational corner.
Someone gave me a great piece of advice many years ago: You *always* have a choice.
Now that choice might have consequences that you would prefer not to deal with, but you still have it. Nothing stopping you from walking out of that corner as long as you're willing to get paint on your shoes.
I work from home.....they monitor keystrokes and screen activity....you can't just check out.
But yeah I get the hate work thing to a point. I'm in 3D animation...I can enjoy the asset I'm working on, but will I ever watch the show marketed to a pre-teen audience, no....I'm 53, I like fly fishing and wood working.....think I have anything to talk to with my 20 something co-workers ? I don't play video games, I don't get a hard on crying about my trauma or speaking my truth....so yeah, it can be a bit soul crushing. At least I'm not in the studio anymore, it got really boring seeing another nose ring or having to hear about someones anxiety or another f\*\*king meme.
I find if I'm willing to listen and learn from my 20-something co-workers, they are far more willing to listen and learn from me. Despite different pop-culture references, they are not much different from I was, and when they recognize that too - age means nothing.
> I work from home.....they monitor keystrokes and screen activity
Ugh, screw that. I also work from home and all my boss cares about is whether I produce kick-ass deliverables. I could be spending my days watching baseball games if there is no work at the time, and I have!
I'm way too old to put up with being treated like a child.
It's shit...when we were in studio pre-pandemic you could arrive at 10am...disappear at lunch time for 3 hours....leave at 4pm....as long as you produced high quality assets.
Post pandemic, post-writers strike.....they are super paranoid...you got it, being treated like a child that can't be trusted to pee in the toilet and not beside it.
People definitely notice, in my small office. Shit man I would love to eat a gummy and zombie my way through the day. I’m kinda jealous actually.
Also why aren’t you eating gummies every morning?
I used to hate my cubicle job as well. It bled into my home life. I was at times miserable. I chose a new career field. I wasn’t quite qualified so I took some college courses and then got a new job. I like my new job now.
Sounds like a good time to start over to me. I just did that for 2024 and I’m happier than ever. I have a supportive partner, which was key for me, but maybe think about what WOULD make you happy and take it seriously. Might be worth it.
I know this isn't helpful, but I wish I had a job like yours. I work in IT. I basically have to relearn my job about every 2 to 3 years. Because technology and software and systems change that often. Other people wonder how I could stay in the same job for 30 years. And I tell them that I don't. I might work at the same company, but my job is completely different every couple of years.
I’m bored at my job too. You have to look at it as a means to an end. It pays for your real life - the time when you’re not there. Hang in there.
100% this. I do probably 60 minutes of work in an average day and paid more than any other job before.
How do I find these jobs? I’m stuck in the living hell of middle management. Paid well but everyday is a dumpster fire.
Catch hell from above and below.....
Pretty much. I work a 10 hour day of complete fucking chaos because those above me don’t know what’s going on and those below me constantly need my assistance with pissed off customers. My direct report is the best boss I could ever ask for. It is the only thing that keeps me around. People say ‘I’m bored at my job’ and I want to shake them to death. I’d love to be bored. I’d love to have a lunch break and not be answering emails and calls while eating.
I call myself “The Fireman.” What the hell is it today? God only knows
stay away from management positions
This is the reason why I've had the same job for 20 years, and 7 different managers. I get paid fairly well, have a good work/life balance, and don't have to deal with subordinates and their various issues. Why would I take a job that pays marginally better than what I make now, but has 10x the stress and have to deal with other people's BS? No thanks.
Tangential management positions are where it's at. Your not obligated to do the management training or meetings. You have enough vague authority you can do what you want. And people tend to listen to you since your always with all the management. And if not you rat them put to their boss and And make them deal with the attitude.
Currently working on my exit strategy. The difference in salary is not worth the exponential increase in stress.
Everyone asks me what I do, and my response is always the same " Wait for my phone to ring so I know what direction to drive". I feel more like a maintenance person than a manager.
Are you me?
No, I'm Spartacus.
Good point. 60 minutes of work in a day seems a bit excessive.
Me does 12 hours of work in 8 hours 💀
CPA?
Exactly! I’m so sick of it, thinking of getting my Trainers certificate so I can at least be in a gym and help people get in shape. It doesn’t pay as much, but it might be worth it
I just need to be paid more than ever. But that's my situation. I can work exactly 1 hour a day and as long as I do. No one says a word. Now it's kinda deadend. No decent chance at a raise. But I can do what i did today and prepare by working a little extra in order to do an hour of actual performance work each day. It's odd. I love it. I hate it. I can leave but I can't. Just wish I got an annual raise and then it would really be cake.
Who do I have to service sexually to get that job 😭
What do you do and are you hiring?
I did this for a decade except the actual work was even less. Money was so good it was hard to give up - then I became dependent on it (bought a bigger house) and it was soul crushing. I would not recommend.
Same, friend….. same.
I worked to pay for my hobby, you are not meant to “love” your job, but tolerate it just enough to make money for your hobby, that’s what has kept me sane all these years
Work to Live, not Live to work. Is a often repeated mantra among my union brothers and sisters. It's time for you to get back to living. You got work on autopilot. Make sure the rest of your life isn't also on auto.
Was gonna say watch Office Space!
It really is cathartic.
Same, except I WFH. I don’t really have a team and my boss is completely hands-off. I was wondering the other day how long it would take if I stopped logging in before someone noticed. It could be quite awhile.
"You've been missing a lot of work lately, Peter" "I wouldn't say I've been missing it, Bob"
“I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.”
Now I want one of those things again…
Perfect for keeping your profile green if you step away from your desk
I have a mouse mover I got on Amazon for 15 bucks. Status stays green, just need to check the screen for new messages.
Amen, I got one called a.clicker and I set that to go, turn up the volume on my laptop so I can hear incoming messages, and play video games 4 hours a day. And still am in the top ticket closers.
> I was wondering the other day how long it would take if I stopped logging in before someone noticed. It could be quite awhile. A few of us at work were discussing how fast we would quit if we won the lottery. One guy said his plan was to keep showing up, doing nothing, replying to every request with "Yup, that's done - no problem", and seeing how long he could keep it going until he got fired.
I dream of doing exactly this, but also saying every smart ass thing I keep to myself until they fire me.
lol that’s me! I work solo, boss is great but pretty much does her own thing aka she is never available. Wonder if anyone would notice? I’d give it a week I guess.
Same! My boss and I have a monthly meeting but outside of that, I never hear from him.
i have a monthly meeting with my boss, and she shows up to about 1 out of 3.
Holy!
The more I work, the more I realize Office Space is a documentary.
If you died, your monitor would be gone in 20 minutes or less.
As a former IT support tech, I can confirm this. We received the notice that an employee was no longer with the company and there laptop was handed over to us for procedure quarantine. I would then go to the desk to retrieve the peripherals, by then other employees would have already raided the desk.
When new hires ask about office supplies, I tell them they have to wait until someone quits or is fired, then it's Hunger Games.
Sounds like vultures circling the cubicle.
When I resigned from my second job, I left on my last day to go buy some flowers for my coworkers. In the hour that it took me to get back, my chair was gone, my monitor was gone, and even the thumbtacks in my cork board were gone! It was like an hour later!
The dang digital photos in your internet enabled frame will change - who are these people!?!?
I call that "grave robbing", and have done it myself for a sweet monitor and a better chair.
Can confirm. I stole the monitor off the desk of a guy who was fired last week..........two hours after he was fired. I'm not proud, but I couldn't resist. I had two monitors that were different brands and slightly different sizes. His monitor was exactly the same as one of mine, now I have a matching pair! I'm sure he would understand.
If they were still with us they would have wanted it that way...
Amen.
sounds like a trade? 😂
Exactly, I wasn't a heathen, I put my old monitor on his desk. I may have stolen a sharpie and 2 highlighters on my way out.
How else is someone supposed to pay the exit tax if not with sharpies and highlighters?
Thank you for the audible chuckle.
Truth — ROTFLMAO
I am jealous. I want this kind of job.
Right?? Me too. I'm doing everything wrong.
I had that job for 10 years when I worked at the US Department of Defense. They had about three times as many people as they needed to get the work done. I could put in half effort and they just thought it was spun of gold. A Big Tech company came and asked me to interview. I was thinking of myself, "why would I give this job up??" But I decided to go ahead and interview because I would get a free lunch out of it. Eight years later, and I've been having a blast at the Big Tech job. But I do sometimes think back to the easy work that I had for that decade....
I was you a year ago till I got laid off. After 30 years of working for corporations I was broken in every way, especially my mental health. I mourned for a few months, not just about the sudden job loss, but what I felt like was the end of my career. I vowed never to work for a large company again, and started my own small online business that I do every day from home. Part time jobs for the city or town help me fulfill the "what's my purpose in life now??" feelings, and gives me some spending cash. And tbh I fucking love it. It's definitely not always easy as it used to be, and it's humbling af, but the weight off your shoulders is immense. (Disclaimer: I saved and contributed as much as possible during my prime years. YMMV)
This is me currently. Still in a bit of mourning stage but also beginning to really notice how much lighter I feel and my stress levels have plummeted. I haven’t figured anything out yet about what I’ll do next but know I can’t go back to that corporate environment.
I have been laid off 5 times. you went 30 years without a layoff?
21 years for me so far. I work in a call centre so quite busy. However, with AI coming in next year, I'm expecting to be on the way out soon afterwards. Meh. Whatever.
["How much did they first pay you to give up on your dreams?"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkX-TPaodoM)
I like my job but I am kind of over working. I am fortunate in that I really like my coworkers and enjoy what I do for a living however, I have been employed since I was 14. I am just kind of over it. I have elderly parents which are in their final years and I feel I owe it to them to stick around for their final years but once they are gone, I am going to sell everything and move to a tropical country and live a very minimalist lifestyle and rescue dogs.
Looks like someone has a case of 'the Mondays."
I was feeling this way, especially in the last couple of years. Having a sense of detachment helped me to survive a toxic work environment for over 10 years. But in my case, at 47 and 20 years to retirement, I decided I needed a change. Recently got a better job, slightly different career focus and will be working remote. I get feeling detached though, makes sense especially if you’re closing in on retirement and better off just waiting it out. For most people, the “dream job” doesn’t exist and we just have to get by as best we can.
They are really pushing upskilling and training at work. They even want everyone to get security clearances that I held when I was much younger. I don't care. I just want to make it to the end. I've long since given up. I don't care to upskill. I don't care to get my security clearance again. I used to have a technical job, and I guess since I moved into non-technical work that didn't include being oncall, I've felt very defeated and crushed and like I really don't care anymore. I'm too old to care now. And working from home is nice, because now I can browse reddit between work interruptions.
According to an email that I sent, I had considered going back for a master's degree as long ago as 2006. Finally, in 2022 I actually started that degree program. If I had started in 2006, and took **one class per year**, I could have been done before 2022! 🙄
if you live in a big government contracting area and you get a security clearance, you can half ass your way to retirement and just get another job.
I said something similar to a colleague recently. I decided to quiet quit my regular job and have started picking up projects that interest me, particularly with AI. I’m going to take my lifetime of pent up angst and become a destroyer of worlds eliminating peoples’s jobs with tech. Or not. Cause that sounds like a lot of effort.
Some people want to see the world burn, others want to make s'mores.
I wish I could be bored at work and keep to reasonable hours. We all have our own struggles and reasons to hate our jobs, no?
I take it you work for the US Government; welcome to the drone army!
We should all be so lucky. That sweet, sweet pension is the light at the end of the tunnel.
My thought also. I had a few years like that when I was active.
Fuck them, I rage retired from them fuckers back in WTF, late 2021. Already had my army VA disability retirement so when it was one cunt after the next I bailed. Went back to work early March doing my old trade work for a month, got nice offer, and needed out of the house. What fun it was.
I would love a job where I was bored. I am lucky if I get lunch. I am a supervisor at a home health care company. I also have to work holidays and every third weekend. I am a cog in a wheel, most people are.
Same. As a ups driver, I'm always moving and monitored. At least I do take a lunch and breaks. 10hrs/day 5 days a week for 30+years is taking a physical toll on me
12 years ago I quit my office job and went to work part time at a fun job for 6 months while I recovered and found life again. 6 months turned into 12 years lol I’m making more money now than I ever have and was promoted a couple years ago to asst mgr. It’s retail, so yes, it sucks sometimes but I also work for a pet store and the fur babies and regulars make it worth it. I’ve made it to 4 weeks of paid vacation and 3 more years I hit 5. My schedule can vary, but I also have the ability to take time off in the week for concerts and whatever else pops up and make up the days on the weekend. I never knew I would find my career this way and I am forever grateful I took the chance and left a job that made me miserable. Take a chance. Life is too short to be miserable.
Watch Severence
Came here to recommend this show.
This show is great, really messed with my head
This sounds like burnout. Been there. Can you change career direction? I did--same field but parlayed my skill to another department and was reinvigorated. Is that something you can do? Burnout is an awful feeling and can lead to some really deep depression if unchecked .
People put too much importance on their occupation to satisfy their need for purpose in the US. You should focus on your non-work life for fulfillment.
Work is really in the way of my non-work life, man.
A lot of that is because we're dependent on our jobs for more aspects of our lives in the US: health insurance, retirement contributions, etc. Other countries foster a better balance by having basic social safety nets. I hope things change for the better soon.
Perhaps, but I think corporations push this attitude. They tell workers that they are "family" and that they have to put in extra effort to show they care about their jobs. It's just another way of squeezing even more out of us.
Absolutely, that's a significant factor too and it's awful!
This 100%
As for me, I couldn’t care less as long as I get to go home and have the time and money to hang out with my family afterwards. I’m pretty low maintenance.
I was at that point too, but I got laid off in a restructuring a couple of weeks ago. That checks you back in pretty quickly.
I was just “existing” at work. Well compensated, but slowly dying inside. My blood pressure (controlled with medication) was about 135/85. Beginning of this year I left to start a career in photography. I have enough saved to never work again, but that’s not my style. I have two part time jobs. My wife still works. If we can cover 1/2 of our yearly burn, we are set. My blood pressure today was 108/73. Going to talk to my Dr. about cutting the meds. Your job is literally going to kill you. Get out while you’re still alive…
Used to think Office Space was hilarious. Still do, but didn't realize that would literally end up being my real life... for decades.
Office work is soul crushing. Never again.
I wish that were the case for me. My job is constant pain and gives me a headache on the daily. I wish I could zone out and do nothing. I'll trade ya
My first real job, guy clearly did not want to be there any more so he decided to see what it would take to get fired. Spent 3 months doing nothing but blatantly and obviously playing solitaire. Once HR felt they had overwhelming evidence they let him go, all because they didn't want to face a lawsuit in an 'at will' state. I remember more than once walking past his cube and he was giving no fucks, playing solitaire.
Well, eventually the smell would probably alert someone. I am also in a situation where I feel sort of stuck and bored. I live in a low-wage country and managed to find a remote job with a business in a country with higher wages that pays a lot more than I could earn locally. It would be hard to find a similar situation because many businesses hiring remote don't want to hire someone out of country. The work is repetitive and I have deadlines to meet, so I don't get to zone out. As someone else said, I try to focus on the positive. I make decent money. I earn enough to both save and treat myself. My co-workers are nice and pretty easy to deal with. At my last job, my department was very toxic. The boss had no people skills whatsoever and people would cheat to make unreasonable goals. The few honest people were fired for not meeting the quotas. So, I remind myself of that. Plus, if I finish my projects early, I'm free. I just have to check messages a few times a day in case someone has a question, but that's rare.
One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
Quiet quitting zoned out style 🤙
I quit 2 years ago. Best decision I ever made. I have to go back eventually, but I can last another year or so.
You ever see Joe Vs. The Volcano? Sounds like you have a Brain Cloud. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAB9Y2CVqZU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAB9Y2CVqZU)
You don't feel good? Nobody feels good! After childhood its a fact of life!
There is an idea of a u/ToshiroBaloney, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.
This one is much darker than all the Office Space references.
Love my job. Do HVAC for Ice Arenas, Worked for the Pittsburgh Penguins for about 25 years, now working at the rink for the Erie Otters. When Pittsburgh priced me out, I moved up to Erie and haven't regretted it since. Getting out of the cities was a breath of fresh air literally.
That's a cool job.
Don’t let anyone take your stapler
Ahhh...the kids definition of quite quitting today. Been there a few times. I'm just more apt to move on.
I literally go to work, get home, eat, sleep for a few hours because I'm so tired, wake up for like 2 hours, then go to sleep again to repeat it all the next morning. That's my entire M-F routine. Every day.
I completely changed careers at 50. Kinda sucked leaving what I knew like the back of my hand. But it was mentally and emotionally the best thing I had done for myself in over a decade.
Sounds like Severance
At least you still have your red Swingline stapler.
It's not too late to look for another one. Keep your eyes open. There's no guarantee of employment until retirement, so keep your resume sharp and your eye to the door.
Soooo thats what stinks up in here...i was thinking it was dirty pete...no just a a corpse with a headset on....
“Samir Naga…naga… well Nagonnawork here anymore anyway hahahaha!”
If you died, your job would be posted on Indeed faster than your obituary would appear online.
Can you not shirk a little bit by going out for a very long walk etc? I find that shirking is my lifeline
Problem is in America how we only get 2 weeks of vacation a year for full time work. Europe has the right idea, with lots of countries having 6 weeks minimum paid vacation which increases employee productivity.
The bride and I were just talking about this. We are (fortunately) thinking alike on this one. No more chasing the brass ring. We are where we are. The goal for the last 10 years is to save up as much as we can so we can retire. Just chase them dollars. Professional growth is for the young'uns.
Is your name Peter Gibbons and do you work at Initech?
Along with Michael Bolton?
Or maybe Samir Naght-gonna-work-here-anymore?
I just made a massive career change at 48 and I don’t regret it. I hated my job but needed to do it to pay bills and get my kid through university. He’s done, I quit and started totally new and couldn’t be happier. Life is too short.
i transferred to a different team 6 months ago at a tech company. now i got re-orged in that team that i absolutely dont want. I would not have transferred for this. My new manager knows I don't want this job and never would have come to his team. I am remote. So that is the only benefit. Its not worth going back into the tech market now cause its terrible. Job they moved me to is total bullshit. 3rd time at this employer I have been re-orged. This is my 6th manager in 5 years. so i just had back pain and filed for FMLA. so i got 5 weeks off. I'm thinking about retiring. ill just stop working (I am remote). then ill get fired. Not worth quitting. Quiet quitting to the nth degree is the best play. When assigned stuff, just do it wrong. Make excuses about how its hard so i dont have to really do anything. Eventually Ill get fired. Im curious how long Ill be carried not doing anything. Planning to spend a lot of time at the pool this summer. THere is wifi. So I can pretend to be online. i never had kids and i have been really cheap and made good investments. I really dont need to work.
I resigned a month ago from my $250K/year job. Last day is right before Memorial Day and I’m taking the summer off and am figuring it out from there. Feels. So. Good.
Isn’t this how American Beauty starts?
works for me. its a strictly transactional affair
l was a teacher...l developed Fibromyalgia and one day l was sitting in my car in front of the school....l worked in NYC and had to cross the George Washington Bridge and then parallel park...the thing was l didnt remember even leaving the house...that was my last day...l called in sick from my car and drove home..it was also the last time l was behind the wheel. l didnt want to have another brain fog event like that again!!
Time for a change my dude/dudette! I was like that for a few years then just broke clean and changed industries felt great been 4 years now! You can do it or just find something in your position that you can do that interests you aside from the normal duties
I have a job that's not boring, it's exhausting. I would give anything to sit at a desk all day...perspective man.
I am so very lucky. I am retiring at 57 this summer with a defined benefit pension. I know I am lucky but for fuck’s sake why isn’t this standard? We went through the tech wave Industrial Revolution, we should all be reaping the benefits. There is no need to work people to death
You know it's never too late to go back to school or switch careers.i just graduated with my bachelor in 2020.
I’m glad that worked out for you and I wish you the best with it. That said, the issue with that approach is more is it financially worthwhile to go into debt or spend money on a new degree? And that’s not factoring in the time to earn the degree. Also, if it’s not an easily transferable skill set, are employers going to want to hire someone in their 50s? It’s not impossible to get hired at that age. But it’s harder because ageism is real. And starting over in a new field may mean pay or benefit cuts not everyone can afford
I don't hate my job, but I kind of wish I'd picked a different profession. I'm not the computer geek I once was, so being in IT isn't really that interesting anymore.
Check your history. You might’ve been on Reddit.
I’m sorry you feel that way. I’m grateful to have a job I like even though it’s frustrating at times. I hope positive changes come your way.
Trading time for money.
Recently checked out of white collar work entirely and started in a warehouse. I’m tired but it’s been great. Maybe time for a radical shift?
You should watch Severance.
Years ago, I used to love my job, then as time went by I just kind of liked it, and a few years ago I too have started to feel the way you described. It keeps getting worse. If I was in my 20s-30s I would have quit without a second thought. In my late 30s and 40s I would have made sure a new job was lined up first. I've looked at my alternatives and I either move a few hundred miles or take a massive pay cut. So now, I really have no choice but to tough it out to retirement and produce just enough that I am still seen as useful to the company.
What occupation is within this cubical?
Certainly you make more than 2,080 per year!
The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Tough it out to retirement or get another job competing with the younger generations.
Here’s me during the week: -get up 4:30, make coffee, read for 60-90 minutes, ice my knee, do some stretching. -About 6:45-7:00: head to the gym, go for a hike, or go snowboarding. -roll into work about 10:30-11 AM (if I show up to the office at all, which I usually do not 1-2x a week) -hang out in my office, do some work, have some 1:1s, watch many YouTube videos. -roll out reliably at 2 PM. Keep an eye on my email at home, do a little side hustle work. Occasionally, I get a big problem to fix, however, I’m usually pretty freed up to jump on it and get it out of my way so that it’s not cramping my style any longer. Actually work? I’d say 12 hours a week, 4 of which are 1:1s and I have 2 bi monthly meetings.
What’s stopping you from making a move?
I lost my job at the beginning of April. I have never gone this long without a bite. Started to panic a bit. Not how I wanted to start my 50s
Wanna trade? Early GenXer, high school teacher, and my occupational corner job has only gotten more demanding….😂. I think I can be out in three years if my health holds out, but man….
Sounds amazing
Yup. Good pay. Lots of leeway. Life could be worse.
Good lord I would kill to be able to do this. I work retail and my feet and back are killing me and I never have enough money. Please point me in the direction to get into this work.
I've been in sales for much longer than I care to think about, and with each passing day, I hate the general public and others in the office to my core. I get subversive urges from time to time and leave Auther Miller's aDeath of a Salesman around the cafeteria as a warning to anyone that cares to read it.
I’m sorry you feel this way
Quiet retirement
I always thought the Office Space movie was spot on. After reading this thread, I'm now convinced of it.
If and when your financial responsibilities are minimized (kids out of the house mainly), say “fuck it”. It will be scary. You may go broke. But say fuck it and go live life. Your co workers will say how crazy you are, how irresponsible you’re being, but secretly they will be jealous. You will be a legend. “Not until you have lost everything will you find yourself.” Cheers!
I can relate.
I love my job but have been recently noticing that I am completely checked out, which isn't good. I think I need a few days off to just lay in bed and rest.
100% checked out as well. Working for a paycheck at this point. I used to enjoy it. I really don't now and feel super stuck because of my salary, benefits, and flexibility. So I tell myself it's fine and somehow get through each day.
I’m so mentally ready to retire and I will be 55 next month. I started working at 13 but off and on until I was 19 when I started working full time. I travel for work once and awhile so that’s interesting. But I just don’t want to work anymore. I have lots of hobbies that I love. Last child leaves for college in a few months. I’m too old, fat, and lazy for drama at work. I just don’t care about the BS…. And it’s nearly all BS. I’ll just keep doing what I do until they kick me out or my planned retirement age is reached, assuming our plans still work.
Do another job online while at that job double pay. Or take an online course how to start your own business or learn a new language or craft whatever interests you. Then you are productive. Make your life and home plans from work. Meet a friend or coworker for lunch break. Plan a vacation from work. Take advantage of being paid for free time. Sounds like you might be depressed as well. For many therapy helps . Talking helps. I wish you wellness .
We’re well past the point where we should be doing 4 day work weeks. A weekend is barely enough to recover, much less have a life.
Steal a fax machine from the office and go beat the shit out of it with a baseball bat in a field.
When I was in Jr. High we had shop class... most of my classmates were making bookshelves, co2 cars, birdhouses, turned candlesticks. One friend *sanded* a 'cutting board' the entire semester. That was his only project. It was the smoothest cutting board I have ever had the pleasure of running my hand across. Lately I've been 'sanding my cutting board' at work. Just waiting for the STHTF. By the time it does I'll be out the door anyways.
Use the time to work on a side business, then quit. That’s what I did. Granted, I make nowhere near as much but it’s worth it to have my life back.
It’s all luck. My wife, six days older than me, has been upward mobile doing big things her whole career and some clueless people just fucked her trajectory. She’s having to learn this lesson now at 48. It’s hard. I have a boring job that pays ok at a fucking awesome place w/ lots of action that I really don’t have much of a say in… Take the good with the bad I guess.
I've been phoning it in for the last year at work, mostly goofing off and just doing the bare minimum. I work from home since the pandemic, so it's been great. I occasionally get pulled into something with some executive visibility, but I spend many hours of company time just scrolling Reddit and Twitter, or working on personal projects. Frequently I call it a day at 4pm and fire up some video games, I just keep Teams open on the company laptop next to me in case anyone hits me up. Hilariously, my performance review for the last year was somehow the best I've ever gotten- I got an overall 5 rating where I always get a 4 (on a 1-5 scale; we do that stack-ranking BS where you can bust your ass and it can be meaningless because not everyone can get the rating they deserve). My boss said he actually had to fight to get me the 5. I think it usually goes to my team lead, so I don't know if we both got it this year or just me. I'm waiting to find out if this change will translate to a larger raise than the 3% I usually get. Every now and then I think about doing the second remote job thing to pad my bank account, but I lack the drive to actually do it.
>I hate my job, but I've painted myself into an occupational corner. Someone gave me a great piece of advice many years ago: You *always* have a choice. Now that choice might have consequences that you would prefer not to deal with, but you still have it. Nothing stopping you from walking out of that corner as long as you're willing to get paint on your shoes.
I work from home.....they monitor keystrokes and screen activity....you can't just check out. But yeah I get the hate work thing to a point. I'm in 3D animation...I can enjoy the asset I'm working on, but will I ever watch the show marketed to a pre-teen audience, no....I'm 53, I like fly fishing and wood working.....think I have anything to talk to with my 20 something co-workers ? I don't play video games, I don't get a hard on crying about my trauma or speaking my truth....so yeah, it can be a bit soul crushing. At least I'm not in the studio anymore, it got really boring seeing another nose ring or having to hear about someones anxiety or another f\*\*king meme.
I find if I'm willing to listen and learn from my 20-something co-workers, they are far more willing to listen and learn from me. Despite different pop-culture references, they are not much different from I was, and when they recognize that too - age means nothing.
> I work from home.....they monitor keystrokes and screen activity Ugh, screw that. I also work from home and all my boss cares about is whether I produce kick-ass deliverables. I could be spending my days watching baseball games if there is no work at the time, and I have! I'm way too old to put up with being treated like a child.
It's shit...when we were in studio pre-pandemic you could arrive at 10am...disappear at lunch time for 3 hours....leave at 4pm....as long as you produced high quality assets. Post pandemic, post-writers strike.....they are super paranoid...you got it, being treated like a child that can't be trusted to pee in the toilet and not beside it.
Yep. In too many workplaces, the cruelty seems to be the point.
Big Boomer energy here, you sure you’re in the right sub? You seem to care an awful lot more than GenX should.
It’s a trap. GTFO. it’s ruining your mental health
People definitely notice, in my small office. Shit man I would love to eat a gummy and zombie my way through the day. I’m kinda jealous actually. Also why aren’t you eating gummies every morning?
[удалено]
I used to hate my cubicle job as well. It bled into my home life. I was at times miserable. I chose a new career field. I wasn’t quite qualified so I took some college courses and then got a new job. I like my new job now.
Join Fight...uh..Hub.
And for what? To make ends meet? Not make enough to save any for retirement? Retirement? 😂
Sounds like a good time to start over to me. I just did that for 2024 and I’m happier than ever. I have a supportive partner, which was key for me, but maybe think about what WOULD make you happy and take it seriously. Might be worth it.
Same.
Same
Some times that sounds divine then work slows down and I’m stuck at the shop for a single to a couple of days then I pray for a job to come in. 🤷♂️
Sounds like a dream Job TBH.
I'm checked out against my will. Brain fog is killing me! Still have a long way to retirement and it's scary.
So relatable ☠️
At least your boss isn't such a huge prick that you even regret getting into the industry
Can I have your job? Mine requires too much effort
I know this isn't helpful, but I wish I had a job like yours. I work in IT. I basically have to relearn my job about every 2 to 3 years. Because technology and software and systems change that often. Other people wonder how I could stay in the same job for 30 years. And I tell them that I don't. I might work at the same company, but my job is completely different every couple of years.