Jacking in your job
Discussion
V8mate said:
I think you need to accept that all PAYE jobs are s
t, and then trying to build a bit of meaning to your life from there.
I don't think that being PAYE(assuming a reasonable salary) or contracting makes the difference if the type/nature of the work itself is wrong for you.t, and then trying to build a bit of meaning to your life from there.I build meaning in my life outside of work, but life has been on hold for 40ish hours per week for years on end and that needs to change.
Monkeylegend said:
You will look back on 10 wasted years and regret not doing something about it now.
Yes. I was in that position and still am...On the plus side, I have no money worries.
On the minus, I feel no sense of satisfaction or achievement from work at all. I could leave this afternoon and not think about it ever again.
V8mate said:
Woodrow Wilson said:
V8mate said:
I think you need to accept that all PAYE jobs are s
t, and then trying to build a bit of meaning to your life from there.I build meaning in my life outside of work, but life has been on hold for 40ish hours per week for years on end and that needs to change.
h, no matter how rosy some in the latter category like to insist otherwise.OP here.
I did leave my job. The notice period contained some very tedious work happenings and confirmed to me that I was doing the correct thing. I said goodbye to the good people I'd met and the door is actually open for a return if I do change my mind (very unlikely)
It was a relief to leave.
Having had a short holiday and a few days off, I have been doing some temporary, constructive, manual work, which has been very enjoyable, interesting, the time passes quickly....and the polar opposite of what I was doing before.
My confidence and state of mind have improved significantly.
There is the possibility of an interesting long-term job, that should align better with my interests and skills than my previous job, in the near future.
No regrets so far.
I did leave my job. The notice period contained some very tedious work happenings and confirmed to me that I was doing the correct thing. I said goodbye to the good people I'd met and the door is actually open for a return if I do change my mind (very unlikely)
It was a relief to leave.
Having had a short holiday and a few days off, I have been doing some temporary, constructive, manual work, which has been very enjoyable, interesting, the time passes quickly....and the polar opposite of what I was doing before.
My confidence and state of mind have improved significantly.
There is the possibility of an interesting long-term job, that should align better with my interests and skills than my previous job, in the near future.
No regrets so far.
Oilchange said:
Hammi159159 said:
A lot of crap managers love to get to know your personal situation - and then use your mortgage, car loan, family circumstances and financial commitments so they can use it as a gauge on how much pressure they think they can exert on you at work. They don't get to know much about me. I pitch up, put in some reasonable graft for a short period, then I'm off and on to the next random company that needs help for a few days/weeks.
This is how I saw the last 30 years, the perfect employee is the family man/woman who is inches away from defaulting on debt or mortgage and has an expensive lifestyle to maintain. It's all about leverage and how the worker can be made to work harder to make the manager look better.One senior engineer at my old workplace put it perfectly when he addressed the workforce, he said ' you lot are here to get me promoted'.
That went down like a s
t sandwich.I was probably unusual in my job (society?) in being debt-free, in a resonable house, and no big monthlies, in my 40s. Not through being stingy or by missing on anything at all -just careful (no expensive cars, few takeaways, very much a "make do and mend" and DIY person, didn't increase outgoings in-line with pay rises etc.)
Although some friends have been encouraging, some quite well-paid, have been shocked that I was able to consider taking time away from a reasonable paying job.
Hammi159159 said:
The job for life was a thing in my grandad's day, and it was 2-3 jobs during my dad's life. My nephews are now told at school that their generation will likely average 18 jobs during their working lives.
With that level of short-termism, workers owe companies no loyalty beyond their contracted hours and notice period. There's usually no loyalty shown to employees in the event of cost-cutting or out-sourcing. A regret of mine is giving too much of myself to past employers, to the detriment of my health and family/social life.
A side effect of this very transitory labour market is possibly a reduction in output quality in some industries. With that level of short-termism, workers owe companies no loyalty beyond their contracted hours and notice period. There's usually no loyalty shown to employees in the event of cost-cutting or out-sourcing. A regret of mine is giving too much of myself to past employers, to the detriment of my health and family/social life.
OP here. I have had a happy time of it since leaving my old job. Oddly, I feel like a different person, even outside of working hours.
I am still doing some temporary work
-nominally "home improvement" stuff, which has included all kinds of things.
As somebody who has often learned things in order to do a job at home, make something or just for the challenge, I have quite a range of skills that often dovetail into one another and people have been keen to make use of them (it's been interesting to discover that some, what I would describe as, fairly trivial things are outside of the knowledge of many people) . I'm actually quite enjoying it, and it feels good to be paid for something I can do/turn my hand to.
I've also had more time to learn a few new skills and make some good things too.
...I am conflicted, though, as I feel that I "should" be earning much more (and there is a little part of me that still thinks that I should have a "better" job too, as I was "supposed to") , as I was in my previous (detested, futile) job... I would ideally do some well paid work 2-3 days per week, and some more practical stuff a couple of days per week. With a bit more experience, I should be able to charge more for the time taken.
My wife earns an OK wage. We are still able to afford to live (I am still baffled by how some people manage to spend so much every month, for apparently little benefit/enjoyment....), but my wife is keen to go on a nice foreign holiday or two, and that will require more £££s...
I am still doing some temporary work
-nominally "home improvement" stuff, which has included all kinds of things.
As somebody who has often learned things in order to do a job at home, make something or just for the challenge, I have quite a range of skills that often dovetail into one another and people have been keen to make use of them (it's been interesting to discover that some, what I would describe as, fairly trivial things are outside of the knowledge of many people) . I'm actually quite enjoying it, and it feels good to be paid for something I can do/turn my hand to.
I've also had more time to learn a few new skills and make some good things too.
...I am conflicted, though, as I feel that I "should" be earning much more (and there is a little part of me that still thinks that I should have a "better" job too, as I was "supposed to") , as I was in my previous (detested, futile) job... I would ideally do some well paid work 2-3 days per week, and some more practical stuff a couple of days per week. With a bit more experience, I should be able to charge more for the time taken.
My wife earns an OK wage. We are still able to afford to live (I am still baffled by how some people manage to spend so much every month, for apparently little benefit/enjoyment....), but my wife is keen to go on a nice foreign holiday or two, and that will require more £££s...
Edited by Woodrow Wilson on Thursday 12th January 08:09
OP update.
The potential opportunities I was looking into mostly fell through.
The small and/or new organisations I was speaking to were all a bit inconsistent, communicated sporadically, and regular work didn't appear very likely.
I have now found a position in a big company, but it appears to be one that could make good use of my varied skills and knowledge. It will be site-based, not WFH.
It is significantly lower paid than my previous job..... but other terms and conditions are good. I am hopeful that it will be a big improvement over my past jobs.
The potential opportunities I was looking into mostly fell through.
The small and/or new organisations I was speaking to were all a bit inconsistent, communicated sporadically, and regular work didn't appear very likely.
I have now found a position in a big company, but it appears to be one that could make good use of my varied skills and knowledge. It will be site-based, not WFH.
It is significantly lower paid than my previous job..... but other terms and conditions are good. I am hopeful that it will be a big improvement over my past jobs.
Other than the reduced money, my new job is a vast improvement on my old one.
Much more varied, more achievement (ie. There is some), with fewer restrictions and less bureaucracy (there is some, which I will need to keep on top of). It is far more interesting and I can make far more use of some of the wide range of knowledge I have gained over the years.
The people I work with are more engaging too, which makes a big difference.
I'm actually enjoying it
Much more varied, more achievement (ie. There is some), with fewer restrictions and less bureaucracy (there is some, which I will need to keep on top of). It is far more interesting and I can make far more use of some of the wide range of knowledge I have gained over the years.
The people I work with are more engaging too, which makes a big difference.
I'm actually enjoying it
OP here.
The new job is still going well. I'm enjoying work more at the moment than I have since doing technical summer work when I was at university in the 90s. I really went the wrong way after university.
The atmosphere in the new workplace is one of "can-do", there are many things to do (not all of them would be my first choice, admittedly), colleagues are helpful and many people do appear to enjoy coming to work.
Most importantly, I get things done. So many jobs appear to have no purpose.
Having reflected on it a lot, I can see that my old job and workplace was just inherently de-motivating and depressing, other than to a very narrow range of people.
There was no real aim to much of the work, with rare successful outcomes, projects frequently eventually petering out or being canned. The "management" didn't really know what successful projects looked like and there were always reasons not to do things. It was very much a "can't-do" environment in what was an ultimately government-funded gravy train with decent salaries. Scandalous really.
If your work gets you down, you really should find something different. I stayed where I was for far too long, doing mostly unsuitable work in different companies for 20-odd years.
The new job is still going well. I'm enjoying work more at the moment than I have since doing technical summer work when I was at university in the 90s. I really went the wrong way after university.
The atmosphere in the new workplace is one of "can-do", there are many things to do (not all of them would be my first choice, admittedly), colleagues are helpful and many people do appear to enjoy coming to work.
Most importantly, I get things done. So many jobs appear to have no purpose.
Having reflected on it a lot, I can see that my old job and workplace was just inherently de-motivating and depressing, other than to a very narrow range of people.
There was no real aim to much of the work, with rare successful outcomes, projects frequently eventually petering out or being canned. The "management" didn't really know what successful projects looked like and there were always reasons not to do things. It was very much a "can't-do" environment in what was an ultimately government-funded gravy train with decent salaries. Scandalous really.
If your work gets you down, you really should find something different. I stayed where I was for far too long, doing mostly unsuitable work in different companies for 20-odd years.
OP follow up.
The new job is still going well. I am not dreading returning in the New Year.
Working on site, with a range of people, doing a range of tasks -planned and unplanned-, not too many meetings, technical interest and the ability to make improvements and have some influence are all great.
As with many workplaces, there are some politics, and there are some people (including me) who end up being given far to much to do -impossible to achieve within the contracted hours. The salary is too low for the responsibility anyway and I regularly work unpaid overtime, which I should really stop doing.
There will probably be an increase in responsibility pressure on me in 2024.
Although this job is much better than my old one and leaving my old was the right thing to do, I could feasibly walk into a job in a different industry that pays around twice as much (and I have had requests from people I know), so I need to have some serious conversations with my employer soon.
I never want to WFH full time again.
The new job is still going well. I am not dreading returning in the New Year.
Working on site, with a range of people, doing a range of tasks -planned and unplanned-, not too many meetings, technical interest and the ability to make improvements and have some influence are all great.
As with many workplaces, there are some politics, and there are some people (including me) who end up being given far to much to do -impossible to achieve within the contracted hours. The salary is too low for the responsibility anyway and I regularly work unpaid overtime, which I should really stop doing.
There will probably be an increase in responsibility pressure on me in 2024.
Although this job is much better than my old one and leaving my old was the right thing to do, I could feasibly walk into a job in a different industry that pays around twice as much (and I have had requests from people I know), so I need to have some serious conversations with my employer soon.
I never want to WFH full time again.
Mirinjawbro said:
WFH has killed me also for the last 3/4 years.
constantly moody, wound up and bored.
i hear from most people id love to get paid to sit at home and do nothing. sounds great until you do it yourself for months / years
to me no money is worth that
It probably depends on the nature of the work and possibly where you live. My old job was lacking any sort of real urgency, influence or satisfaction. Living & working in middle England suburbia wasn't that good for lunchtime running.constantly moody, wound up and bored.
i hear from most people id love to get paid to sit at home and do nothing. sounds great until you do it yourself for months / years
to me no money is worth that
My current job has a good mix of desk based technical and reporting work, problem solving and going out onto site.
The OG Jester said:
Handed my notice in today, 3 months notice period and I have no where to go.
I know I'll find something and it's giving me an extra impotence to do it.
It was pretty empowering handing my notice in. I was asked where I was going (as if it was a competitor, potential garden leave) but telling them I have nothing lined up and the place has broken me felt amazing.
The look of disbelief was wonderful for me. I have savings tucked away catering for THE WORST CASE but I'm more confident now that my skills will be snapped up elsewhere.
Good effort. As the OP, I understand this entirely.I know I'll find something and it's giving me an extra impotence to do it.
It was pretty empowering handing my notice in. I was asked where I was going (as if it was a competitor, potential garden leave) but telling them I have nothing lined up and the place has broken me felt amazing.
The look of disbelief was wonderful for me. I have savings tucked away catering for THE WORST CASE but I'm more confident now that my skills will be snapped up elsewhere.
Leaving my old job was a big, very positive, step for me.
The job I have been doing for the past year or so has been a big improvement in enjoyment, influence and satisfaction.
I have recently had some genuine interest from people who are keen for me to go back to similar jobs to the one I left. The significantly higher salaries are quite tempting, although the work will be less interesting.
Having taken a job that was lower down the corporate ladder than the previous one (in a different industry, that required some initial learning), recent events have allowed me to demonstrate various skills and abilities at my current workplace. I have become more established and prominent, gaining a bit more influence. My role is evolving into something that suits me. Interesting times.
Woodrow Wilson said:
The OG Jester said:
Handed my notice in today, 3 months notice period and I have no where to go.
I know I'll find something and it's giving me an extra impotence to do it.
It was pretty empowering handing my notice in. I was asked where I was going (as if it was a competitor, potential garden leave) but telling them I have nothing lined up and the place has broken me felt amazing.
The look of disbelief was wonderful for me. I have savings tucked away catering for THE WORST CASE but I'm more confident now that my skills will be snapped up elsewhere.
Good effort. As the OP, I understand this entirely.I know I'll find something and it's giving me an extra impotence to do it.
It was pretty empowering handing my notice in. I was asked where I was going (as if it was a competitor, potential garden leave) but telling them I have nothing lined up and the place has broken me felt amazing.
The look of disbelief was wonderful for me. I have savings tucked away catering for THE WORST CASE but I'm more confident now that my skills will be snapped up elsewhere.
Leaving my old job was a big, very positive, step for me.
The job I have been doing for the past year or so has been a big improvement in enjoyment, influence and satisfaction.
I have recently had some genuine interest from people who are keen for me to go back to similar jobs to the one I left. The significantly higher salaries are quite tempting, although the work will be less interesting.
Having taken a job that was lower down the corporate ladder than the previous one (in a different industry, that required some initial learning), recent events have allowed me to demonstrate various skills and abilities at my current workplace. I have become more established and prominent, gaining a bit more influence. My role is evolving into something that suits me. Interesting times.
"Taking the piss" sums it up.
Leaving my old job was still a good move, and I do not regret it at all, but there are some really poor employers out there and I have found one.
It has really struck me recently, why on Earth am I working myself into the ground, and being given grief for things beyond my control, in order to make rich people richer, for no extra reward to myself?
I am now looking for another employer, albeit from a position of being in a much better frame of mind than I was 18 months ago.
Edited by Woodrow Wilson on Sunday 17th March 15:43
Oilchange said:
Seems to me that there was/is a culture of treating people badly, working them to the bone etc. Maybe less people tolerating it will make their businesses suffer, here's hoping
That is a strange thing, though. People are being driven to leave, but it is very difficult for the company to recruit replacements, so what is the benefit of this management style?
I'm not sure what the overall vision for this strategy is, but there must be some very peculiar prismatic lenses involved.
Edited by Woodrow Wilson on Sunday 17th March 16:17
Oilchange said:
Probably because the people who are leaving had all the niche skills and experience pertinent to that job and the bosses have peed them off so much that they've taken it away overnight.
Then they advertise the job but can't fill it because the niche skills and experience they want walked away yesterday...
Sorry. Then they advertise the job but can't fill it because the niche skills and experience they want walked away yesterday...
What I meant to say was that management is driving people away at a time when it is very difficult to replace those people.
This seems a very short-sighted approach to business.
bristolracer said:
Woodrow Wilson said:
Sorry.
What I meant to say was that management is driving people away at a time when it is very difficult to replace those people.
This seems a very short-sighted approach to business.
Managers are expected to deliver results, now ,today, so they will lean on employees because next years target is of no relevance today. We will deal with that later. What I meant to say was that management is driving people away at a time when it is very difficult to replace those people.
This seems a very short-sighted approach to business.
It is short sighted, but missing targets is not an option.
MDF187 said:
After hundreds of applications, I sent a cheeky email in to a local garden nursery and the owner has took me on. It's heaven; wonderful staff, environment and lovely older customers that aren't used to excellent customer service (i do ham it up somewhat).
I really enjoyed working in a couple of plant nurseries as a teenager.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff