Job "Satisfaction'

[Purron]

That's been my exact observation as well. I've have seen really hardworking and brilliant people be denied opportunities for upward mobility because they rubbed someone the wrong way...

..or were too old. In my last years of work, the young pretty people with no life and no families plus no problems living life on the road for the organization were safe and prized. No, not bitter. Just glad I saw it and recognized what was going on before it destroyed me.

 

[Letj]

..or were too old. In my last years of work, the young, pretty people with no life and no families plus no problems living life on the road for the organization were safe and prized.

That's so true. It's exactly that way at my Mega Corp and even worse since they layed off 25% of the department.

 

[BOBOT]

Reading these posts:

a) makes me so grateful I'm no longer putting up with the crap - I still, after 5 yrs retired, sometimes find myself clenching up at bad memories

b) makes me so angry that people of energetic, enthusiastic talent are beaten down in their careers. What a horrible waste.

Thanks Purron, for the Devo. Best Stones cover ever.

 

[plex]

Yup, it is like that in my sector of law too, except the minimum hours were pretty darn high to begin with, and you definitely didn't get 1.5x for working even more. That's why when I was doing my job search, I gave the finger to the crappy private sector job prospects and went with a public sector job, can't argue with higher pay, much better benefits, and much lower expected hours. Sadly, the law degree was optional, unless I want to be a judge, which would require working longer than is in the plan. I've noticed a definite trend of some top talent fleeing the private sector. I am sure things will swing around eventually, but that doesn't matter much for me since I need to build my career now, not in five years.

 

[traineeinvestor]

The working environment has changed progressively and in ways that are generally worse for the employees:

1. globalisation has meant that at least some work can be done anywhere in the world and if it can be done more cheaply elsewhere, it will be. It may be good for the consumer and the workers in the lower cost locations but it puts pressure on everyone to work harder, longer, more efficiently and be willing to take home less

2. technology - for some jobs, technology has had a similar impact to globalisation

3. communications - when I started work, once you left the office people could not get hold of you and did not expect to. Mobile phones, Blackberry etc have meant that you can be contacted 24x7 and clients now expect that as a matter of "normal" business responsiveness

4. regulations - without wishing to get into a debate over good and bad regulations, we now live in a world where companies and their employees have to spend increasing amounts of time dealing with issues that have very little to do with producing the goods or services they were hired to produce. These things keep getting added to to the workload without anything being taken off the other side - result = longer working hours

5. we live in a competitive world. Companies which are not competitive typically fail with the usual consequences for their employees. It's inevitable that when companies try to become and remain competitive, this means that their employees will be placed under continued pressure to work harder, smarter and longer.

Even in my own profession (law), I've seen the expected working hours for the front line lawyers at large firms ratched up from a soft target of 1400 billable hours a year to 1900 or 2000 hours as a standard hard target with non-billable work being added on top of that. At the same time, clients have gone from only expecting you to be contactable during extended office hours to being on call 24x7.

In some respects I hope the younger generations "rebellion" against these demands will succeed. Given that there will always be no shortage of smart people willing to put in the long hours, I remain scpeptical. In the private sector at least, there is no avoiding the fact that it is a highly competitive world.

Looking forward to the time when I can watch all this from the sidelines.

 

[kyounge1956]

A job is like chemotherapy.

If you need it, you're anxious to get it, worried that it might be taken away before you're ready, and happy if the side effects aren't too awful. But all things considered, you'd rather not need it. And if you do need it, you want to get it over with as soon as you possibly can!

 

[Ally]

A job is like chemotherapy.

If you need it, you're anxious to get it, worried that it might be taken away before you're ready, and happy if the side effects aren't too awful. But all things considered, you'd rather not need it. And if you do need it, you want to get it over with as soon as you possibly can!

Amen. I've been at my workplace for nearly 30 years. Up until 25 years, I liked it. Suddenly, funding was less, regulations more, and I started dreaming of retirement. I've been mostly unhappy, stressed and worried the last few years. I know the stress affects my health. Hopefully it won't be but 2-3 years longer.

 

[obgyn65]

Many people have told me in the past they would like to have my job. They have no idea.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Wow, I'm sorry to hear how awful corporate life has become. Especially for you, Zig. That has got to come to an end.

I guess I have no idea about the getting ahead/corporate lifestyle thing, as I have only worked in small businesses. I don't work more than 40 hours, never take work home, and honestly can think of only one of my friends who has to take random phone calls at odd hours (she's a database person who works for a corporation).

I think I wouldn't survive 10 minutes where y'all work. I've only worked one job where the culture was a stay-late one, and I actually enjoyed it for a while, but was happy when I finally realized I had better things to do after five.

There are still sucky things about my job for sure, but that's anywhere. I'd have to leave if a job was as bad as some of you have described, even if my only alternative money making plans involved selling plasma.

 

[Lazarus]

My experience with Corporate America is much as described by others on this thread. (Ziggy29). I have only been retired a short while. Working in that environment was a living He!!. I left at the earliest date I could and still get the pension and medical. This is a drawback of working for a pension. You can be trapped by it since most of the money comes at the date you qualify. Leave early and you get little. Which is what they are counting on.

I do not think the younger generation will be able to change the corp culture. Too many low cost overseas workers. They can hire five engineers for what they paid me.

They do not really expect you to have a career and work till retirement. They take young people and work them to death in hopes of promotion. Till they burn out and quit or are laid off. Those that do survive are the type of people who thrive in a cut throat environment. Not nice people to be around. Horrible to work for.

I see the new young people at work buying cars that cost three times what I have ever paid for one. Bigger houses than I have after many years of work. They think they have it made. They are just hammering the chains around their feet. When they wake up in ten years they may see what situation they are really in.

As for mentoring the young. Since we are forced ranked there is little incentive to help anyone else. If you do try to help someone younger they usually will not listen to you, if you are in management they will follow orders though. Not really the same thing.

But, time for more coffee. The granddaughter is coming over later. Life is much better now.

 

[Onward]

Those that do survive are the type of people who thrive in a cut throat environment. Not nice people to be around. Horrible to work for.

This is the reason I bailed. It had nothing to do with the hours, workload, or nature of the work. What a shame.

 

[frayne]

Never hated my job, just after 32 years kind of got tired of doing it.

 

[foxfirev5]

True, the Millennial generation is apparently shaking things up:

How millennials are transforming the workplace - The Week

This stuff is exactly why wise old guys like me can survive. We observe and pick our tasks that are most advantageous. While the youngsters make demands and blatantly appear to be slackers, the older people know better. Remember "Cool Hand Luke" - I'm shaken boss..,"
Full Disclosure - Be sure your FI before you pull this crap.

 

[ShortInSeattle]

I see the new young people at work buying cars that cost three times what I have ever paid for one. Bigger houses than I have after many years of work. They think they have it made. They are just hammering the chains around their feet. When they wake up in ten years they may see what situation they are really in.

This kind of thing breaks my heart. I know a couple that just spent 7 years painstakingly getting out of debt. Much scrimping and sacrifice, mostly on the part of the wife who seized control of the checkbook. Now that they are debt free, the guy is insisting on buying a 55K vehicle. INSISTING. He says he's earned it. (I don't know what they bring home, probably 60k ish) Zero retirement savings. Two young kids.

Wife doesn't want to spend the money but is getting worn down from the constant argument.. I want to hug her. And smack him.

SIS

 

[Purron]

This kind of thing breaks my heart. I know a couple that just spent 7 years painstakingly getting out of debt. Much scrimping and sacrifice, mostly on the part of the wife who seized control of the checkbook. Now that they are debt free, the guy is insisting on buying a 55K vehicle. INSISTING. He says he's earned it. (I don't know what they bring home, probably 60k ish) Zero retirement savings. Two young kids.

Wife doesn't want to spend the money but is getting worn down from the constant argument.. I want to hug her. And smack him.

SIS

Where's Suze when you need her?

Suze Orman "Denied" Mega Mix - YouTube

 

[Midpack]

Never hated my job, just after 32 years kind of got tired of doing it.

+1, though it took me 35 years.

 

[Midpack]

I see the new young people at work buying cars that cost three times what I have ever paid for one. Bigger houses than I have after many years of work. They think they have it made. They are just hammering the chains around their feet. When they wake up in ten years they may see what situation they are really in.

Well said, though it's all generations, not just the young. Who here doesn't know someone his/her own age who is still measuring themselves by what stuff they have while having little or no nest egg. And some folks don't wake up after ten years if ever. I know a guy in his 80's who still lives for "stuff."

Madison Ave has most people in the western world at least trained to consume beyond all reason...they've prevailed for generations.

This kind of thing breaks my heart. I know a couple that just spent 7 years painstakingly getting out of debt. Much scrimping and sacrifice, mostly on the part of the wife who seized control of the checkbook. Now that they are debt free, the guy is insisting on buying a 55K vehicle. INSISTING. He says he's earned it. (I don't know what they bring home, probably 60k ish) Zero retirement savings. Two young kids.

Wife doesn't want to spend the money but is getting worn down from the constant argument.. I want to hug her. And smack him.

 

[ziggy29]

Madison Ave has most people in the western world at least trained to consume beyond all reason...they've prevailed for generations.

And it's also painful to break. Because once they have us collectively trained for the "conspicuous consumption" mentality, to live for the relentless pursuit of stuff, it becomes very painful for the economy if a bunch of people decide at once to break themselves from that ideal (the paradox of thrift).

So now we have a situation where economists and politicians, who for years have warned us of a low savings rate and that we spend too much and borrow too much, are telling us that we have to spend more, that we're actually saving too much -- and entities like the Fed are trying to put a stop to it by forcing savings yields to very nearly zero.

It reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw not long ago: I was cheap before cheap was cool.

 

[Redbugdave]

A lot of those people that bought the big houses have lost those houses and the other toys with the housing and economy crash. Many of them have just walked away from those chains. I don't think their idea of retiring is anything like we think it is. No shoreline on their horizon. Most are in credit up to their eyeballs and really never owned anything. To me that is a living hell.

 

[freebird5825]

AFAIC, "J*b Satisfaction" is in the same category as "too many mushrooms" on a pizza. It ain't gonna happen.

I actually enjoyed my j*for for the first 10 years.
The last 8 were dismal.
I exited at age 48, waaaaay ahead of the curve.

Do the math and I'm still ahead of the game.

The biggest problem I had, in what a lot of folks would refer to as the "cushy govt j*b", and I take no offense at that, was the people issue. The politics were cut-throat. And I was swimming upstream from day 1 due to a massive gender inequity in the w*rkplace population.
I was never good at puckering my lips, and I paid for that. At least I kept my self-respect.

 

[kumquat]

I actually liked my various jobs , for the first ~40 years. For a whiile I might have worked for free (LOL, but I liked it enough I would have taken less). Then, at then end, mega-corp asked my to leave a job I loved to start a new area. I was the star, this was new and exciting, no budget, no limit, I didn't like it. However, the shine wore off quicker the better job I did. Mega-corp had made the mistake of giving me a chanve to be FI and I was OOT.

All in all, working life was good. I enjoyed it for 38 of 41 years. I can't imagine spending 10, 20, 30 or 40 years at a job you hate just to RE 4 years before you would if you did something you didn't like.

Edit to add a negative at the end.