Why quit?

[LovesLife]

Yesterday was my last day at MegaCorp!

Congratulations, Kayelem. I bet you'll find this Monday to be one of the best days of your life.

Enjoy.
LL

 

[Outtahere]

Congrats kayelem ... when you wake up Monday you'll be a new person.

 

[HFWR]

The "new" paradigm:

Then they changed the rules of the game...no raises, no promotions, downsizing....but guess what? You are still expected to keep up that 60-80 hour/week schedule. What killed me was having to be enthusiastic and "cheerlead" my employees when I was not so excited about the company's prospects.

Perfect reason to RE, though I checked the "keeps me from doing other things" box, which in large part consists of NOT doing the above...

 

[kayelem]

Outahere:
I already felt the diff on Saturday. Usually I spend at least a couple of hours on email and today I took a bike ride instead.

 

[REWahoo]

kayelem, when you wake up Monday morning and it dawns on you you you never have to head off to work again, enjoy that smile on your face...

 

[KB]

Welcome to the 'other side' Kayelem.

It's taken me a few months, but I'm not waking up at 5 am any longer. I'm waking about 6:30 and getting less done every day. But enjoying it more.

Have fun.

 

[Dreamer]

Congratulations on both of your retirments. I am getting envious of all of the retirements also. We are having retirements, so there is more work to do, and they will not let you work longer. I signed out of work the other day and actually sneaked back to my desk and worked longer. I have been told by my manager that I could not do that, so I was afraid of getting in trouble for trying to do my job! My stress level is getting higher, because I can no longer do my job and I do not feel good about it at all. I feel that I am losing control. This will be the reason that I take early retirement if I do next year.

Dreamer

 

[REWahoo]

Congratulations on both of your retirments. I am getting envious of all of the retirements also. We are having retirements, so there is more work to do, and they will not let you work longer. I signed out of work the other day and actually sneaked back to my desk and worked longer. I have been told by my manager that I could not do that, so I was afraid of getting in trouble for trying to do my job! My stress level is getting higher, because I can no longer do my job and I do not feel good about it at all. I feel that I am losing control. This will be the reason that I take early retirement if I do next year.

Dreamer

If you are working "off the clock", sure hope you are a salaried/exempt employee.

 

[Outtahere]

So in otherwords Dreamer they are letting ppl retire but not replacing them so you have to do more work? But they won't let you work over time and still expect it all to get done? Any reason you're staying there?

Cj

 

[Ginger]

Seems to be the norm in companies. If someone quits or is out on disability, their work is distributed to the remainder of the staff. Everyone these days seems frazzled with work and stress, longer work days, shorter lunch hours, more projects to complete, rush jobs, etc., etc. Not enough time in the day. So glad that I am at the end of my working career and able to ER at the drop of a pin.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Yesterday was my last day at MegaCorp!

I was with that employer for 18.5 years, I'm 46.  Things have changed so much over the last 20 years.  My problem is that I was a lazy perfectionist.  Meaning that I didn't really like to work, but if I had responsibility it was handled right.  Which led me to working 60-80 hour weeks the last 5 years.

Then they changed the rules of the game...no raises, no promotions, downsizing....but guess what?  You are still expected to keep up that 60-80 hour/week schedule.  What killed me was having to be enthusiastic and "cheerlead" my employees when I was not so excited about the company's prospects.

I have been planning this day for almost a year.  Walked away from some serious option money (would have had to stay another 6 months and I have enough). I've got so many things that I want to do, can't wait to get started.

A "lazy perfectionist". Pretty good. That would describe me pretty well.
I look around and see things needing fixing up/improvement
all around me. Unless I am feeling especially frisky, or I just can't
stand it any more, most of that stuff is put off as long as possible
while I fish and loaf.

JG

 

[Dreamer]

I am not a salaried/exempt employee, which is why I should not be doing it. Yes, they are not hiring anyone and right now there is not any overtime. I am staying because I have over 32 years working for them and I am not 55 years old yet. The work is there and still needs done, whether there are replacements or overtime.
I have been working for the government long enough, to know that there are different cycles, nothing stays the same for too long, and hopefully they will start hiring again.

Dreamer

 

[ladelfina]

Poor Spanky's wife! 

I worked for someone else for only 5 years.. tipping point was when working 50-to-60-hour weeks in a v. small office (salaried position, not hourly), we happened to look in the Boss's agenda (perfectly kosher; we did this to record appointments when he was out..) and we saw written "L & J--10 minutes late.."

There was no client meeting or particular reason for us to have been there at nine on the dot.. there was just traffic or something that day (we carpooled together)... The fact that the Boss went out of his way to record "10 minutes late" when we routinely stayed until 7 or 8 at night REALLY opened my eyes! He obviously felt cheated out of those 10 minutes, but didn't see the many extra hours we regularly worked each week as a "gift". That very day, I started planning how to get out of there!

I subsequently opened my own business, and learned how to read clients. The smaller clients always wanted things the cheapest and the fastest. The big clients were not prepared for early project completion and our trick in that case was to finish the work but not tell them it was finished. After a good week or month or two we'd get back to them ("whew!") and they seemed much happier.. Getting it done too quickly is highly suspect; the longer you take, the more your fees are obviously justified, right?  It's all a big game, unfortunately...

Congrats to those who have made it out!  For those still in the salt mines, do keep an up-to-date resume and keep your antennae tuned; you never know when you might get a better opportunity. Also, consider whether you may be able to switch to something more independent, like a home-based business, consulting, other part-time work, etc...

For those who have a ways to go, I offer this observation (granted, the job market was more flexible 10 years ago, but.. here goes..). Whereas we are ingrained with the notion that loyalty and hard work should be rewarded, it often is the inverse in Corporate America. The (middle manager-type) clients I observed always seemed to be most successful the more they flitted around, whether from job to job in the same company, or whether they switched completely. Big-to-middle-size companies was where I saw this the most. What happens? If you change positions and responsibilities every year or two, it takes a lot longer for incompetencies (or even just 'perceived' imperfections) to catch up with you.. If you're just starting out with a new responsibility, you need, justifiably, an adjustment period.. if you're on the way out (up, sideways...) you need a transition time as well. You can more easily cruise through performance reviews when you have less of a track record, and as many posters have attested appearances often count more than real performance. Also, with each change usually comes at least a minor increase in title/salary/perks. This can be a stressful recipe, but I saw it work many a time. Gauge your movements to fit in with the pack; don't be the obvious 'butterfly'. But don't let yourself get stuck in the rut of being the "dependable" one, either! You will not be as appreciated (morally or monetarily) as your efforts deserve.

Best of luck to all! When you start questioning and examining exactly what it is you're trading your time for, you're on the right track to FI!!!

 

[Spanky]

The big clients were not prepared for early project completion and our trick in that case was to finish the work but not tell them it was finished. After a good week or month or two we'd get back to them ("whew!") and they seemed much happier.. Getting it done too quickly is highly suspect; the longer you take, the more your fees are obviously justified, right? laugh It's all a big game, unfortunately...

That's what she did later. She had completed the task and then told them a day before the deadline. They praised her project management skill - what a joke!

 

[Beowolf]

Never did like working, but an increasing list of health problems dictated the timing. I was planning on early 50s, and retired at 46 instead.

Beowolf

 

[Howard]

Beowulf, the movie will be released soon.

I grew up with this literature, I am surprised it took so long to make the movie.

Watch for Hereward the Wake, Boedicia, plus other Celtic/Anglo Saxon Heroes.

 

[Beowolf]

And in case you were wondering, Howard, there was already a "Beowulf" registered here, hence my misspelling <grins>.

Beowolf