Bad job or no job?

[Onward]

Save this for the next person who tells you, "Well, at least be happy you have a job."

A new study says that, income notwithstanding, having a demanding, unstable and thankless job may make you even unhappier than not having a job at all.

Bad Job Blues: Poor-Quality Work Worse For Mental Health Than Unemployment, Study Says - TIME Healthland

 

[obgyn65]

These findings are hard to believe IMO.

 

[aaronc879]

Short term, I would rather be unemployed than have a job I hate. However, if I need the money then eventuallly any job is better than no job.

 

[travelover]

I believe it. I don't have a job and I'm very happy.

 

[ziggy29]

It's an easy attitude to have when you're FI. But if you are dependent on the income (and perhaps the Megacorp health insurance), when the rubber hits the road this survey fails the reality test. If people actually practiced what they preach here, a lot more people would be quitting their stressful jobs even with nothing else lined up.

 

[easysurfer]

The finding doesn't really surprise me. Having no job but still looking for one is purgatory. Stuck in a job that you hate is hell.

FIRE'ing and just doing what you feel like doing is heaven

 

[John Galt III]

The ego damage from a bad job can be much worse than the ego damage of being unemployed.

 

[Major Tom]

All I know is that even when I had a crummy job that I wanted out of, I turned up to work every day, did my very best, and went home with my self-respect intact knowing that I was giving it all I'd got. I made sure not to hang out with the whiners, as they just brought me down.

Even though I didn't like the job that much, some interesting stories came out of it, and it paid my rent - a big plus.

It's wonderful if you can have a job that you love (I did, for a long time), but nowhere is it written that we all have a right to a job we adore. In my mind, a contract of work goes like this: your employer tells you what to do, you do it, and in return, you get paid. Everything else is a bonus.