Wrong time to quit?

[Carrie2806]

I’ve been thinking of quitting my job for a little while, but I keep sticking it out because it’s quite convenient for me (flexi hours, short commute, but I am very overworked and underpaid.
I get very little praise (once a year, if you’re very lucky!) or direction. There are no reviews, PDRs or one to ones with my bosses. I’ve realised the behaviour of my bosses is quite toxic, they expect a lot and will occasionally give you a snippet of praise but generally wear us all down by being short, dismissive or even occasionally rude or offensive about us or our work.
I know I am good at my job so as a coping mechanism I managed to compartmentalise their behaviour and take any feedback on the chin on the most professional way I could. I thought it wasn’t affecting me but I can now see that it has chipped away at my confidence so I want to leave before they do any more damage.

Throughout lockdown I’ve felt very stressed and generally quite down. I have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach I can’t shake, and I’ve just got this overwhelming urge to hand in my notice so I can walk away from this situation. I’m not generally a stressed or anxious person. I have a 3 month notice period so this is another thing that’s making me just want to quit now.

My work has also furloughed the vast majority of staff (and made a few redundancies) but are making us work anyway. I think initially they were generally worried about the business but now they’re just milking it for as long as they can. So I have completely lost the little respect I had left for them.

We would be ok for a few months just on my husbands salary (his job is quite secure too) but we would start to struggle after that. I am considering going freelance and I have an idea for a business. It would be such a relief to hand my notice in but I am worried about a possible recession and if I should just hang on for a bit longer, but god knows how I will be feeling mentally once this is all over.

What would you do in my situation?

[Nowthereistwo]

I would love to say do it, you have 3 months to find a new job or build up your freelance.

But only you know how much of a risk that is and if you can except those risks.

[DragonflyInn]

Is there a middle ground? Eg request to go part time - giving yourself time and a little safety cushion to build up the freelance work?

How recession proof is the freelance work you have in mind (I wouldn’t be thinking of a ‘possible’ recession but how likely would you be able to build up work from scratch in a definite recession?)

[Carrie2806]

Thanks so much for your replies, it’s much appreciated! It’s been nice to hear your thoughts and just getting it off my chest has helped.

@DragonflyInn The middle ground is a good idea. I’m a manager where I work and we are looking to recruit two new roles within my team because we’re so busy. I love my team and they’re so wonderful...if we could exist in our own little bubble I’d be happy , it’s just the all the crap from above that comes along with it that I hate! So they might be open to me helping out part time or freelancing for them. It would be a cushion and remove some of that stress.

In terms of how recession proof it is, I honestly don’t know. I’m a designer, and I graduated in the midst of the last recession so I am getting deja vu with all those same worries about starting out again 😂 My plan is to update my CV and portfolio this week and speak to some recruiters to see what they think. I’ve seen some places are still hiring / expanding (although not local to me), so that does give me a bit of hope. I can easily work remotely so that could work in my favour too. It’s a gamble really!

I wish I had a crystal ball to know what was going to happen when the furlough scheme ends, as it’s been a bit of a sticking plaster and no one really knows the scope of how bad things are yet.