Left the civil service and regretted it?

[DidntHaveTheLatin]

I've been working in the CS (SEO) for less than a year and I just don't know if it's right for me. Colleagues tell me it's just a question of finding the right niche/role etc but I have very little patience with the layers of bureaucracy/red tape, the fact that everything is so process-driven even though the processes don't bloody work, and the bloody acronym-speak of it all/people tying themselves in knots to avoid responsibility. I'm trying to get a particular document approved by very senior people at the moment and it's like pushing that mythical fucking stone uphill. I just don't think I care enough to keep doing it 😳 I'm also earning less than I have in years.

On the plus side, working hours and commute are good, and obviously the pension is a big plus.

Would I regret leaving? I've recently moved to the area but I know CS jobs don't come up here that often at all, in fact we don't have great employment prospects around here generally. Has anyone got so frustrated/stressed that they just left, and did you regret it??

Interested in this too - have been in CS for 25 years now and contemplating taking early exit. I've enjoyed many bits of it but also found it seriously frustrating at times, and they keep changing the rules on promotions which make progression more a matter of luck than ability. I have skills I could use outside the CS and lots of things I'd like to try, but having never worked for another employer it feels like a step into the unknown.

I joined in my late 40’s , I found the bureaucracy frustrating but I know if I had joined earlier in my career I wouldn’t have lasted, I had a partner in my 30’s who was in CS and his stories about work led me to think it was not for me - now the benefits outweigh the frustrations and after time I have learned to just accept them in favour of excellent benefits and a supportive management

I left after 31 years and don't regret it. I'm barely earning minimum wage now, but feel like I'm actually working and earning my money. My last few years in the CS were in programme and project management and it was utterly miserable - I truly felt like I served no purpose. I'd sack it off if you still hate it after 12 months (easy for me to say, I know).

Thanks all for your thoughts. @ktpoo,that's interesting - I'm PPM-adjacent and have a feeling that's where I'll eventually end up, and don't know if I can take it tbh!

@CoastalCalm I do take your point about the benefits sometimes outweighing the frustrations.

@UnaOfStormhold that step into the unknown can be a real barrier, I think - I'm sure much more so for you than me, if you've been there 25 years. Presumably you feel there isn't enough variety on offer within the CS, e.g. you can't move to an agency or ALB, or from delivery to policy for example?