Leaving a corporate job

[purpleflowersfordays]

I’m so fed up with my corporate job despite being able to work from home full-time and it being extremely well paid for what I do.

Don’t get me wrong it’s handy when I have a doctors appt and to be at home for the dog but my god I’m so fed up with everything at work and often sit there in a state of paralysis or swearing at my screen. If I’m honest I think I’m verging on some kind of depression with it all as it’s soul destroying.

Everything is ‘urgent’ and needs dealing with now and I’m expected to just drop everything because the boss needs something as there’s been a sudden change in priorities.

My pension is amazing with a 27% employer contribution and if I’m honest it’s the only thing that’s kept me there so long. I’ve done it for 10 years and all I do recently is count down the days to the weekend and it feels like I’m wishing my life away.

I fantasise about doing something like working for Royal Mail and being outdoors a lot or even working with dogs.

AIBU if I leave and get a couple of easy going part-time jobs?

If you’ve left a corporate job, what did you do and how did you go about making it work?

I became a teacher and hated that even more.

Now I home Ed my kids and count myself a professional failure.

Ive just had a similar conversation with my husband about this. If I could afford it I would quit my job, pick up some smaller less intense work and deep dive into all the hobbies and interests I’m too tired and burnt out to do around work.

If you can afford to, go for it. You get one go at this life, make sure you enjoy it. Though I would say having two part time jobs is a pain, two lots of work culture, office politics and management demands. If you could I’d say work for one company.

I did.

I’m a florist now. I really love the floristry but there are lots of downsides too. It’s bloody hard knackering dirty work. The pay is very low. There are very few jobs and there is little security.

I am happier in some ways but on balance I’m actually about the same overall. The grass can definitely look greener I think. Floristry is a dream job for many but very few people change career and make a genuine decent living.

What do you do? Could you pivot into another role? You are very lucky to have that sort of pension. I’d be thinking about stepping sideways and upping my hobbies and interests outside work personally.

@FishChipsAndVinegarPleaseI laughed out loud at that sorry…amazing that you can home ed your kids though.

@tryingtobesogoodi think that’s it, it’s burnout isn’t it. I wonder how many of us are sat questioning our life choices every Sunday. Hmm good point about two jobs but I like the idea of splitting my time across two completely different things as I’ve been pigeon holed for so long now.

@DelphiniumDoreen wow good on you for taking the leap! I have considered floristry but I’d need to start from scratch and that costs money. I never thought of it as dirty work though which is interesting. At least you have a purpose though making people happy…who doesn’t love flowers. I’m a civil servant and I really am lucky to have the pension but I sit here some days and wonder if being unhappy for years is worth the pension at the end. I wonder if it’s worth doing a bit of a chat gpt session to see what jobs it recommends based on my skills. The thing is though the more senior you get in my world, the worse the politics seem to get. I keep checking out promotion opportunities and all that seems to pop up is policy or analyst roles and I’m interested in neither.

Many large corporations offer sabbaticals to longstanding senior staff. It’s not well advertised, but maybe a year off, unpaid, doing something completely different such as charity work, here or overseas, might help either make your mind up for you or reset your mindset about your job.
Worth asking questions to HR.

Lots of information here https://employmenthero.com/uk/blog/sabbatical-leave-policy/

I left a big job and set up my own business. I can’t lie, the first 4-5 years were scary as fuck 🤣🤣 But, I stuck with it, worked my arse off and it has paid dividends. I now have an excellent team who’ve been with me for years, I work less hours than I ever did as an employee and I could retire if I wanted to. I don’t yet, so we carry on, the business is doing well, the staff are happy, I’m happy. I still feel the pressure because ultimately, it’s all on me but it’s good!

Rather than step up, could you step down? You might find you are happier with less responsibility.

Oh my goodness, floristry is cold, wet and filthy! I can just about manage to sit in the chair after a day at work. I’ve done it a long time now though so I’m pretty much at the point of no return!

@Sminty2good idea, I actually forgot we could take a career break and I’d not even considered this. Will definitely look up the policy on the intranet tomorrow, genuinely good tip thanks! 😊

@Mrspatmoresapprentice that’s really good to hear, I love to hear about people leaving the rat race and it working out brilliantly it’s very inspiring. Well done you 😊 and an even bigger well done that you’re working less hours than ever 👏🏻 I do have a business idea but I’m not in a position where it could become a reality so that’s got to be one for the back burner for at least the next three years I would say.

Is secondment possible? A chance to do something different that draws on your skills?

IMO working from home is a bad idea, long-term, unless you really love the work. You lose connection with a job and it becomes a pointless grind.

@DelphiniumDoreenunfortunately not as we’ve got too many financial commitments at the moment. Maybe in the next five years but if I’m honest I do like to spend so whether I could commit to that when it came to it I’m not sure 😂

Cold, wet and filthy are definitely not words I would have put with floristry especially as the end product is so beautiful. They say you learn something new everyday 😊

💯💯💯you’ve hit the nail on the head here - I feel so isolated it’s unreal. I suppose I could go into the office but none of my time are based there and on the few occasions I have gone in, I’ve just sat on teams calls and not spoken to another soul in the office. My dog is my coworker 😂

On a serious note I’ve looked for other opportunities and there’s not a lot out there it’s depressing.

I felt the same as you and left the corporate world to go and work for a charity to do something meaningful for a cause I am passionate about. I am now in the process of moving back to the corporate world - in my case the grass was definitely not greener. I do a lot of voluntary work which I love and will continue to do, but I found that the politics I had hated in my corporate jobs were nothing compared to what I experienced working in the charity sector. The drop in salary was also more of a shock that I had anticipated - although we made it work financially it has been tough and it has made the negatives about work a lot more grating.

I definitely think you need to give yourself some space to think, talk to people, research, do some work experience/shadowing/volunteering and see what comes along.

I also work from home 90% of the time and have grown to hate it. I am positively relishing the prospect of “having” to be in the office 3 days a week in my new role.

I've always kept to a minimal lifestyle so my outgoing were low, thinking that if I ever lost bonuses/allowances/enhancements etc I could still cope. I'm lucky because my roots are up North which means reasonable house prices. 12 years ago I got sick of working in NHS corporate/management and just wanted to go back home where I still had friends living, and life was much less shallow and instead gritty and working class and CHEAPER. I offered on a house I knew I could still afford on a much lower wage, and put my house up for sale and started looking for a job up north.

I've been back in my hometown for 11 years now and continue to look for ways to keep my life simple and costs down. I work basic grade and LOVE not being management or having to work to targets and budgets. Every few years when I get a good cost-of-living pay increase I go to my bosses and shave off some hours so I'm working less hours but for the same pay as previous. I'm now 0.7 wte and after a small inheritance from Grandparents I've paid off the majority of my mortgage (it was never massive to start with) and decided if I could earn enough to cover my bills, petrol and pocket money I'd be happy. I asked management to drop my hours even further to just 2 days a week. And they said no. Soooo I've just handed my notice in and in September I'm starting college and training to be an electrian. 😬 I am very scared and it might be the most ridiculous irresponsible thing I've ever done in my life. But I can't let myself not try and I'd kick myself forever if I didn't give it a go. I've also got a little minimum wage job working evenings and a bit of weekend cover, just 5 miles from home (rather than 25) that pays minimum wage. I'll be earning less than ¼ of what I was earning 10 years ago but I'm so excited and CANNOT WAIT!

I know in this scenario me not having children was a huge advantage, and I already knew people in the North West and already had family where it would be cheapest to live, but I had to actively make difficult choices to build a simpler happier life. Just upping and moving my life 10 years ago wasn't easy. Not having frequent and decent holidays is a pain. I don't buy expensive clothes, and even though I got a chunk of inheritance I originally made choices to only have a little cheap house anyway. I've chosen a lifestyle as much as I can that means I don't need to earn much. It's really difficult to choose to step away from status, but a lot of people don't actually need all the money they've convinced themselves they do.

I found the biggest hurdle wasn't going without or cutting back, but getting over my own expectations of needing to save, or needing a bigger car, or status, or job title. The mental hurdle of losing ststus and salary was MASSIVE. Then one morning a couple of months ago I just ealised I didn't need anyone permissions but my own to choose happiness. To choose time to myself over status and job title. I was the only person who's permission I was waiting for. So I chose to let myself choose happiness. 😃

@ZigAZigAhhthis is a good perspective to have, so thank you for commenting. I would never in a million years think that the charity sector would be so negative. Thanks for giving me the flip side of the coin. I’m not sure we could make a drop in salary work for us at the moment which is a shame as I’ve been looking at jobs at a lower grade this morning and would go back to that in a heartbeat if I could.

It’s just so depressing that my salary has me by the short and curlies. If I’d have known how this would have made me feel I would have stayed at a more junior grade from the start.

I’ve worked from home for five years now and it’s the past year that it’s really got to me. I wouldn’t actually mind going in at all, like you I would relish it but that is based on the idea I’d have coworkers from my team that I’m working with. The whole of my team is so geographically dispersed it’s unreal.

I will definitely give things some consideration but I really am craving a role that gives me purpose.

@bringthecactusin I LOVE this for you! I guess by always keeping to a minimum lifestyle it probably made the leap easier when the time came.

I’d love to have a little evening job maybe even customer facing to just get me out there and being around people again. It really isn’t good for your confidence being at home all the time for work.

I really hope you enjoy your course come September and I’m secretly a little bit jealous. Not because I want to be an electrician but just the sense of freedom you must be feeling right now!

We are looking to downsize once our mortgage period is up in 2028 as we bought a bigger house with good intentions but for one reason and another it’s not worked out for the best. This would then provide a little more financial freedom to make a change but I really don’t know if I can wait that long!

Maybe another corporate job where you can go in with a team a few days a week. I loved working full time wfh but i have a really busy home life and it just enabled me to do both. My current role i have to go in 3 times a week as do the rest of my team. It gives connection (but on balance i prefer wfh!). We have anchor days where the whole team is in (despite many people living in different cities).

I left a well paid corporate job and set up my own business really enjoy it and now earn what I used to earn.

I have considered floristry but I’d need to start from scratch and that costs money. I never thought of it as dirty work though which is interesting.

I've quoted this because I think it's really important.

It's very easy to imagine what we think jobs are like from the parts we see and what we imagine it to be like.

Eg my daughter's friend's mum is a florist. She gets up very early to go to market and relied on UC top ups. It's not a job to go into if you need a job for the money!

In reality, a lot of what you dislike about your current job will be no different in any other professional job if that's the level you want to work at.

Many people who work in non professional jobs don't have less stress. In fact, the less you are paid, the harder you often work and experience a complete lack of respect and are undervalued for what you do. It just has a different root cause.

Customer facing jobs, ones where you interact with the public, are not a nice little job. They're brutal. You can't pick and choose who you interact with and a lot of people are horrible.

You definitely need something with an office base at least half the week. I suspect it’s the isolation that is getting to you. I am in a corporate role and love it because I get to go into three different offices over the course of a month having worked from home for the previous 12 years.

I considered a role change at the beginning of the year which was a far better pension and salary but dismissed it as it was solely home based.

As PPs have said, the grass is not always greener and if you have far less money to buy a lawn mower it’s even worse (at the risk of kicking the arse out of a methaphor).

Can you say roughly where you are and roughly what you do?

Ahhh I could have written your post OP! I am following with interest for inspiration as I am feeling particularly fed up this week (thanks hormones). Can’t face this for another 20 years! Solidarity 😁

I’m 26, a trainee solicitor and 3 days before my exam results I’m starting a band 2 NHS role. I can’t wait. I despise my job.

Make the change now, it’ll always feel like it’s “too late”

I left my job about 10 years ago and became a teacher's aide. I haven't looked back. I felt that I was a much better parent with more patience for the kids, without such a stressful job. Having a job where I wasn't trying to scramble around working out how I was going to manage school holidays was a big bonus.

The only thing I really miss is the income as things are a lot tighter, and it ended up meaning that we eventually had to move to a less expensive area to live, but overall I am so much happier.

Watching with interest. I'm in the same position. After years of working in offices for 20 -50k I'm now on 100k from home but I often wonder it's worth it. I'm scared to pop to the loo because I come back to another 10 emails and just feel isolated and worn out.