Disillusioned with corporate world

[Semlavro]

I work in a corporate setting and I've been getting more and more disillusioned with it. The politics, the wanky jargon people use, the pointless meetings, the crap leadership.

I'm only still here because of the salary and flexibility/ remote work. Been looking elsewhere and applying for over 6 months but no luck at all.

I hate feeling so bitter and ungrateful but the soul has been sucked out of the company since private equity got involved. There were also redundancies last year and ive not felt secure since.

I long for a career change/ lottery win/ unexpected inheritance - anything to help me escape but not sure it's on cards anytime soon.

AIBU to feel like this about work? Does anyone else in corporate world think it's mostly bollocks?

If anyone has tips for grinning and bearing jobs in this setting I'd appreciate it.

Dh and I are at this point. I think partially it’s age (40s) and part is we’ve both had horrific dehumanising mergers which, although we survived and have job roles, we have the scars from. Our coping mechanism is to work well between 9am and 5pm but nothing more than that, we switch to family time with no concern to the latest work catastrophe. We also regularly punctuate work comments with “it’s all bullshit anyway”. Despite dh and I working in different sectors we have seen exactly the same practices and nonsense. It’s kind of fascinating but also depressing. In my 30s I loved work but I’m disillusioned. It pays well so I stick with it and other options mean a big commute so I settle for convenience.

things have settled and improved so I don’t hate it (wouldn’t have stayed long term if I did) but it’s different to the love I used to have. What’s worse is I’m not alone in feeling this. Low morale in work seems the accepted norm - I’m NHS but have worked in private sector too. Bullshit spans both sectors.

I hate corporate environments OP, soulless, cliched and magnets for egotistical wankers IME! Deliberately sought non-corporate when I last changed jobs but unfortunately it’s morphed into corporate over the years and is becoming unbearable, thankfully am close to retirement so I try to grin and bear it while the clock counts down!

I agree age plays a part. I'm approaching 40 and not felt same since having DD. Started seeing work for what it was but with living costs/ nursery fees, jacking it all in just isn't an option. I have periods where I'm OK with it but they are changing the way we do things at mo and it's all been decided behind closed doors then dictated to us

Good you've not got long to go! I find myself dreaming of early retirement often even though it's not a possibility for me at the moment

Yup. So many friends disillusioned with work and less invested than we were ten years ago. It has nothing to do with opportunities for progression or challenges (of which there are plenty).

I just have a post COVID intolerance for bullshit, politics for the sake of it and inefficiency and I CBA with it anymore. My entire friendship group is the same. I'm probably the last person I know in work. I'm 43. The rest of my corporate contemporaries have all stopped work entirely.

We all do it because it pays well, we don't dislike the people we work with day to day and a change in career would mean a huge drop in salary. And we have kids to put through Uni.

I think the vast majority of people feel like this from 40 onwards. A handful of people live to work, the rest don't and by 20 years in you really do see through all the crap and it becomes a means to end, the money that buys your life outside work.

1. Contain it to working hours wherever possible. Limit checking emails etc on holiday/evening/weekends. Switch off from it properly and ensure you give your attention to other things.

1. Enrich your life outside work. Make sure you spend some time each week doing things that give you meaning - whether thats singing in the local choir, taking up badminton, volunteering, dog walking, time with family and friends.

1. Don't invest too much in work emotionally. If you thrive on a challenge, find some in your life outside work as well. You can invest your all into that promotion/project and so much is out of your hands, it can beat you psychologically and leave you unfulfilled if it doesn't come through.

Yes I think post Covid has affected things too. I've been fully remote since covid and I love the flexibility and couldn't do it any other way but I feel quite disconnected from the company. All I do is think of the payslip each month to get me through

Same, really enjoyed work when I started my career, but now realise just how many corporate jobs are built on bullshit and ultimately pretty pointless. I fantasise often about retraining to do something more fulfilling, but I bet those sectors are crap too and also i get paid a decent salary for a really flexible and pretty low stress job; so ultimately just carry on through the crap and try to make an effort to enjoy life outside of work.

This feeling has been creeping up on me and I can’t pinpoint why or when, you are not being unreasonable, however quitting also not an option here due to general life bills etc. also wishing for a lottery win

These are really good tips thank you. I used to invest way too much emotionally and it came back to bite me. I really want to disconnect my sense of self worth from work but I do get affected by stuff still. A few weeks ago a client made a comment in front of our CEO that I was 'too polite' and it really stung and knocked my confidence. What am I meant to do, act like more of an arsehole?

Gosh it seems the disillusion is so common. I've also imagined retraining to do something like care work or teaching but I just couldn't handle pay cut at mo. Then I wonder should I completely downsize my house so I can live cheaply

It must be a right if passage in your late 30s / 40s. I think it's only workaholics that truly continue to love work.

Most of my team are workaholics and they are stressed/ don't look after themselves/ don't seem happy. Sure they earn loads more than me but is it worth it?

I moved from a big corporate to a small charity. Horribly disillusioned- was less openly brutal but same behaviours and values wrapped up in a lot more bullshit. Actually preferred the open warfare 😂 made redundant at 50, never working in that environment again. Thankfully have savings and low costs - would rather work in a supermarket or in care than go back to that!

@Semlavroi did that. Moved to cheaper area, no mortgage, and spent last couple of big earning years squirrelling money away. I saw so many people earning loads but working crazy hours in greedy jobs, it was nominally winning but none of them loved it. I thought having choices would make me happier and it has.

I’ve never worked in a corporate org but big organizations which have similar jargon, stupid strategy meetings etc. Found it unbearable. Moved to tiny org now and much happier but less money. Would like to completely retrain but second half of 40s and pay cut etc too drastic. Most people I know are done with work mid 40s onwards. I’m gathering all my pension plans and looking at scenarios although would happily work part time in role I do now for longer.

I worked in corporate field and hated the billing focus.
I decided I wanted a master plan to leave before retirement age so I lived modestly so I could retire earlier than I otherwise could have done. No shop bought coffees and other simple saving measures, such as not buying a new car every 3 years, not living in the sort of house I could have bought for status reasons.
The great thing about being disengaged from corporate life was that I actually ended up being respected because I was not fearful of redundancy or criticism - my plan was to get out so what did it matter what a CEO or a client said? That blasé attitude was like a Teflon shield so I got pay rises etc while the committed ones stagnated.
Managed to retire 15 years early and still feel smug as while others have had the costa coffee and handbags I managed an early exit!

To come at it from someone who does work in a supposedly fulfilling sector- the pay is a lot less, there is a lot of stress, but you get satisfaction. Make of that what you will.

Does more money make up for low satisfaction? I'd say yes it probably can - but you need to consider - are you going to spend more money outside of work getting satisfaction? No right or wrong, but say you need to spend 12k on an exotic holiday to prove this is all worth it - if you want the holiday, fine - but if it's something to show for it, I don't know. You need to address the question of what gives you meaning.

Does more money make up for high stress - I don't think so. I've had slightly higher paid more stressful jobs, and they weren't worth it. But, how much less money is doable? I've found a 5% drop made no difference, I've just got better at budgeting and I'm happier.

But if I went even lower in salary...not sure I would want to choose that. But sometimes life decides for you - ill health etc.

There's some good advice here about making it work for you - I would add things like buy more annual leave schemes, any opportunities to work while abroad, any opportunity to take a sabbatical, working hours that suit you, dropping down a day if you can afford it, are sorts of things to look at too.

Completely switching - I did that in my early 30s and it was a lot harder than I thought! If I'd known maybe I would have done things differently. The challenge is that it gets harder to learn in your 40s - not impossible to do something new, but mental energy at weekends to process.

Other things to think about - prospects in your industry. Are you going to face redundancies later on, and if so what might you choose to do and can prepare for? I work in an area that is likely going to change and I'm not sure what it means yet, but am thinking that I need to build my network.

And lastly (been looking at this in early 40s) is FIRE - Finanical Independence Retire Early. Its things like getting finances in order, budgeting, investing in what I value, sorting debts and savings, working out what my pension is invested in and how to maximise it, working out when I can retire. You could go full pelt at FIRE'ing, or slower and enjoy fruits of life along the way.

For me I spent a lot of time early on in my career working out what I like doing, never focused on money, so probably going to work longer. At the same time I was very driven and a workaholic. In some ways - and still for me - its a lot harder to switch off when you are passionate about your work, but if I'm gonna work longer then work life balance is key!

I'm considering moving to cheaper property so I can have less mortgage debt and put more into my pension pot, as any money invested in my 40s also has more time to grow.

Edited to add think there are a growing number of career switchers in their 50s - those who've either faced redundancy, or are looking for something more meaningful, or realising they may need to work for longer to retire.

I workwd for Corporates for the best part of forty years. Last 10 years were quite challenging. I got to the point where I focused alot on what I was doing outside of my work, holidays and the family -work was means to an end.. I knew that when I got to 55+ I would be out the door. Made it to 58 before they offered me EVR. I always remember a course I went on many years ago which said - on you death, standing at the grave - would anybody remember what you did for a living. Quite sobering but did make me rethink my priorities.

I have been feeling like this the last few days which is out of character for me. It’s not that I ever loved corporate life, but I didn’t get down about it and was grateful to be in a well-paying job that pays the bills. Lately I’ve actually started to feel a bit depressed by it all. I am completely pidgeon-holed in my role - I couldn’t change career without a significant pay cut, and I’m an expat on a visa which is tied to my job so I can’t quit this job anyway. I am around 4 years away from getting a Green Card (a little less if I marry DP), which just feels so ridiculously long to be feeling how I’m currently feeling. So I really hope it’s a phase that will pass. I am actually thinking of having a baby sooner than planned just to get 6 months off. 😂

If you’re in a position to change career (ie no visa issues like me!), then I would say go for it. Life is too short.

Out of interest, what are your contemporaries who stopped working in their 40s doing now? Living off passive income? I play around with spreadsheets and read lots online, but can never make the maths work to quit my job altogether. Maybe one day!

I work in the public sector (well, universities) and it's not better. The good bits of the job keep getting chipped away; there's more of the rubbish stuff left. Senior leadership seem to have forgotten why we actually do what we do. Morale is rock bottom. I'm staying in it for the pension - though that's nearly 30 years away - and because I don't know what else to do with the same flexibility and pay.

Hobbies and prioritising family outside of the 9-5. I knit, often on the tube on my commute into work , I go to a craft night every week, spend time with friends and family too. I try my best in my role as I like to keep my reputation good at work but switch off completely outside of it. I like the people I work with and the role is okay, but if I won the lotto jackpot I would give it up. I don’t think I would ever be bored if I didn’t work.

I feel the same way too OP and I agree with the poster who said low morale in the workplace is the accepted norm. I don’t know if it’s always been this way in the private sector or if getting older makes you more weary.

I’ve worked for the same company (one of the biggest in the UK) for over twenty years and feel so disheartened. My whole team hate our jobs (which has only been the case for the past few years), the regular irrational changes, the contempt and incompetence shown by higher management, and I dream daily of a lottery win so I can quit and retrain in a different occupation.

I sometimes wonder if it’s my middle age experience that lets me see through the bullshit corporate talk, or the change of the new CEO’s priorities, or the changes caused by people working from home since COVID etc.

I’m so sick of having to try and fake enthusiasm for policy changes that I know are negative for our staff and customers. I feel I have less control than ever before over how I do my job. I know I’m a good worker (I regularly get positive feedback from colleagues and customers) and I wish I had more control over the wrong decisions being made higher up the chain behind closed doors. At the same time, I really don’t want to climb any higher in this company. I desperately want to leave and do something completely different.

YANBU; I’m in a corporate but think as pp have said it’s probably similar in most big employers.

All the bullshit language, “work streams”, reorganisations, project leads, rearranging the deckchairs. Give me strength.

Our place at least isn’t long hours. I stay for the flexibility, pension and because it fits around DC, but I don’t care about it at all.