Sunday doom - has anyone actually given up the corporate job and salary?

[Rach247]

I hate my job. Hours and pressure and stress are very high but I’m paid well.

Constantly day-dreaming about packing it in to do something less demanding and genuinely 9-5, work your hours and leave your job at the office, admin type thing. Or something completely different, like being a postie or working in a coffee shop. I know these can be demanding, but in a different way. But the pay would be low by comparison and I have a mortgage and young kids.

Has anyone actually packed in the corporate job for such a lifestyle change, and how did it go?

i get it. It’s hard

How old are you?

I did - not on purpose, but as an outcome to a reorg. I went from being mid-senior leadership (head of) to a role that still has some thought leadership but is much more in the doing. I took a pay cut of about 15% gross and I’m now in the 9-5 territory (partly because it’s a new role
so I’ve been able to set expectations on output). I’m much happier overall, though we are only a few months in. I know in the fullness of time I will probably want more, and I’m not happy about the career hit, especially as my boss is very nice, but younger and less
experienced than I am. The positives outweigh the negatives right now.

In my experience of having worked both an admin job on low pay and a high paying corporate job, both were stressful in different ways, but at least with the high paying corporate job, I don’t need to worry about money as much. I will also get to retirement age with a better pension, and if I want to reduce my days in the future, the drop in salary will be manageable.

I also get the Sunday blues, but I just keep thinking, one more month, and then I’ll quit, and it seems to get me through the year.

Yes.

I'm back in same field but public sector. A whole lot less money but still well above average salary.

Job is still very challenging at times but not having to compete with colleagues all the time for recognition/remuneration/ respect takes a massive amount of stress away. I also hated trying to win clients. As a bonus I have a lot more work variety now.

I did it and I don’t regret it OP.

The next 20 years will pass (god willing!) do you want them to pass with you wishing them away or enjoying your time ?

Problem is OP, unless you have wealth to fall back on, you may just find you’re having to work very hard for a lot less money.

I did this. Massively regretted it. I ended up in a job twice as stressful and earned a quarter of
the city salary. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I wish I had thought about taking transferable skills from my original position and moving to a less stressful part of the business rather than just wanting out.

I gave up teaching to be a gardener. No regrets.

I gave up my career in accountancy for a civil service role, it’s been so good to get some work/life balance back.

Thanks all for your responses - probably the reality check I needed.

I’m 44, so 20 years still to work sounds realistic. About 10-12 years left on the mortgage at the current rate of repayment (obviously longer if my salary takes a hit).

I was a lawyer but in a high street firm so not working mega bucks by any stretch of the imagination. The stress though was simply unbelievable and I was literally suicidal.

I gave it up and i is the best thing I have ever done. HOWEVER... we did not have a mortgage and I had kept the flat I had when I had met DH and have been renting it out for years. That was my safety net and it meant I could take a massive step back. Without a safety net I couldn't have done it.

The hit to our finances has been severe. It was okay for the first year or so, but now with COL etc it's been pretty bad. I don't miss for a moment dumping the job, but I am worried about what the next couple of years will hold for us. I also did work for 2 years in a role that paid half of what I used to earn, and although it was nothing like being a solicitor thank GOD it still brought a ridiculous amount of stress- for ever crappier pay. That charity then folded so now I am doing ad hoc temp work and have no idea what the future holds.

Solidarity OP. I feel like this every Sunday :(

Think carefully before dropping a well paying job. The hours and stress can be just as high in low paying roles but then you also have money worries too.

But I get it - I'm nearly 50 and could happily retire right now if i had the means to.

Depends on your definition of well paid.

DH and I are well paid [in my opinion - doubtless many on here would disagree] but work 9-5 and don’t have any issues so no real need to jack it in for better balance.

I came on here to write a similar post. I earn approx £67k per year, but absolutely hate my job. It’s so stressful and a toxic environment. Not the type of job you can work from home.l either.

Im looking at lower paid jobs with less stress but am a single parent with a large mortgage so I’m nervous. One idea I’m considering is to get a lower paid job with less stress, then do a few hours in an evening / weekend 2nd job to top up? Is that a ridiculous idea!

What do you do? There are definitely jobs paying this sort of level that aren’t ridiculously stressful

Yes, with zero regrets. Never felt part of the suited and booted corporate world and having more money than I needed wasn't something that floated my boat.

Have had a very comfortable, varied and fulfilling career working for people that want to make the world a better place.

No, but I really hope to in the next 5-10 years. I’m mid-30s, 13 years into a very stressful career in Finance and I really don’t want this to be my life until retirement. The pressure from my job can be so intense that it makes me burst into tears - most recently in the back of an uber on the way to the airport for a last minute business trip.

My plan is to save hard over the next few years then pivot into something completely different which would entail a 80-90% pay cut but would be more aligned with my passion (working in the fitness industry).

This was me.

I remember being sat in my fancy car in a mcdonalds car park on the edge of a town where I was during to attend a meeting, just sobbing.

Life's too short.

I feel your pain, although my job is nhs rather than corporate with a wage of around £45K, working conditions have got so bad I dream of leaving to do something else but am trained for nothing else and financially things are tight with this salary let alone on a lower one. Also like the flexibility of being able to pick up extra 'bank' shifts when have extra things to pay for.

I did. Left a big tech company working all hours to speak to the West Coast US in the evening, lots of stress, horrible re-orgs and rounds of redundancies. Just handed in my notice with nothing organised. My saving grace was ten years earlier we'd bought a small house so as not to stretch ourselves, saying that if we ever needed to we could survive on one salary (just survive, not thrive!). I didn't work for a few months and spent that time putting things in place for my nd eldest and also just totally slowed down and let all the stress leave my body. I took a six month contract role with a smaller company covering a leave of absence. It's more junior than what I did so not as well paid, but still a well paid job, I just need to cut my cloth a bit. My manager is delighted with me and seeking to extend. Being a contractor the expectations are lower and I feel no stress. I do not care the way I did before, there's no emotional element to my job. If you are ready to start straight away in a contract role you may be able to name good terms, as a company may be desperate to get cover. Good luck!

My parents became ill in my 50s. I gave up a very senior post in order to care for them. Fortunately I had DH's support. Now I do volunteering with charities.

Yes I've done this. Given up a career to take a downward step into admin work, very basic. I am a year in and utterly bored and demoralised, can't believe what I've done and desperately looking for jobs to apply for to get back to my career.

I haven’t but I haven’t ruled it out. I’m trying to save, max out pension contributions and generally get financially ready for a slower pace of life. I mostly enjoy my job but it has huge ups and downs. If the downs become too prevalent then I will seek to change it. As PP has suggested - becoming a contractor is my likely
plan, or a portfolio career - being a NED etc although I’m probably 10 years off that!