To quit my job with nothing lined up

[Vinividivici]

I have been miserable in my job for a long time. It has impacted my physical and mental health. I am now fully burnt out and on sick leave (and I have other threads on this!).

AIBU to resign with nothing new lined up, with a possible plan to take a career break?

We would be able to pay our bills, though we would have to tighten our belts. But I could spend more time with my child and relieve a lot of daily household stress so that my husband and I can get regular exercise and more sleep. We are mid 40s and I am beginning to worry that our current lifestyle will lead us to be very stressed and unhealthy into old age.

Depends how long you want to not work for and for how long you can afford it?

Are you planning to just be on benefits for the rest of your life or do you want to get another job some day?

In all honesty I have found the recruitment market dire for getting a new job right now. How long can you sustain being out of a job 6m? 1 year? ++?
If over a year then yeah some time off would be great. I started applying for new jobs back end of 2025. Im now at the final stages of 2 roles
1 I applied for in Early Feb. One is via a contact who gave me the heads up before it was even advertised.

Ive recently recieved emails for next stage for a role I applied for in Jan (and they had the cheek to ask me to reply to some questions they had quickly so we didnt hold up the process!) And also getting some rejection emails from.jobs applied for months ago.

It feels like everything is very "tentitve" almost like jobs being advertised and its not 100% certain they exist right now or in a hurry to fill them.

Ultimately what I am saying is- if you can sustain not working for a longer time then yes. If its shorter term then start looking soon!

I don't think I would be eligible for benefits? That didn't really occur to me.

Maybe I could look for a simple part time job at some point that would allow me to save more towards retirement and contribute to some household costs.

Can you afford to live on one income longer term? How secure is your husband’s job? The situation in the Gulf could easily precipitate a global recession. Getting back into work if/when you need to might be harder than you think. Have you explored options like reducing your hours in your current job to make it more manageable?

I hate my job so much that I am currently uncertain whether staying is a realistic option. It's a very toxic and dysfunctional environment.

My husband's job is fairly secure and he has great marketable skills which are currently in demand. But I am conscious that it's risky to have only one income.

We could survive on his income fairly long term, assuming he stays in employment.

I've done it - twice. However I did register with a few recruitment agencies and managed to get call centre/customer service/admin work within a week or so.

Yes, this seems to be an awful time to look for jobs. In some ways, this makes me more fearful to take time out - eg could this type of market be the new normal, meaning that someone with a large employment gap has no hope?

So when you quit, it was with the goal of finding a new role fairly quickly?

Why not put the feelers out for a lower stress part time job now before quitting. In this economy and with how hard people are finding job hunting Id be weary of being not having anything lined up.

Maybe this is a good idea, but I have very limited energy atm. I think that either I am fully burnt out or there is something seriously physically wrong with me (hopefully the former). I'm trying to conserve my energy and direct it towards the most critical tasks right now.

What is your notice period? If it’s only a month or less I think stick it out but apply for other jobs like mad. If it’s 2 or 3 months, or longer, I think it could be worth a think about resigning as I think long notice periods do put new employers off (unless you are very senior).

The job market is brutal. Can you get signed off and start looking?

I have seen one of your previous threads and absolutely think you should resign and spend some time healing if you can afford to do so.

3 months. Sadly, I am far more junior in title than I should be, given my job responsibilities and skills.

In my experience part time jobs are very hard to get atm. I got one recently but was lucky. This job market is dire.

Dd is currently working in a cafe in a beautiful setting and part of me feels like I should quit my bullshit job (that pays well but revolves around emailing and teams meetings staring at a screen) and be a waitress. It’s only the pay that stops me. I do wonder if I’d be happier though.

I am signed off but I am so tired that looking for a job feels impossible.

I have done this twice. I don't regret it - I think if you know you can make it work (even if it means cutting back on a lot) then do it. It wasn't easy for me to do.
True burn out is so difficult to recover from - you need time and space. I hope you get through it.

I took a career break for about a year just before DD started school after we relocated cities. The early years of raising a dc whilst working FT in a stressful job was relentless. Taking that time out really helped me regroup mentally and physically, it was nice to be at the school gates. I went back to work because I couldn't afford to be a SAHM long term and I did miss working.

BUT this was over 20 years ago in a much better economic climate. I basically walked into a job after signing up with a recruitment agency. I was recently made redundant and believe me the job market is brutal, I was laid off in the late 00s after the GFC and it's even worse now. I was extremely lucky that I found a well paying fairly quickly (things just fell into place).

If you are not already receiving counselling, sign up. Think various long term scenarios. If I do this or that now, what will my future be like? What would my future self be like without this burden on my mental health? Imagine how you would feel when you write that resignation letter.

financial difficulty can be bad for health too. You’re a long way from pension age so in the current economic situation would be taking a big risk to quit now. Would job seek whilst in work, including applying for full time roles, return to work and ‘work to rule’ and do other things to help your mental health.

In that case I would definitely consider it.

"Simple part time jobs" don't really exist like they used to. I guess it depends on the area but near me pubs, cafes and shops are closing down or not taking on staff.

But if you can afford it - go for it! Just know that getting another role may be very tricky. The job market is the worst I've ever seen!

(Worse than 2010ish! But that could be my local area only)

My friend left her secondary teaching role over a year ago and hasn't found anything since. She was rejected from the NHS and a local care home. She thought she could move into admin - no luck there. She is now trying to get back into teaching because she needs to work and she's really struggling to get interviews.

And I have recently been turned down by Asda! 🫠

Nightmare 💐

Thank you. I have had two counselling sessions so far, and the therapist is excellent. I think that she is working towards exploring the kinds of questions that you have raised.

Sounds awful OP. Take care of yourself 💐