Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
JTK,
Are you in a union ?
Job sucks the life out of me.
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No Sir. Our company does have some plants in other states where the Techs are unionized, but it's very rare.
[quote=5AcresAndAFoolI totally get what you are saying. My wife is also a SAHM and its hard to make it work now a days to an extent. Our quality of life is good by my standards, but some would be aghast at our "poor" living conditions. I drive older vehicles, wear second hand clothes, buy a lot of second hand stuff, we are never going to Disney on our finances, I fix everything myself or with my wife's help. [/quote]
This was/is our life. When we had kids, we decided that their mother was going to be at home for them at all times, and I was going to work a 40 hour week. It's a tough life with a lower income than anyone else, we also home schooled 4 kids, so even more money draining. This has left me entering retirement in not a good place - I might change a few decisions, but not give up that time we gave our kids, worth it for us and them.
Originally Posted By: Silk
Originally Posted By: 5AcresAndAFoolI totally get what you are saying. My wife is also a SAHM and its hard to make it work now a days to an extent. Our quality of life is good by my standards, but some would be aghast at our "poor" living conditions. I drive older vehicles, wear second hand clothes, buy a lot of second hand stuff, we are never going to Disney on our finances, I fix everything myself or with my wife's help.
This was/is our life. When we had kids, we decided that their mother was going to be at home for them at all times, and I was going to work a 40 hour week. It's a tough life with a lower income than anyone else, we also home schooled 4 kids, so even more money draining. This has left me entering retirement in not a good place - I might change a few decisions, but not give up that time we gave our kids, worth it for us and them.
The difference is I don't think about it, I don't think ahead, I just do it in the moment. I don't know what's going to happen next year when I'm 65, I'll figure that out at the time. I just wing it through life...no worries mate.
Originally Posted By: 5AcresAndAFool
I have been with a company for over 10 years, The company has changed a lot since them and not necessarily for the better. I feel that most days the job sucks the life out of me, its usually a very easy job, its all the politics and the petty b.s.
Its a smaller company in a smaller city so the only people that seem to get hired under the current regime are friends and family of people there who are department heads, or employees that matter. They dont care what you know they care what you know.
It is a very technical job and I still have a lot to learn, but it is very hard grow at this place. Many of the people who work there are complete idiots. The guy who I work with 8 hours a day has been there almost 20 years. At 20 years you should be at the top of your craft or close to it. The lunkhead I work with doesn't even know many of the basics of the job. I have never worked with someone with so little ambition or initiative, his attitude is he has been there a long time so he must be doing a good job.
He actually costs the company a lot of unnecessary money with his poor decisions, complete lack of critical thinking skills and things he screws up. The guy is useless. He will never get fired at the rate the place is going. I know for a fact anywhere else in my field he would have been fired years ago. He has neither the intelligence to do the job, patience, ability, ambition or initiative to learn anything.
The problem is a new job would require moving, which I am not opposed to, but with family obligations, a house in the middle of a renovation and my health and stamina, I am reluctant to make a change. I did it 15 years ago and dived in feet first, I no longer have that fearlessness that I had then. I have ailing parents, a small child and a wife to look after and I simply dont know how in the [censored] I could move 10 hours away, It would be too much.
What if I move 500 miles away and find the new job has other issues and overall its worse.
I mean right now my job is easy. While I am not challenged very much at all, its really easy. What if I go work for a company where I am partnered with a difficult person?
I also usually work 40 hours a week at most. I have done the whole 50 plus hour weeks before and I dont want that. It can be common in my field, so I dont want to go to a new company and end up working 50 to 60 hours a week. The money would be phenomenal, but I have a family I want to spend time with.
I guarantee any company that I apply to will require a knowledge exam before they even talk to me. Most companies in my field are interested more in what you know vs. who you know.
I can make more money elsewhere, I can find easier work, but I will never find work this easy that pays what I make.
If this is a case where I should just be glad I have a decent paying job with average benefits, how can I help deal with the feeling of the life being sucked out of me?
There are many people here in this forum and I look to you folks for any knowledge or advice you may have.
Thanks
Some people enjoy their jobs. I envy those people. I work because I have bills to pay. Period! I will be eligible to retire at age 62, and I plan to retire on my 62nd birthday. Working to me is a waste of life, but my job pays well, and it will set me up well for retirement, so I tolerate it. Spending time with loved ones and enjoying personal hobbies to me is what life SHOULD be all about, and I fully intend to take full advantage of that once I retire. To the OP, only you can decide what you need to do and what is best for you. Go with your gut! Mine never lies to me...
You probably have great blood pressure as well as great peace of mind.
There is much to be said for keeping oneself free of angst.
You know that you'll always get by, so you don't concern yourself with what the future might bring.
You may be the wisest one here.
It must be very liberating to worry about nothing while knowing that you'll make it just as you always have.
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Originally Posted By: grampi
Some people enjoy their jobs. I envy those people. I work because I have bills to pay. Period! I will be eligible to retire at age 62, and I plan to retire on my 62nd birthday. Working to me is a waste of life, but my job pays well, and it will set me up well for retirement, so I tolerate it. Spending time with loved ones and enjoying personal hobbies to me is what life SHOULD be all about, and I fully intend to take full advantage of that once I retire. To the OP, only you can decide what you need to do and what is best for you. Go with your gut! Mine never lies to me...
90% of people really don't like their job.
I absolutely understand what you are saying and experiencing. When we all go to work it isn't the work itself that makes any given job good or bad. It is the other people we have to work with and management that makes it a good or bad job. All too often by changing jobs we just trade one set of problems for another. Be mindful of that and be very, very, cautious if you do. I was in a similar position so what I did was bid (we are union)on a night shift job at my place of employment. Been with it 3 years now and rarely see my boss. Maybe 2-3x a year. Don't have to put up with the union b.s., horse [censored] and "politics" from the rest of the work force. Made life a lot easier for me for sure, and it is a good job besides. Working a night shift isn't for everybody by any means and may not be an option for you. I would think long and hard before I gave up a good job as you seem to have.
I agree for the OP to stay put and not think about the problems he is seeing everyday. Just say Hi, do your job and at the end of the day you say Bye.
Luckily I also only see my boss 2 or 3 times a year so I avoid any political bull **** and problems I can see from far away. I'm non union and don't have a to punch a time clock, I manage my own electronic 'timecard' and work regular overtime with bosses approval. As long as I meet my metrics and goals.... I don't here a peep from big boss.
Only when they request a 'volunteer' for a special project do I get a phone call from my boss. Other than the 2 mandatory weekly telephone conference calls with the entire region, we never hear from the boss.
Luckily I also only see my boss 2 or 3 times a year so I avoid any political bull **** and problems I can see from far away. I'm non union and don't have a to punch a time clock, I manage my own electronic 'timecard' and work regular overtime with bosses approval. As long as I meet my metrics and goals.... I don't here a peep from big boss.
Only when they request a 'volunteer' for a special project do I get a phone call from my boss. Other than the 2 mandatory weekly telephone conference calls with the entire region, we never hear from the boss.The company I work for is not bad.But they care more for the way things look rather than the way things are.It frustrates me.After a while you just say frack it,let them run it that way .
In almost all jobs you will go thru periods of burn out.I retired from one job ASAP,even though I could have worked a few more years to get a few extra % on my pension.Me and the wife decided my health and peace of mind was worth more getting out early.
Maybe you need to do that.
I agree with bigj_16; Find something meaningful outside of work, or even a second position that is fulfilling. That's what I have done. I am a pet-sitter (as my 2nd and favorite job) and I also volunteer at a pet rescue center. I make really good money with pet-sitting; only a few come to my home, most I make visits to theirs.
My job is at a major textbook company, and we were just purchased by a global company and it's very tenuous. Yes, the job *could* suck the life out of me, and there are many days where I wish I could do the pet sitting full time. But this job provides much-needed insurance benefits. I work in a situation that sounds very similar to yours... people who are worthless and draw a good salary for doing almost nothing and then screwing that up most of the time. I also work with mostly women and the gossip, complaining, and [censored] is over.the.top. So much so that I finally went to human resources about it, and my supervisor was formerly written up for not taking care of several situations that could end up becoming a liability issue for the company. I sit next to someone who constantly complains, cusses like a sailor, and likes to say, "that's above my pay grade". I have kept a running log over the last year of what she says and presented that to HR and they were stunned; and she has been here over 20 years. She is always nice to me, and I generally 'like' her, but I can't stand the constant [censored] and moaning and f bombs that drop all over the place. Since going to HR, it's gotten better, but I would bet it's only a matter of time before it starts again. In addition, I was written up several months ago for something my supervisor told me to do, and then our director said to write me up and the supervisor didn't take responsibility for it. Months prior to that, my supervisor was out of work for over 1 month for cancer treatment, and I took over her position, as well as the responsibilities of mine. I received a good raise for it, and she went on and on about how glad she was that she hired me, and then turned around and threw me under the bus for something that was her fault. So, I can't trust her.
I hope you can find something that fills the place of what your job should, and it might take a while, but believe me, it's really worth it.
f
I don't think 90% is realistic. Maybe 50%?
There are many who don't get to be involved in any meaningful work and never get to make decisions. They might be unhappy largely because they're bored.
There are also those who face impossible demands at work. They're not happy because they're badly stressed and can see no way out of working sixty hours as exempts while being paid a fixed salary.
Most of us are reasonably content and enjoy interacting with many of our co-workers.
When I find myself thinking that I'm stuck in a workshop for the mentally impaired, I remind myself that it's just a difficult day and that it will pass and things will be better tomorrow, as is usually the case.
I also remind myself that I enjoy lots of paid time off as well as generous benefits and a rare defined benefit retirement plan.
Overall, I count my blessings and recognize that I should be as happy as a pig in slop.
I will add that I don't always enjoy being a boss, but that is a part of the row I hoe.
Might the grass really have been greener had I made a leap years ago?
Maybe, but then again I might have just as easily found myself without a chair when the music stopped.
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
90% of people really don't like their job.
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Originally Posted By: KiminMo
I agree with bigj_16; Find something meaningful outside of work, or even a second position that is fulfilling. That's what I have done. I am a pet-sitter (as my 2nd and favorite job) and I also volunteer at a pet rescue center. I make really good money with pet-sitting; only a few come to my home, most I make visits to theirs.
My job is at a major textbook company, and we were just purchased by a global company and it's very tenuous. Yes, the job *could* suck the life out of me, and there are many days where I wish I could do the pet sitting full time. But this job provides much-needed insurance benefits. I work in a situation that sounds very similar to yours... people who are worthless and draw a good salary for doing almost nothing and then screwing that up most of the time. I also work with mostly women and the gossip, complaining, and [censored] is over.the.top. So much so that I finally went to human resources about it, and my supervisor was formerly written up for not taking care of several situations that could end up becoming a liability issue for the company. I sit next to someone who constantly complains, cusses like a sailor, and likes to say, "that's above my pay grade". I have kept a running log over the last year of what she says and presented that to HR and they were stunned; and she has been here over 20 years. She is always nice to me, and I generally 'like' her, but I can't stand the constant [censored] and moaning and f bombs that drop all over the place. Since going to HR, it's gotten better, but I would bet it's only a matter of time before it starts again. In addition, I was written up several months ago for something my supervisor told me to do, and then our director said to write me up and the supervisor didn't take responsibility for it. Months prior to that, my supervisor was out of work for over 1 month for cancer treatment, and I took over her position, as well as the responsibilities of mine. I received a good raise for it, and she went on and on about how glad she was that she hired me, and then turned around and threw me under the bus for something that was her fault. So, I can't trust her.
I hope you can find something that fills the place of what your job should, and it might take a while, but believe me, it's really worth it.
from 2014: [Are you feeling satisfied with your job? If not, you are among the majority of Americans—52.3%—who are unhappy at work, according to a new report by the Conference Board, the New York-based nonprofit research group.]
things are worse now with decreasing real wages amid productivity gains.
Forbes from 2014
Originally Posted By: Alfred_B
from 2014: [Are you feeling satisfied with your job? If not, you are among the majority of Americans—52.3%—who are unhappy at work, according to a new report by the Conference Board, the New York-based nonprofit research group.]
things are worse now with decreasing real wages amid productivity gains.
Forbes from 2014
Think about it. Unless a person has a dream job, why would ANYBODY like their job? Unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, most of us have to work to survive. A job is just that, and it certainly isn't something most people enjoy doing. Working is a waste of the one thing we all have a finite amount of...time. If given the choice of working, or spending your entire life with family and friends, and doing hobbies and whatnot, what do you think most people would choose? I never hear anyone who is retired say "I wish I would have worked longer"...I wonder why that is?
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Originally Posted By: grampi
Think about it. Unless a person has a dream job, why would ANYBODY like their job? Unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, most of us have to work to survive. A job is just that, and it certainly isn't something most people enjoy doing. Working is a waste of the one thing we all have a finite amount of...time. If given the choice of working, or spending your entire life with family and friends, and doing hobbies and whatnot, what do you think most people would choose? I never hear anyone who is retired say "I wish I would have worked longer"...I wonder why that is?
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