The quality of life that came with a regular schedule (having all weekends off!) and the higher salary is immeasurable. I am not stressed about money anymore and I have time to do activities with friends and family.
So fucking much. Less stress and dread. I moved to an area I like much more. I bought a roomba with my first paycheck so I could automate keeping the floors clean. I just about had a breakdown when I got sick and my boss supported me staying home instead of chastising me for calling out. People listen to my ideas and take action on the good ones. I feel confident because I’m trusted to just do the shit I know I’m supposed to do. Advancement opportunities are basically just expected when something opens up.
Because I’m not so stressed out or spread thin in my work hours, I’m better able to enjoy my off hours. I cook. I play music. I play games with my friends online. I take my wife out on dates. I can afford to plan for things in the future instead of just surviving day to day and collapsing when I can.
My job isn’t amazing btw. It’s rotating shift work, frequently swapping between day shift and night shift, 12 hour shifts. It’s pretty unpredictable because it can be incredibly active and exhausting or maybe I’ll sit on my ass for a few hours at a time. I can get very dirty or sore or cramped if things aren’t super smooth. I’m outside in the elements a decent amount. And the healthcare is so lame that my wife gets us better healthcare by working at Starbucks for >20 hours per week. But unless I need to cover for somebody or there’s some kind of emergency, I get 7 days off in a row every 4 weeks. That and the high pay are where the peace of mind comes from.
I actually put in a full effort into what I do. My previous manager would find something wrong with anything I did even if i did it exactly like they said. Why bother doing high quality work when your boss is a miserable person and will just make up shit about how it’s bad or wrong anyway.
Dealing with people like that can be super draining. I had this ‘boss’ once who was actually just a coworker. He loved to pick apart everything I did. When I stopped trying to go above and beyond and just worked at a pace that felt right to me, he got really annoyed. He acted like he had authority, saying our real boss sent him to nag about my ‘bad’ work.
Before I left, he made a big scene about being the best worker there and called everyone else terrible. He’d complain about me sitting down to do inventory and then sit down himself a minute later, just showing off his hypocrisy. If you called him out on anything, he’d sulk and be a pain for the whole day. It’s tough working with someone who’s both a bully and acts like they’re the victim. You never knew what mood he’d be in; if he was mad, he’d come in trying to make everyone else mad too, even yelling at his girlfriend on the phone and blasting music all over the warehouse.
And the drama never stopped with him, always bragging about how he never got help from anyone. But I’m like, you were fed as a baby, right? You had a roof over your head? He just seemed ungrateful. Someone needs to give him a wake-up call. The worst was my new manager never stepped in to stop him, and they both acted like I was the problem, making fun of me every day. I didn’t want to sink to their level, but sometimes you’ve got to stand up for yourself quietly, keep notes, and be ready if they push too far. Some people are just awful.
I got to work from home, got to improve my home office setup, and I have been able to buy a house. I love being able to live with my wife and partner and being able to not freakout about a surprise bill.
Wife _and_partner?
Yes, we’re a throuple.
Must be exhausting. Good for you!
Fucking everything. I went from being emotionally exhausted every night after working OT and collapsing into bed after dinner and putting on a lot of weight to my weight stabilizing, being able to enjoy and remain conscious over the weekend and having the energy to actually think about life in the long term. Also, while I do less work and have less stress I make triple what I used to.
Fuck the gaming industry so fucking hard.
In the end, nothing. I had a good solid 9 months of a job I loved, with decent enough pay. But then tanks to corporate execs laid off the entire IT team and outsourced it to a staffing company and reduced the size of the team from 100+ to about 8.
I’m still there because I still need the pay, but now it’s just like every other garbage corporate job out there. Miserable and soul sucking.
I got less sleep, my stress levels went up, I became acutely aware of how bad the boss needs a smack in the mouth, the big boss knows my name and expects me to know things and I hate the organisation more than ever.
However, people now dread me going on holiday because I’m the manager who knows things and gives a shit. I actually have no small amount of job security and agency in how our facility is run and I get to tell the boss off from time to time for his dumb shit because calling him out on it is part of my job.
Stability. Not having to worry if my job is still secure by next year is such a sweet feeling.
I might not earn as much as I could, but knowing that I have secured a good income all the way to my pension (barring any calamities) is definitely worth it.
Did you get tenure?
No, I got a permanent contract for a well paying job in the public sector. The job security is great and there’s a solid pension plan.
It’s what my partner likes to call an “iron rice bowl” :)
Less stress for sure. But probably the best part was flexibility and room to do what I want to do that day. I work in medical research and I have a very hands off boss.
I had more money for food and started eating out more and got a lot fatter. Now I’m trying to improve my health by not eating like an asshole anymore.
I also got access to more credit and promptly ran up a bunch of debt. Now I pay $1000 a month in minimum payments and I’m working on chipping the balances down, but at least my car is paid off now.
I also bought a house, which turned out to be the best financial decision I ever made. Got locked in at 2.9% before the market lost its damned mind. Now my $145K house is worth $330K. I mean, on paper at least, but it’s a useless number because everything else has gone up too, so selling and buying something else would be a wash price wise, but my interest would go to like 7%. But I only pay $908 a month for my mortgage, escrow, and pmi, so I’m doing better than paying $2K/mo for rent to line somebody else’s pocket.
So a handful of ups and downs. Best advice, control yourself - eat right and don’t spend money just because you have it. Sure, a new couch, etc might only be $100/mo, but all that shit adds up and you’ll end up with a 6 figure salary and a cabinet full of ramen noodles. Ask me how I know.
I’ve never been removed from a job before, only changed locations. The difference was losing some of the disliked coworkers.
