Covid made many of us see this clearly. Honestly, I thought this change would finally stick and continue.
But companies stayed quiet for a while, and now we're back again to the mode of squeezing people at work until they collapse.
I'm [28M], and I've been working this 8-to-4 office job for a little over 3 years now, and honestly, it's starting to wear me down mentally. Sometimes I feel like when I get a migraine or a bad cold, it's like I've won, because at least I get to stay home instead of commuting just to go sit at a desk for a huge chunk of my waking hours.
I mean... I do my job. I show up, get through my emails, handle some random admin things that need to be done, and most days I'm done with the main work by 11:30. My manager reviews it and generally tells me it's fine. After that I have lunch, come back and follow up with him, and sometimes he has another task for me and sometimes it's just: "No, nothing right now." So I either do extra work just for the sake of staying busy, or browse Coursera or internal training modules, or chat with someone from another department just enough to seem friendly without looking like I'm wasting time. Those last two hours feel impossible, and then finally I can leave.
It's depressing. I feel like I'm pretending to be busy for 7.5 hours a day in the dumbest play ever written. Is this seriously what adult life is supposed to be? How do people do this without going insane? Am I just not built for this? I genuinely can't imagine doing any version of this for another 25 or 35 years.
A quick update on my career dilemma: The 'intense' job has finalized its offer, and it came in at 105k, not the 125k I was initially told. It's still a good increase from my current 85k, but I feel this difference is significant. How will this affect the decision?
I've only recently started my career. My current job is very relaxed - the atmosphere is great, and everyone is laid-back. As long as the work gets done, no one monitors your arrival or departure times. I work from home a few days a week, and on top of that, I can work remotely from anywhere in the world for about 80 days a year. Plus, I get 35 days of paid leave. For someone like me who loves exploring new places, these benefits are amazing and open up many travel opportunities. I am a Sales Development Rep here, and the career path is clear: I'll move into client relations, and then reach a leadership position.
Now, the second opportunity I mentioned earlier initially hinted at something around 125k, but the final offer is 105k. The hours there are very demanding: from 6:45 AM to 2:15 PM on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays; from 6:45 AM to 4:45 PM on Thursdays; and from 6:45 AM to 10:15 AM on Fridays. I will most likely clock in and out using a fingerprint scanner. The leave is also more limited, only 25 annual leave days (or about 30 days if you include public holidays). The culture there is very formal, strict, and much more intense - imagine it like a civil service job within a highly disciplined government agency. The career progression isn't very defined, as I will primarily be a language specialist, translating between English and Farsi.
What are your thoughts on this? Which choice makes more sense?