My boss won't let me quit
Fifteen years at the same place ive finally accepted what was obvious for ages, this job is a dead end. I told my manager i was leaving right after id single handedly dragged a massive client account over the finish line, again, the kind of thing that had me doing seventy hour weeks for the better part of three months straight.
Ive asked for more headcount on my team probably twenty plus times over the years and its always knocked back on "budget." Their genius solution instead is to bring in agency people at about three times what an actual hire would cost, then act baffled when the numbers dont add up.
When i told her i was off, she actually asked me not to quit and to give her a week to "find a solution." And honestly im not sure what to make of that. My health is shot, my home life has suffered for it, my pay has basically flatlined for years while everything else went up, and my benefits got quietly trimmed along the way.
My worry is shes going to go away, come back with some token gesture, a tiny bump or a vague promise of help "next quarter," and when i say its not enough ill have soured things for no reason. After fifteen years i know exactly how this dance goes.