This is the 28th year in the company where I work. I like my job and secretly hoping I would stay as long as I could and retire at some point within 5-7 year range.

But I hear people like me who's been at the same company are often in the layoff list. Is that really so? Also, my friend says I am protected because I am 52 year old and companies don't want to deal with age discrimination. Does this really act in my favor??

My company had two major layoffs, one in 2023 and another in 2025. So I cannot say we are doing wonderfully well. I am hoping that I am spared because I am in relatively low paying position, there aren't much saving by getting rid of me. A new hire (with wage inflation) will cost way more, I think. Am I in denial?

so my manager gave me this huge opportunity last week — present to client leadership, said it'd be great visibility for me since i've been trying to get more face time with the higher ups. i was SO ready. practiced every night for like a week, basically had the whole thing memorized word for word, felt confident walking in.

then i get up there and just... nothing. blanked completely. stood in silence in front of the client for what felt like forever but was probably like 10 seconds (still felt like a lifetime). my brain just would not give me a single word. my manager had to jump in and take over mid-presentation to save it.

after the call he pulled me aside and was not happy. told me i get one more shot to prove myself next time and basically not to embarrass him again.

i know the material. i know it inside and out. it's not a knowledge problem, it's like my brain just short circuits the second i'm actually in front of people who matter. i've never had this happen this bad before.

has anyone actually recovered from a moment like this? what do i even do differently for round 2 — genuinely asking because "just be confident" clearly isn't working when i thought i already was. do i need to change how i practice, or is this more of a mental thing i need to fix before it's even about the content? any advice from people who've been there is appreciated, i really don't want to blow the second chance.

A few weeks ago I told my manager I was burnt out from the amount of work I was doing. Mandatory (unpaid) overtime, multiple tasks given with little guidance, etc. I expected a lighter case load of tasks or maybe even conversations about resources or being able to offload a few tasks to a coworker. But instead I got:

• All my meetings cancelled
• Removed from all Teams channels that pertained to my job
• A new employee hired to take my job (who I had to help train)
• Kicked out of my old office
• Multiple people reaching out to me telling me they’re “sorry to see me go”
• No longer have access to any employee reports or records that I was previously in charge of

All signs of being fired…. right?

HOWEVER… my manager keeps telling me she needs to talk to me but has not yet talked to me. She keeps insisting that I’m just being moved to a different team, however the team I’m being moved to had no idea I was joining them and has no idea what my role is supposed to be. I keep being told by my old manager that my skills would be really useful to them but I genuinely have no daily tasks or assignments despite me asking MULTIPLE times on what my role is and what I’m expected to do. The only task I’ve been given is something that takes 1-2 hours to do AT MOST….

The only reason I keep showing up every day is because my activity is typically monitored and part of me is convinced they’re looking for a decrease in my activity to have actual grounds to fire me.

My question to you is: What would you do in this situation? Do I keep showing up to a job where I literally have nothing to do? Do I tell someone I literally have nothing to do?

Edit: Holy shit did not expect this to get attention.. maybe like 10 comments at most, sorry it’s taking me a second to reply! A few answers to common questions though:

1. Yes I am getting paid. I’m not interested in doing charity work for an employer lol. I am salaried and live in an at-will state. I also am not able to get severance or any PTO payout (which sucks because I’ve been with the company for years and have 300 hours of PTO saved).
2. I work/ worked with the training and development team at a medical device sale company. Yes they do have a history of pushing people out instead of firing them so they don’t have to do the paperwork and less risk for lawsuit. I’ve literally seen HR do it so many times idk why it didn’t register it could happen to me? I’ve spent the last 5 years being close with the executive team, had dinners with the CEO and his family multiple times, and so many other exclusive outings so I assumed I was just above that happening to me? I know what they say about assuming.
3. I’ve been job searching for the past 2(ish) months so I’ve already been applying but didn’t expect to be in the position I’m in now!

Edit 2 for frequent questions/ comments

1. I DO take time off work. My company made a mistake when they hired me and I accrued double to PTO I should’ve and instead of dropping off each year like it’s supposed to it’s been rolling over for me. I pointed it out to a manger when I first got hired but they were fired a month later and no one followed up on it. Obviously was not going to follow up to HR and ask that they give me less PTO. My manager for the past 3 years tries to be a “cool manager” so she constantly tells me “just go, don’t worry about PTO”.
2. I by now have determined I’m being dismissed and have already started searching for a new job while riding this wave. I’m using PTO, scheduling all the Dr’s appointments and saying yes to every test under the sun while I have insurance and a maxed out HSA.
3. My new question: What stuff should I see if I can get away with while I have no oversight? I am monitored heavily so I can’t do anything crazy…. but what bucket list items have you always wanted to do at work?

He says in a work environment it shouldn't matter at all how you look in a picture basically. He said that out loud. He says that's why he doesn't have a picture. He's one of the few leaders who doesn't have one.

I was just curious what my takeaway from this should be or if people have thoughts on this.

I was broke living with my parents at 25 years old, no college education or certifications. Found a job with my local regional transit company, now I make $80-100k a year, depending on the specific work i'm assigned, with full benefits, great pension, union protection. Many drivers actually go above the $100k mark with working overtime. I never really see people bring up this job when talking about potential career paths, but it should be talked about more!! It's genuinely pretty easy once you get used to it, little to no stress and no physical labour involved. I'm in Ontario, Canada but I imagine its the same job wherever you are

[M 30 yo]Currently stuck in a big corporate dead end shipping job. I’m looking to finish my bachelors in a related field and get out. It’s taken me 5 years and 0 ass kissing to come this realization . Even after relaxing and enjoyed weekends/vacations, it’s the same toxic “crab in a barrel” mentality almost everywhere I turn. Tell me , even if I do climb the ranks on a bigger scale, will it be the same?

Hi everyone,

About 4 months ago I had a heavy workload and stayed until 7:30 pm. Everyone else had left, so I was alone in the open space. I relaxed a bit… and farted. Twice.

Except my manager was still in her office. I hadn’t noticed.

About a minute after the second one, she came out, saw I was still there, walked over and kindly asked why I was still working. She told me not to push too hard, that if there were any emergencies we could deal with them tomorrow, no problem. She wished me a good evening and left.

I was dying inside. I kept wondering (and still wonder) whether she smelled anything. I almost felt like going to apologize, but I didn’t say anything. I just thought to myself “I really shouldn’t have relaxed like that.”

It’s been 4 months and I still think about it every time I see her. I have no idea if she actually smelled anything or not.

So I wanted to ask: have any other managers experienced something like this with one of their team members? Did you hold it against them, or is it the kind of thing that just gets completely ignored?

Thanks in advance for any feedback (even if it’s just to tell me I’m ridiculous for still thinking about it…).

I recently took about 4 months to travel and I had been planning for years. After talking with my boss's boss (in charge of approving PTOs), he said its fine and I went ahead and applied. That was late 2025. I came back and wadayaknow: surprise, denied! I had already bought flight tickets at that point so I just resigned.

I offered to help with a new project we had recently started, for a while until they could find a replacement. Was told he would have to discuss with the team. Told him to please tell me any feedback, good or bad. Ok.. guess what?? Crickets!

Came back in August and was following on money owed that the company has to initiate (normal process hEre). Reached out to HR (who stopped working there) who basically told me boss's boss and boss had been telling people I was coming back. Me : surprised :-o.

I'm now thinking of what to do as I wasn't communicated officially. Noww I'm getting no response on my money and I seriously do not want to go back (think, only lady fighting to be heard each and eeveryday and being treated as a glorified secretary and expexted to arrange meetings and write the team's backlog. )

I am curious what you would do in this situation.

**ETA Context**

So for more context:

1. I am not in the US but I figured this is a general career advice sub. Not from India either lol

2. I requested 2 weeks off but after being denied I went and changed flight date to 4 months after since I had nothing to get back to for the time being. And I was burnt out so I needed the holiday.

3. I think if I go back, I can't claim anymore. They are like unemployment benefits. You claim after 6 months which is in Sept. But you can file ahead of time.

I'll start by saying that I take almost no PTO. I took two days off this whole summer and then last time I took a week off was a year and a half ago. In the past five years I've literally adjusted my PTO on multiple requests in order to accommodate for projects. I've even out right been denied a couple days even though I give ample time on requests.

This last one got me mad though. They aren't out right saying I can't take it but my supervisor is taking it up to a management meeting to discuss the request. I outright told them I have no flexibility with these dates. I've been flexible in the past and I'm not budging on this. It's not a staffing issue at all, I'm just a single point of failure if I'm gone, and in the past we need to get contractors to help out for a day or two that I'm out. My supervisor tried to reem me out and remind me that requests are never a solid yes. But I'm not bending over this time.

Am I right to be mad here that this is like pulling teeth? Im always flexible and rarely take time off but now I'm getting mad that they aren't just willing to let this work out and let me come up with a plan for when I'll be out in TWO MONTHS. Mind you I'm not rolling in the dough it's taken me 5 years to get up to 60k a year. And literally no other benefits. I'm just lucky my husband has good benefits

I’ve never been entirely sure. Thanks.

Edit: thanks all. I can keep referring to this post to help me keep my cool.

Hi! I’ve received a job offer for my dream role as a librarian at a public library and I have been asked when I can start.

I’m in the middle of moving to the city where this new role is located and I am also still working at my current job, so I would need at least 2 weeks to wrap up over there, send in my official resignation letter, and finish moving the rest of my stuff to my new place.

The problem is: I know they need to fill the role QUICKLY. The person who was previously there unexpectedly left, and it’s at the biggest library in the city and state, so it should be filled ASAP. This entire process has gone so fast. I applied, was contacted in mere days, and then had phone and in-person interviews at a quicker rate than I’ve ever experienced before.

So my question is — is telling them that I need 2-3 or 2-4 weeks to start (or giving them a start date within that time frame) going to make me look like a less ideal candidate? Would they offer the role to someone else who can start on, say, this Monday? I really need this job and I would hate to jeopardize it.

Thank you!!

Mine was a 5 hour interview across three panels of 10 people.

Can someone explain to me how “entry level” now requires 2-3 years of experience? Like at what point did that stop meaning what it says? I keep seeing postings that say “entry level” in the title and then list requirements that sound like they want someone who already did the job somewhere else first.

Anyone I know in the 22-26 range is dealing with the same thing. We did what we were told — went to school, got the degree, built a resume — and now we’re stuck in this weird loop where you can’t get experience without a job, and can’t get a job without experience. It doesn’t add up.

Meanwhile the government sat back and did nothing while wages stagnated, the cost of living tripled, and companies exported “entry level” expectations to entry level pay. We were told: go to school, get the degree, you’ll be fine. Nobody mentioned we’d be competing for scraps while people who had it handed to them lecture us about work ethic.

I’m 22-26 and everyone I know is stuck in the same trap: can’t get experience without a job, can’t get a job without experience, and can’t get anyone in power to actually address why this is happening. This isn’t a “just apply harder” problem. This is a systemic failure and I’m sick of it being framed like it’s on us.

Curious to know…from your experiences..

“Work hard and you’ll get ahead”?
“Your company is your family”?
“Do what you love”?
“Job hopping is bad”?

What did you learn the hard way?

As the title says, I’m seriously considering going back to grad school for an MSW with the goal of eventually becoming an LCSW. I’m currently in the research/decision-making stage and would really love to hear from people who have actually gone through the process.

For some background, I have a Bachelor in Fine Arts and have worked across arts, museums, galleries, and now a corporate office environment. I actually really enjoyed my time interning at museums and would still be open to working in that environment again, particularly because I love the educational and community-oriented aspects of the work. However, I’ve found that museum/arts opportunities can be fairly limited, both in terms of the number of positions available and the career paths they offer, which has made me think more seriously about what I want long-term. My current 9-5 corporate job has also made me realize that I don’t thrive in a traditional corporate environment. The day-to-day feels pretty unstimulating, and I’ve been missing a stronger sense of purpose in my work.

I’ve always been drawn to community-based work and helping people, and the more I’ve learned about social work, the more I can genuinely picture myself in the field. I’m particularly interested in the clinical/therapy route, but I also like that an MSW could leave room to explore different areas of social work.

I’ve done a lot of research on MSW programs and the LCSW path, but I’d really value hearing from people who have lived it rather than just reading program websites.

For current MSW students, recent grads, and LCSWs:
- What has your experience with the MSW actually been like?
- Did the reality of social work match what you expected going in?
- If you pursued the clinical/LCSW route, was it ultimately worth the time, cost, and supervision required?
- What do you wish you had known before starting your MSW?
- For anyone who came from a completely different undergraduate/career background, did you feel like you were at a disadvantage?
- And honestly, do you feel fulfilled by the work now? What do you like and dislike about the day-to-day?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who made a career change into social work, rather than those who knew they wanted to be social workers from undergrad. I’m very open to hearing both positive and negative experiences. I’d much rather go into this with realistic expectations than just confirmation that it’s a good idea. Thanks!

Hey! So I’m a third year accounting student, and I just started actually taking my major courses this semester. AI is huge in the business world already, and it is only growing. Professors constantly promote it, and so many of my classmates use it. I do not like AI. It’s cool, but I worry strongly about the environmental impacts on our planet, and I feel like it kind of makes it easier to cheat and just not use our brains/think critically. When I bring up my qualms with it, people often preach the technological advancements and productivity benefits. While I do worry about not getting a job when I get out of college, I care less about AI taking jobs, and care more about our water sources, increased heat/wildfire risks, etc.

I’ve been struggling with this ethical dilemma since I started college, but more so in the past two years. As I have gotten more into the business classes, the more AI gets brought up and promoted. I really don’t want to get into a profession that goes against my morals, and I also feel like I’m not even that good at or interested in accounting. But I’m also pretty far into my education already, and if I quit or switch now I don’t know what I would switch to, and I know it will be financially difficult.

Looking for opinion and some clarifications from all the Guru who is working and worked for the City and County of SF. I think this will be a life crossroad for me. Besides, friends, families and doing my researches, I think Reddit Sub is probably the best place to get first hand information. Feel free to reply or DM me, I welcome all feedbacks.

Currently I have a decent job in private sector, 120k - 150k depending on bonus, not very high but steady, 5% match on 401K. If I make the switch to a entry level City job to get my foot into the door, the first few years the salary would be in the lower 75k-85k range , but eventually it will go back up as the steps go up (or transferring to a higher salary position down the road).

I will work for the next 20 - 25 years until I retire, Here is what I can think of so far:

Private sector

Larger pool of 401k with 10% contribution and 5% employer match. Estimated to be about 1.2-1.5 million in the fund for distribution + social security check. But downside would be no pension and no medical, I have to pay out of the pocket.

VS

City and County for the next 20 - 25 years, here are the benefits I found on the website.

Benefit Contributions

2.0% of your salary to the City's Retiree Health Care Trust Fund 

7.5% - 10% of your salary (for FY2023-24) as an employee retirement contribution . This amount can go up or down each year, depending on how much the City is paying. It's important to remember that you don't lose this money. If you leave the City before you are eligible for retirement you get it back on your way out.

7.65% of your salary for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA): 6.2% goes to Social Security and 1.45% goes to Medicare

Health Benefits

20 or more years of service = 100%

15 or more years = 75%

10 or more years = 50%

5 or more years = access to coverage, but the City doesn't contribute

Can someone explain to me how “entry level” now requires 2-3 years of experience? Like at what point did that stop meaning what it says? I keep seeing postings that say “entry level” in the title and then list requirements that sound like they want someone who already did the job somewhere else first.

Anyone I know in the 22-26 range is dealing with the same thing. We did what we were told — went to school, got the degree, built a resume — and now we’re stuck in this weird loop where you can’t get experience without a job, and can’t get a job without experience. It doesn’t add up.

Meanwhile the government sat back and did nothing while wages stagnated, the cost of living tripled, and companies exported “entry level” expectations to entry level pay. We were told: go to school, get the degree, you’ll be fine. Nobody mentioned we’d be competing for scraps while people who had it handed to them lecture us about work ethic.

I’m 22-26 and everyone I know is stuck in the same trap: can’t get experience without a job, can’t get a job without experience, and can’t get anyone in power to actually address why this is happening. This isn’t a “just apply harder” problem. This is a systemic failure and I’m sick of it being framed like it’s on us.

Hi I’m 24 and I’m a law firm receptionist. I make 23 an hour and I’m comfortable, but one day I would like to make more money. Thing is I like being a receptionist; I didn’t go to college and I don’t really have any desire to branch out and find a different line of work. Would it be possible to make a career and eventually more money as a receptionist? Or are there jobs similar that pay more?