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I took the first option. I had a job that contributed to a divorce as well as started to cause serious health issues due to stress and overwork. Several of my colleagues experienced similar issues, including one who dropped dead the day after a large project closed, another who suffered an emotional breakdown requiring hospitalization, and several others coped with good old fashioned substance abuse.
So I quit.
There are terrible employees out there, and stress is a very real issue for many.
That was several years ago, and I was able to find an employer that does not institutionalize a crushing workload and criticism, threats and penalties for falling short of perfection.
I worked in a place that on any given hour a new rule was bounced around . It was chaos! For the first 8 years I was not bending to the emperors new clothes mantra ...'ohh just go along with it. ' So in meanders these 4 well adapted business men. Two days after settling in ..one of them said what for 8 years I knew to be true...the 2 owners were bat$hit bonkers. Constantly being inconsistent.
The ongoing joke was 'the box". All it took was our hr lady to be walking down the hall with an empty box and we knew someone had finally spoke up and said...but the emperor doesn't have clothes! You were allowed to think it..but my gawd don't ever validate reality!!!
After year 13 I finally received my "box". I still ironically loved my duties..and even most of my Co workers. But the stress from daily chaos did have its day of reckoning. I regret not being at that payscale....I don't regret finally shouting the inevitable truth...that was a textbook example of chaos and stress .
My weight had bloomed to 132 when working there..that is a 30% weight gain! Yes it was stress induced. My gastrointestinal and BP were irratic.
UltimatelyI'm accountable for my body...not my work.
This is nothing new, unless you’re under the age of 50ish. I remember when Ford Motor Company actually issued a mandate that everyone had to be out of the office by 9. As in 9:00 PM! This only after finding an employee dead at his desk!
I was once told by my department manager that the minimum number of OT hours I was expected to work was 500 in a calendar year. I would be considered a real team player if I hit 700 hours!
This is nothing new, unless you’re under the age of 50ish. I remember when Ford Motor Company actually issued a mandate that everyone had to be out of the office by 9. As in 9:00 PM! This only after finding an employee dead at his desk!
I was once told by my department manager that the minimum number of OT hours I was expected to work was 500 in a calendar year. I would be considered a real team player if I hit 700 hours!
So much for work/life balance.
The difference back then is people were PAID FOR OVERTIME. Time and a half. Remember that concept?
My parents didn't have to moonlight in the 80s to send me to Private school. OT paid for it.
Now people are expected to raise a family on a stagnant salary with pitiful wages that don't keep up with COL/inflation and do it with a smile. F**** that.
I work in the news media, and you don't enter the profession without expecting some stress. I've seen people handle it poorly. I've seen people handle it well.
I've been in the game for 20 years now. I've mellowed quite a bit in that time. I stick to my job, do it well, and try not to add any additional tasks. Personally, I also have that unapproachable face as described in another thread, so people have learned not to bother me with too many extra requests.
The difference back then is people were PAID FOR OVERTIME. Time and a half. Remember that concept?
My parents didn't have to moonlight in the 80s to send me to Private school. OT paid for it.
Now people are expected to raise a family on a stagnant salary with pitiful wages that don't keep up with COL/inflation and do it with a smile. F**** that.
Paying for overtime work is an inconvenience to businesses. Many have found a way to get around this. Stagnant salaries at low pay help employers.
Don't like it? Start your own business! Reinvent yourself! Work hard and smart! Do whatever it takes! Oh wait! That seems to work less and less. The work environment keeps getting more and more hostile to ordinary workers. Many here don't want that pointed out. It is always the employee's fault and always will be if they can't get ahead or even tread water in this "great economy" where everyone that wants a job can have one.
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