"Dying for a Paycheck" by Jeffrey Pfeffer

[MLSFan]

It's hard to have everything for nothing... Want the newest car or two but don't have the money for it? Pretty sure that's some hard times ahead. It was like that back in the horse and buggy days when people wanted two of the best horses in town...

Life is hard because people think they are entitled to more than they can afford, so they stretch themselves buying it on credit. Want a college education but can't afford it and look down on community college? Get a loan to make up difference. Want a house but don't want to be near people of your own economic standing? Get a loan to get inside the gated community.

Life isn't harder, it's what people want that made it harder. Inflation adjusted, housing isn't any more expensive on a per square foot basis. Neither are food costs. But people eat more and live in larger houses, but they want to do the same things their parents did? But their parents never did any of what the kids want to do today at their age.

[Serious Conversation]

At least for me, most of the stress doesn't come from the technical aspects of the job itself, but from all the politics and posturing.

[May1989]

It's not just heavy workloads. Not sure if the book deals with workplace bullying and discrimination. A real hostile workplace can cause employees to develop clinical depression. People cannot just get up and leave due to financial commitments. Jobs are hard to come by. Must stay and endure, resulting in mental health issues.

[boxus]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

At least for me, most of the stress doesn't come from the technical aspects of the job itself, but from all the politics and posturing.

Exactly. The technical aspects of the job are fine, it is all the BS people create out of whatever reason that causes the stress.

Like my 12 years in the Navy, the technical aspects were great, no issue at all, it was the people that made it rather stressful at times, made it stressful over nothing other than their own issues, whatever those may be.

Same with my short time working for the federal government, the job itself was pretty routine and normal, but the managers and a couple of coworkers made it unbearable, all over things that had nothing to with the job.