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My biggest regret in life was working hard for an employer who didn't care for me. I now work in public sector and know that I am making the world a better place, and that pleases me. I got out of the rat race and now have some level of comfort.
I'm glad to hear that you're doing better. I've found that public sector can be more stressful in some domains, because of how overstretched services are nowadays, but like you say, at least you're striving for more than just lining someone else's pocket
I am also in a good position--I work in higher education, so not quite the same as state or local government, which has different challenges.
Why run if there's no more a carrot dangling from the string?
It's multi-pronged:
- why put in effort for companies that will run you into the ground to save a fraction of a %, give you "raises" that don't even cover inflation and never adjust to market rates, or will fire you at will?
- why work hard when the social contract has been severed; when the entire system is designed to funnel wealth to the richest, and return the working class to a feudalist underclass of renters.
- why save for a future family when you can't ever have housing or economic security, and the system is hellbent on maintaining the status quo despite the fact it may create a lifetime of famine, war, and suffering for the children we already can't afford.
why work hard when the social contract has been severed;
There never was this. We had strong unions from the 1930s until the late 1970s. Since then, it's been non-stop capitalism fests.
That's because the job wasn't finished. People thought we could negotiate with capitalists.
Sure you can get a peace deal, just like you can get one with putin. The 1% kept soaking up the stolen surplus labor value, and have used that power and wealth to take us right back to the gilded age. when the time comes, no reforms... just a new way of life. We tried reforms yall. It did not work
I think millennials and zoomer are just being open and honest about things that always happened. We love labels and with the Internet talks with other like-minded people. There have always been people who worked 9 to 5 at a job and prioritized stability over money. We are being open and bragging about it. We just want to break the hustle culture that was always a loud subset
For example my dad a peak boomer worked at the same company for his whole career and turned down "promotions" that gave a manager title with little more money. They have always been there
The problem is, you used to be able to comfortably live that life. Now if you stay at the same company, your wages won't increase at a rate to sustain your life style. Companies care way more about acquiring talent than retaining talent, so you need to move around to make enough money
And this is why being part of a bargaining class/union is important, none of this making less than new hires doing the same thing, your wages go up with the cost of living so even if you don't get raises, you still don't fall behind inflation
I know. But that was the equivalent of jumping every few years to a similar but slightly paying more role. Not grinding to get the biggest promotion and title as possible.
At some point, you end up wanting some stability and the constant jumping gets old. Perhaps you finally hit a target salary that makes you go "well I guess that's enough".
Except that you wont get eaises to that salary to maintain your current atandard of living. Getting a 2% annual raise with 4% annual inflation is an annual pay cut. They only way to maintain the current standard is to get a new job every few years, or just quit playing the game.
You can get stability through community and friendship. The idea that you need a big salary makes sense because of how we have been raised, to live independently in little units, and it's scary to switch to a less independent life, but it is possible.
I think millennials and zoomer are just being open and honest about things that always happened.
This is partially true, but things are actually worse than they used to be in some ways and better in others. I think that, more than anything, the conditions have accelerated a bit more.
I was born in 1976. I remember managers being completely toxic assholes--that was just how it was. But, when I was a kid, there were still pensions--you worked 40 years for a company and they took care of you. I think that both of these things are gone--managers can't really get away with being as cruel as they used to, though I know that's out there. Also employees don't expect a graceful exit at the end of their career.
Millennials and gen z know things are worse, and that's why we don't feel like it's worth it to give everything to a company. We don't have to pretend because we know the employers know things are bad.
Companies expect you to slog your guts out for the false promise of a reward. But being a hard worker, at least in my environment, just means you get the hardest work.
I've had the biggest pay rises by changing job. There's no reason to be ambitious and stay loyal to a company that will run you ragged and offer very little in return.
Unfortunately that's only really true for white collar work. Most factory/trade schmucks like myself get massive pay cuts when we move jobs...
I've been in the same cycle for almost 15 years now... Work 5 years, get raises, have to move, huge pay cut, work 5 years, get back to first exit salary, have to move, huge pay cut, etc etc...
I get sooooo bitter when I see already well paid people talk about getting 30-40% more when changing jobs... Like good for them, but man are things not even in that respect at all. :(
It's also really hard to jump when you work a niche job. The pay is basically flat no matter where you go and there isn't really anywhere to turn.
I don't think that people voluntarily give up, I believe that they are more burnt out etc than ever
Once again this X-er is cheering for how aware Millennials and Zoomers seem to be compared to how oblivious I was through my first several decades. Trying to figure out a (non-catastrophic) way out of the rat race myself.
Speaking as a child of the late 1970s, this was my experience. We had nobody to look at or talk with this about, it was just Boomers being Boomers and pretending that 1995 was no different than 1975. They really just expected us to hustle and get ahead, when THEY WERE THE ONLY GENERATION IN HISTORY THAT THIS WORKED FOR. It took the 2000 and 2008 crashes before people could actually speak about it.
Make no mistake: the world is now a better place BECAUSE people are talking about this.
They didn't even hustle. Boomers grew up in basically the only industrialized country that hadn't been bombed to fuck. Good jobs fell into their laps.
My job is cozy and not too stressful. Its a shame I will have to quit in a few years once inflation catches up again. I'd stick around if wages stay livable but that's a strech.
Still living paycheck to paycheck but it seems best I can do. Worse, im afraid if getting pushed up to the bosses seat. Im not trying to move up unless its life changing money. I don't know the pay, but I dealt with being on call before and that was hell. Last thing I need is to burn out , I don't know if I can live through that again.
yeah I hate the bs of trying to push management stuff on ya when its not part of the job you signed up on. Certainly aint doing it without a hefty pay increase. Why do all the bootstraps folks not want to pay for anything. I mean I know why. They did not get rich by writing checks.
Getting laid off from my tech job was both the scariest and most freeing moment in my life. It's been over a year now and I've transitioned into doing just a few hours of contract work.
It's really all about defining what "success" means. And "Ambition". I've always looked at "ambition" as a negative trait, at least among my peers in the workplace. Someone who is ambitious will not hesitate to step on me if it gets them further up the ladder. But someone who is happy in the role they have, and doesn't always have their focus on the next thing, will be a much better team player.
That doesn't mean having no goals whatsoever, or never learning anything new. But it does mean establishing your own goals, that bring you your own fulfillment. And if they don't coincide with what your boss wants, that doesn't make you a bad person, it might just make the job a bad fit.
The social contract was broken decades ago. What is the point of trying to build up society when that society is constantly moving the goalposts? Society wouldn't be able to function if everyone was a doctor or lawyer or hedge fund manager, why do we act like people who earn less than 100k a year don't deserve a house, access to education, access to healthcare, and access to healthy food and clean water?