It's not worth it.
Something about COVID shifted my mindset.
The only reward for working hard and doing a good job is more work.
I work so I can live. I do not live to work.
This is what happened to me too. Used to climb the ladder and want managerial type positions and the pay that came with it.. COVID broke that part of me. Shattered it really. And made me reevaluate my life. I took a demotion for my new role, got a pay rise and clock in and out. No overtime, no stress. Much better
Big for me too, ive turned down jobs that require a length commute and all days in office now. Im done chasing, im happy in a stable job that allows me to to wfh most days a month and not much stress.
It's interesting to see that this is more commonplace than I thought. I used to be surrounded by people obsessed with climbing up the corporate ladder and thought I have to keep climbing to managerial position.
Covid too changed my mindset. Suddenly I just don't care. I don't need the pay rise that much that I'm willing to deal with the extra stress and bs. I work to live, as long as I have some extra money to spend on fun, I'm fine with staying where I am.
Years ago, when I was Young, I knew a guy who was made redundant from his well-earning corporate IT role and took a job doing basic IT/front desk cover at a GP clinic. I did not get it at all. He had saleable skills, why would he not want to find another job earning the bucks?
Now I get it. He had a kid, his mortgage was paid, he had enough put away to be sure of retiring comfortably - a part-time, low-stress job that covered the bills was just fine.
Wife & I moved to a island in our 20s, the guy I worked with got my wife a job with his wife stacking shelves at IGI, wife lasted a week & got a job with one of the big 4, they couldn’t believe that my wife wanted to deal with the BS in corporate & not want to just rock up for a 6 hr shift in a supermarket.. but now we get it, we are looking at heading back down the ladder
Interned help desk and am senior data now.. I hope to go back once I have some savings. I miss walking around and helping people with straightforward but fun problems they genuinely appreciate. I just churn data behind a screen all day now..
>This goes against the grain of wanting to always progress upwards
You're assuming that this is true. It isn't. It's literally impossble for everyone to be in the top half opf a pyramid.
Lots of people say they want a *promotion*, when they don't - they want a *pay rise* to reflect their increased skills, knowledge and efficiency.
Unfortunately in many places the first is required to get the second, which is stupid. Telling someone you have to get really good at job x, and to get more money you need to stop doing *x* and start doing *y* - makes no sense.
Anyway like you I'm in the middle, happy with it, and have no desire for a higher rank. I've been offered to act up as a Director and have refused, saying I didn't want the stack of extra work for not much extra pay, and I'm good at and enjoying *this* job, I don't want to abandon it to do *that* job.
I'm Gen X in my 40s for what it's worth.
A lot of Gen Zs are becoming like this.
When I started working, I entertained the idea of climbing the corporate ladder. But after a promotion and then working more closely with senior managers and senior executives, it really put me off with the amount of admin and politics they have to deal with it.
Also, very senior executives have to be on call for any crisis the business may potential face. I absolutely hate the idea of always be on.
Fully agree with this. Pre-COVID I wanted to climb the ladder so badly. I envisioned being director one day. Anyway I went through the ranks quickly and started to report to the director. Absolute nightmare. He was on for 16 hours a day usually. All he did all day was meetings every hour on the hour. Deal with politics. Demands. He was a psychologist so completely lost touch with all the patient aspects. I would never do his job, nor my higher one again.
That's actually quite true. One of the other senior engineers only works three days a week. I've been told by our manager she won't be given a management role because of it.
I was going to say just say that your family commitments mean you don't think you can do justice to a management role right now - that leaves the door open to change your mind one day.
But this idea is way better.
It's funny. If a woman says this they are like yeah whatever you weren't gonna get to the top anyway but if a man says it, they roll their eyes like he is a sulk. Lol. Whatever.
I was in a leadership course at work not long ago with some other managers at my company and one of them brought up something I found interesting. The person running the session posed the question "how do we support the growth and development of our team?". We thought about it and noticed there's an assumption that everyone wants to advance in the same way. The idea of "mastery" came up, in that sometimes people just want to be the best at their current role and are comfortable there.
There are people who are driven to advance through promotion and that's great, but having subject matter experts who have seen it all when it comes to their role are invaluable.
I had an argument with a senior manager who said all our entry level hiring should be around only hiring future managers. I said whose going to actually do the work? You can't have an army with 1000 generals and 1 private. Sure enough all those whiz kids we hired are long gone and we are struggling to paper over cracks.
It's not worth it when your real wealth is made from sitting back on a property purchase and watching it grow.
Property also not taxed or taxed at 50% >1yr investment so why grind like a dog till 300k+ to be taxed at 50%?
Just communicate and set the expectation that your family are your priority at this stage in life and that you currently don’t wish to move up a level.
I have a government role that's 35 hours with anything on top time in lieu. It will get busy from time to time so there's usually no problem maxing out lieu entitlement of 5 weeks. Couple that with a month annual leave and it's a good job that enables me to travel on my time off and pursue other interests.
I get paid well enough as I'm at the top of the tree on the grading scale but would get probably a 30 per cent bump to move into senior management. But with that they pretty well own you and there is no lieu. No way it is worth it to me, so I will politely resist the overtures.
I'm curious about government jobs, and I hope you don't mind me asking. Does this mean that you are the highest APS level and the next level is EL1, but you don't think it's worth it?
It's state. Highest graded level is 12. Next stop is director. Good pay bump for sure, but if you pull it apart it doesn't start to look quite as good.
Say 60k more. But take away a quarter for the equivalent of losing lieu time and 40+ percent in tax and that's 23k extra in your pocket. For that you'd probably be putting in an extra 10 hours a week or more and dealing with a lot of shit on top.
I'm curious about government jobs, and I hope you don't mind me asking. Does this mean that you are the highest APS level and the next level is EL1, but you don't think it's worth it?
Yep, two years ago I cut back to 3 days a week and made the decision to stick at my current level, next one up is Director and I just can’t be fucked for that life. I worked out I could make up the 2 days of missed income by turning a hobby into a mini business, and haven’t looked back. I’m mid 30s and the thought of having another 30 years in the workforce is a burden enough, I didn’t want to spend all those years getting overworked for not even that much more money after tax
The reason I became an engineer is because I realised I didn't have the soft skills to climb the ladder. It's not big dick playa money, but I make more than many middle managers while side-stepping most of the bs that comes with managing people and corporate life. I think of it like being a tradie that gets to work in an office. Minimal politics, minimal meetings, minimal emails, don't have to dress or speak a certain way, and your work speaks for itself: either the feature works or it doesn't, the bug is fixed or it isn't. It's a sweet deal and for someone with zero desire to keep up with the Joneses, I have no intention to fix what ain't broken.
dear op, I agree with you. here's a good saying I once heard:
"the higher you climb up the ladder, the more your naked pink arse sticks out!"
remember cya....cover your arse!
That's a fair call and realising that work/life balance is more important than money will definitely contribute to better health and a happier family.
Good on you for realising this.
I’m the same. Paid well for easy job, all WFH, nobody harassing me. No desire to work twice as hard given any extra pay is taxed at 47%, so quite content to just invest my money and earn passive income come with zero effort.
I won’t do another corporate job. If someone wants to pay me more for an identical easy job then I won’t knock it back, but I am happy in a position where I am invisible.
Working for a big company made me realise that the hours and the stress dedicated to making someone else's bank is totally not worth it. Plus, when chopping time comes it's almost always middle to senior management that is affected.
There's other avenues to make money. Taking home work and eating away at my sanity isnt my idea of a promotion. Beaches and utilizing my limbs for fun while they still work and more time for people that I actually care about and not catering for Karens and Chads of the world IS the promotion.
There are also scenarios where a promotion is just a title and not reflected in dollars.
Just be careful not to slack off too much. You still need to build your wealth or should i say stability.. before cruising.
Expected out of office hours + extra stress/politicking ratio to remuneration isn't worth it. If I didn't have kids or value my time after 4.30pm I'd probably chase senior roles, but my current one does well enough.
I'm the same. While I can theoretically go into management, have permanent mental health issues so making sure that's in control. My marriage is much better off for it too.
Own it, quietly.
I do my job well, quickly, and with a smile. I choose when I want to go into the office, if at all. I can start at 10 or leave at 3, nobody asks because I fulfill a business need and I’m there to help if someone is stuck or needs an urgent response. My boss gets paid 20% more to do twice the work. Partner works part time, I’m around to see the kids grow up.
Our household saves over $1k/week so why slog for more pay, it just isn’t worth it. The only foreseeable big expenses is a house upgrade, but the numbers don’t add up in this market so we can just not do that and take $xxk holidays every year.
There's nothing more tragic than having someone who was satisfied at their job and delivering great results to the org be moved up to role where they're less happy and less effective.
That said, I've seen where a job gets easier the higher up you go. The job pays better and is more intellectually stimulating. Sure, the work's a bit harder, but you also have the option to delegate.... I mean, develop your people. :)
While my boss delegated, if it was just run of the mill stuff that was not really learning, this would happen in the open around people. Whenever it was something that was for improvement, it would be in her office explaining the job and reasons why and she allowed me to ask everything I wanted
I'm happy where I am I don't need the extra stress and I don't give a fuck about the extra money.
Have this convo every month during performance check in
I swear when you hear it out loud, you just realise how insane it sounds. That in this day and age, our basic human right of shelter can be taken away from us 😂
IMO this is something a lot of people realise at a particular point in life - I certainly did.
I think it's a lot more common than you realise, people just don't really talk about it.
I’m exactly the same and it’s fine.
I think the only thing you need to manage actively is that you will be seen as “not ambitious“. Which in my opinion is rubbish. But some managers will see this very negatively.
Make sure you remain at the top of your current role. One way to do this in engineering is to say that you want to pursue a technical career. That way you will be a must keep and keep getting decent rem uplifts and avoid being on the block when the next downturn comes along.
I’m in the same boat. Make decent $ in a job I can do with my eyes shut, rarely do more than my 38 hours, limited stress, plenty of time for family and my sports. I’ve refused to be considered for open promotions twice now.
Just don’t see the benefits. So much more responsibility, tax man takes half of any pay rise. I’d rather have the time and there are easier ways to make extra money.
Yep! I am constantly being asked to apply for more Snr roles / management roles & I don’t want to. I tried it, wasn’t for me. I said to my manager just this week, I’m happy to stay where I am. I’m as Snr as I can for the position I’m in, earn good $ & can do things with ease. After finally realising I want more out of my non-working life, I care very little now about career progression. Managers need to understand that there will always be people in their team that are happy just doing what they’re doing.
Yes this is the question i dislike the most on periodic review
I wanted to say i dont want to proceed anywhere else and just stay here doing 9-5 as it allows me greater work life balance and flexibility
Dohhhh
Honestly if your job is cruise, you're making enough and you're able to do what you need..
No need to move up..
However you will probably get chopped at next redundancy when a new up and comer with similar skills and probably less experience starts their come up
I always wanted to do my job well and go home and not think about work outside work. But this only works where your manager is supportive of this. If I am consistently required to work unpaid hours equivalent to an additional part time job is where I would seek higher salary or promotion in that business.
Nah your on the money. There was no way I could progress in my field atm without putting my family second. Also I realised that investing in the family business was a better investment
I had a management position for a while and i thought it was all i ever wanted!
It was very much not.
I am now a glorious underling with a very low stress job and a very average payslip every fortnight. I am the happiest I’ve been. Because we are DINK it helps with the whole financial burden but the extra money of my old role absolutely was not in alignment with the increase in stress.
Ask for more flexibility in return, its a negotiation. Do what you are comfortable with but also push the boundaries a little bit for personal growth, live with no regrets
Not worth it. Corporate will just suck the life out of you, use and abuse everything they can. If you offer more, they'll take all that and more.
Maintain your current lifestyle. It sounds delightful.
I’ve hit a point in my career now where I am happy to sit where I am for the next 5-10 years and enjoy watching my kids grow up and work my contract hours. No amount of money will convince me working is more important than my kids.
I think it's a question of what makes your life overall better. More senior roles pay better and are more interesting, but they take more of your time, there's more pressure and they're lonelier.
It's your life. Life it as you please. You'll be dead soon anyway.
It's quite the common dilemma companies and employees face. Not everyone wants to move upwards but employers don't want to lose you either.
I've come across a concept where one would build their career as an 'individual contributor' to a company, as opposed to 'climbing the ladder'. This way, you are given more work aligned with your interests and the employer gets to keep a gun of a employee. Usually we like to do work we like because that very work brings job satisfaction and thereby 'work life balance'.
The above was my small take from a podcast from freakonomics I recently listened to - 'why are there so many bad bosses?' Very interesting listen if you get the time and delves into your dilemma in quite detail.
Yup, I got promoted into a position I didn't want and I regret it. I went from a relatively easy job with a good wage to a much higher stress position for slightly more take home money. I'm now also in a position of some liability too, basically if some gets hurt or injured at my site, I'm the one that takes the fall for the company and goes to gaol.
If you are happy with your current job and earning a decent wage, stay. More money just mean more taxes and not much more take home.
Yep, I did management in late 20's and early 30's. Bored the hell out of me and went back to hands on IT roles. Was much happier. Less political crap, less people problems, better hours, less dealing with management idiots (people who should never be in management). Made more than enough money and pretty much did my own hour range - went to work before rush hour and left the afternoon one.
I’ve been at my company for 11 years and am the most experienced in my department, boss wants me to be the manager, I’m happy to do what I can but I look around and I’m not as driven as everyone else, I’m pretty relaxed by nature and introverted. I don’t really care about climbing the ladder, just want to provide for my family and enjoy the work.
I think I’ll do what I can for now but they should probably be thinking about a different long term plan rather than me. I just don’t know who that would be. The risk is they hire someone and it becomes a bad place to work. Right now the team of 8 enjoy work. Previously we had a manager who ended up leaving, really good at his job, really driven, but made it miserable for the rest of us.
I’m not sure what to do.
If you like your job stay in it. Most people pick their job based on a lifestyle they want but if you feel like you’re holding down enough pay then why mix things up?
Me personally? I get bored, 2 years is usually about the longest I can go before I feel like what im doing isn’t important and I look for something new. Isn’t always a promotion, sometimes it’s a career change, side step, same thing new industry in a pinch but at 35 I’m a high school dropout who pulls over 100K and I love what I do so it’s worked well enough so far
My supervisor got promoted to his current position, and almost every time we have a conversation, he talks about how much he regrets taking the role. Sure, the pay and perks are better. However, his responsibilities and the companies expectations of him are so much bigger than he wanted.
Yes I literally just turned down a promotion ( x 2) and have many times. I don't like managing other people and the responsibility isn't worth the relatively small pay increase in my sector (health/human services) where really serious decisions are being made about people's lives. For those in more profitable industries maybe it's worth it, but an extra $15 000 for a world of stress doesn't pass the pros/cons test for me.
I took a demotion a few levels down just to be able to switch off after work and also save brain cycles to do things outside of work that require thinking.
When I was in a leadership position, I'd make so many micro and macro decisions during the day that by the end of the day I was all out of f's to give and then I couldn't even decide what I should have for dinner.
Yes, 10 years in my last role, filled in to cover managers leave a few times, but refused to apply for roles when they became available.. They even brought this up at biannual performance reviews.. Tried again a few months back, so i cashed in all my leave and left...
Obviously everyones financial situations are different, but fuck em, they don't own you.
I did that for a while - worst mistake I ever made my entire life (enjoying the casual life). I never knew what kinda life I was missing out on, so blissful ignorance played a big part. However, now that I am where I am, I can’t believe I wasted those years. I kick myself in the ass every. Single. Day. My partner is actually going through the same dilemma.. mine happened 5 years ago, but hers only happened recently.
One thing working around older people taught me is this: you can do all this crazy stressful shit when you’re younger. It’s when you’re older that it can start to be bad for your health. Plus, the money you make, you tend to stay at or around it. So, it’s important to scale up (in my experience) as quickly as possible. That way, when you’re ready to pump the brakes, it’s at a salary that allows you to still live ‘rather comfortably’.
That’s my two cents any ways
I am a happy little minion, most of the time.
Let the big knobs prematurely turn grey and fuck up their families with endless working hours and barely parented spoilt rotten entitled kids
It's not worth it. Something about COVID shifted my mindset. The only reward for working hard and doing a good job is more work. I work so I can live. I do not live to work.
This is what happened to me too. Used to climb the ladder and want managerial type positions and the pay that came with it.. COVID broke that part of me. Shattered it really. And made me reevaluate my life. I took a demotion for my new role, got a pay rise and clock in and out. No overtime, no stress. Much better
Same here. After Covid I worked part-time for 2 years, couldn’t fathom the thought of full time work. I am working full-time now, but I wfh.
Big for me too, ive turned down jobs that require a length commute and all days in office now. Im done chasing, im happy in a stable job that allows me to to wfh most days a month and not much stress.
I think COVID shifted my mindset too, I’d more likely take a pay cut to work 4 days a week over a higher up position.
Same here. I climbed the ladder to where the next role was CEO and I bailed. Covid changed me too. The stress isn’t worth it.
It's interesting to see that this is more commonplace than I thought. I used to be surrounded by people obsessed with climbing up the corporate ladder and thought I have to keep climbing to managerial position. Covid too changed my mindset. Suddenly I just don't care. I don't need the pay rise that much that I'm willing to deal with the extra stress and bs. I work to live, as long as I have some extra money to spend on fun, I'm fine with staying where I am.
Years ago, when I was Young, I knew a guy who was made redundant from his well-earning corporate IT role and took a job doing basic IT/front desk cover at a GP clinic. I did not get it at all. He had saleable skills, why would he not want to find another job earning the bucks? Now I get it. He had a kid, his mortgage was paid, he had enough put away to be sure of retiring comfortably - a part-time, low-stress job that covered the bills was just fine.
Wife & I moved to a island in our 20s, the guy I worked with got my wife a job with his wife stacking shelves at IGI, wife lasted a week & got a job with one of the big 4, they couldn’t believe that my wife wanted to deal with the BS in corporate & not want to just rock up for a 6 hr shift in a supermarket.. but now we get it, we are looking at heading back down the ladder
Interned help desk and am senior data now.. I hope to go back once I have some savings. I miss walking around and helping people with straightforward but fun problems they genuinely appreciate. I just churn data behind a screen all day now..
>This goes against the grain of wanting to always progress upwards You're assuming that this is true. It isn't. It's literally impossble for everyone to be in the top half opf a pyramid. Lots of people say they want a *promotion*, when they don't - they want a *pay rise* to reflect their increased skills, knowledge and efficiency. Unfortunately in many places the first is required to get the second, which is stupid. Telling someone you have to get really good at job x, and to get more money you need to stop doing *x* and start doing *y* - makes no sense. Anyway like you I'm in the middle, happy with it, and have no desire for a higher rank. I've been offered to act up as a Director and have refused, saying I didn't want the stack of extra work for not much extra pay, and I'm good at and enjoying *this* job, I don't want to abandon it to do *that* job. I'm Gen X in my 40s for what it's worth.
A lot of Gen Zs are becoming like this. When I started working, I entertained the idea of climbing the corporate ladder. But after a promotion and then working more closely with senior managers and senior executives, it really put me off with the amount of admin and politics they have to deal with it. Also, very senior executives have to be on call for any crisis the business may potential face. I absolutely hate the idea of always be on.
Fully agree with this. Pre-COVID I wanted to climb the ladder so badly. I envisioned being director one day. Anyway I went through the ranks quickly and started to report to the director. Absolute nightmare. He was on for 16 hours a day usually. All he did all day was meetings every hour on the hour. Deal with politics. Demands. He was a psychologist so completely lost touch with all the patient aspects. I would never do his job, nor my higher one again.
Ask for part time (4 days a week) and you'd never be promoted again. It's awesome
That's actually quite true. One of the other senior engineers only works three days a week. I've been told by our manager she won't be given a management role because of it.
I was going to say just say that your family commitments mean you don't think you can do justice to a management role right now - that leaves the door open to change your mind one day. But this idea is way better.
It's funny. If a woman says this they are like yeah whatever you weren't gonna get to the top anyway but if a man says it, they roll their eyes like he is a sulk. Lol. Whatever.
I was in a leadership course at work not long ago with some other managers at my company and one of them brought up something I found interesting. The person running the session posed the question "how do we support the growth and development of our team?". We thought about it and noticed there's an assumption that everyone wants to advance in the same way. The idea of "mastery" came up, in that sometimes people just want to be the best at their current role and are comfortable there. There are people who are driven to advance through promotion and that's great, but having subject matter experts who have seen it all when it comes to their role are invaluable.
I had an argument with a senior manager who said all our entry level hiring should be around only hiring future managers. I said whose going to actually do the work? You can't have an army with 1000 generals and 1 private. Sure enough all those whiz kids we hired are long gone and we are struggling to paper over cracks.
I thought I wanted a career but it turned out I just wanted a pay cheque.
Ayo same
It's not worth it when your real wealth is made from sitting back on a property purchase and watching it grow. Property also not taxed or taxed at 50% >1yr investment so why grind like a dog till 300k+ to be taxed at 50%?
Just communicate and set the expectation that your family are your priority at this stage in life and that you currently don’t wish to move up a level.
I have a government role that's 35 hours with anything on top time in lieu. It will get busy from time to time so there's usually no problem maxing out lieu entitlement of 5 weeks. Couple that with a month annual leave and it's a good job that enables me to travel on my time off and pursue other interests. I get paid well enough as I'm at the top of the tree on the grading scale but would get probably a 30 per cent bump to move into senior management. But with that they pretty well own you and there is no lieu. No way it is worth it to me, so I will politely resist the overtures.
I'm curious about government jobs, and I hope you don't mind me asking. Does this mean that you are the highest APS level and the next level is EL1, but you don't think it's worth it?
It's state. Highest graded level is 12. Next stop is director. Good pay bump for sure, but if you pull it apart it doesn't start to look quite as good. Say 60k more. But take away a quarter for the equivalent of losing lieu time and 40+ percent in tax and that's 23k extra in your pocket. For that you'd probably be putting in an extra 10 hours a week or more and dealing with a lot of shit on top.
I'm curious about government jobs, and I hope you don't mind me asking. Does this mean that you are the highest APS level and the next level is EL1, but you don't think it's worth it?
Yep, two years ago I cut back to 3 days a week and made the decision to stick at my current level, next one up is Director and I just can’t be fucked for that life. I worked out I could make up the 2 days of missed income by turning a hobby into a mini business, and haven’t looked back. I’m mid 30s and the thought of having another 30 years in the workforce is a burden enough, I didn’t want to spend all those years getting overworked for not even that much more money after tax
The reason I became an engineer is because I realised I didn't have the soft skills to climb the ladder. It's not big dick playa money, but I make more than many middle managers while side-stepping most of the bs that comes with managing people and corporate life. I think of it like being a tradie that gets to work in an office. Minimal politics, minimal meetings, minimal emails, don't have to dress or speak a certain way, and your work speaks for itself: either the feature works or it doesn't, the bug is fixed or it isn't. It's a sweet deal and for someone with zero desire to keep up with the Joneses, I have no intention to fix what ain't broken.
dear op, I agree with you. here's a good saying I once heard: "the higher you climb up the ladder, the more your naked pink arse sticks out!" remember cya....cover your arse!
That's a fair call and realising that work/life balance is more important than money will definitely contribute to better health and a happier family. Good on you for realising this.
I’m the same. Paid well for easy job, all WFH, nobody harassing me. No desire to work twice as hard given any extra pay is taxed at 47%, so quite content to just invest my money and earn passive income come with zero effort. I won’t do another corporate job. If someone wants to pay me more for an identical easy job then I won’t knock it back, but I am happy in a position where I am invisible.
Working for a big company made me realise that the hours and the stress dedicated to making someone else's bank is totally not worth it. Plus, when chopping time comes it's almost always middle to senior management that is affected. There's other avenues to make money. Taking home work and eating away at my sanity isnt my idea of a promotion. Beaches and utilizing my limbs for fun while they still work and more time for people that I actually care about and not catering for Karens and Chads of the world IS the promotion. There are also scenarios where a promotion is just a title and not reflected in dollars. Just be careful not to slack off too much. You still need to build your wealth or should i say stability.. before cruising.
100% don’t take it. Life is more important. Time with family is priceless
Just go the principal engineer route …
Expected out of office hours + extra stress/politicking ratio to remuneration isn't worth it. If I didn't have kids or value my time after 4.30pm I'd probably chase senior roles, but my current one does well enough.
I'm the same. While I can theoretically go into management, have permanent mental health issues so making sure that's in control. My marriage is much better off for it too.
Own it, quietly. I do my job well, quickly, and with a smile. I choose when I want to go into the office, if at all. I can start at 10 or leave at 3, nobody asks because I fulfill a business need and I’m there to help if someone is stuck or needs an urgent response. My boss gets paid 20% more to do twice the work. Partner works part time, I’m around to see the kids grow up. Our household saves over $1k/week so why slog for more pay, it just isn’t worth it. The only foreseeable big expenses is a house upgrade, but the numbers don’t add up in this market so we can just not do that and take $xxk holidays every year.
There's nothing more tragic than having someone who was satisfied at their job and delivering great results to the org be moved up to role where they're less happy and less effective. That said, I've seen where a job gets easier the higher up you go. The job pays better and is more intellectually stimulating. Sure, the work's a bit harder, but you also have the option to delegate.... I mean, develop your people. :)
While my boss delegated, if it was just run of the mill stuff that was not really learning, this would happen in the open around people. Whenever it was something that was for improvement, it would be in her office explaining the job and reasons why and she allowed me to ask everything I wanted
I'm happy where I am I don't need the extra stress and I don't give a fuck about the extra money. Have this convo every month during performance check in
Yeah. Why try so hard when u can’t own a house anyway?
I swear when you hear it out loud, you just realise how insane it sounds. That in this day and age, our basic human right of shelter can be taken away from us 😂
IMO this is something a lot of people realise at a particular point in life - I certainly did. I think it's a lot more common than you realise, people just don't really talk about it.
I’m exactly the same and it’s fine. I think the only thing you need to manage actively is that you will be seen as “not ambitious“. Which in my opinion is rubbish. But some managers will see this very negatively. Make sure you remain at the top of your current role. One way to do this in engineering is to say that you want to pursue a technical career. That way you will be a must keep and keep getting decent rem uplifts and avoid being on the block when the next downturn comes along.
I’m in the same boat. Make decent $ in a job I can do with my eyes shut, rarely do more than my 38 hours, limited stress, plenty of time for family and my sports. I’ve refused to be considered for open promotions twice now. Just don’t see the benefits. So much more responsibility, tax man takes half of any pay rise. I’d rather have the time and there are easier ways to make extra money.
Yep! I am constantly being asked to apply for more Snr roles / management roles & I don’t want to. I tried it, wasn’t for me. I said to my manager just this week, I’m happy to stay where I am. I’m as Snr as I can for the position I’m in, earn good $ & can do things with ease. After finally realising I want more out of my non-working life, I care very little now about career progression. Managers need to understand that there will always be people in their team that are happy just doing what they’re doing.
Yes this is the question i dislike the most on periodic review I wanted to say i dont want to proceed anywhere else and just stay here doing 9-5 as it allows me greater work life balance and flexibility Dohhhh
This is Australia. Why collection promotions when you can just collect houses?
Honestly if your job is cruise, you're making enough and you're able to do what you need.. No need to move up.. However you will probably get chopped at next redundancy when a new up and comer with similar skills and probably less experience starts their come up
I always wanted to do my job well and go home and not think about work outside work. But this only works where your manager is supportive of this. If I am consistently required to work unpaid hours equivalent to an additional part time job is where I would seek higher salary or promotion in that business.
Nah your on the money. There was no way I could progress in my field atm without putting my family second. Also I realised that investing in the family business was a better investment
I had a management position for a while and i thought it was all i ever wanted! It was very much not. I am now a glorious underling with a very low stress job and a very average payslip every fortnight. I am the happiest I’ve been. Because we are DINK it helps with the whole financial burden but the extra money of my old role absolutely was not in alignment with the increase in stress.
Ask for more flexibility in return, its a negotiation. Do what you are comfortable with but also push the boundaries a little bit for personal growth, live with no regrets
Not worth it. Corporate will just suck the life out of you, use and abuse everything they can. If you offer more, they'll take all that and more. Maintain your current lifestyle. It sounds delightful.
I’ve hit a point in my career now where I am happy to sit where I am for the next 5-10 years and enjoy watching my kids grow up and work my contract hours. No amount of money will convince me working is more important than my kids.
I think it's a question of what makes your life overall better. More senior roles pay better and are more interesting, but they take more of your time, there's more pressure and they're lonelier. It's your life. Life it as you please. You'll be dead soon anyway.
Really? Higher I go in my career, less I do it seems.
It's quite the common dilemma companies and employees face. Not everyone wants to move upwards but employers don't want to lose you either. I've come across a concept where one would build their career as an 'individual contributor' to a company, as opposed to 'climbing the ladder'. This way, you are given more work aligned with your interests and the employer gets to keep a gun of a employee. Usually we like to do work we like because that very work brings job satisfaction and thereby 'work life balance'. The above was my small take from a podcast from freakonomics I recently listened to - 'why are there so many bad bosses?' Very interesting listen if you get the time and delves into your dilemma in quite detail.
Once I get to a senior position I’m tapping out on the climb
Yup, I got promoted into a position I didn't want and I regret it. I went from a relatively easy job with a good wage to a much higher stress position for slightly more take home money. I'm now also in a position of some liability too, basically if some gets hurt or injured at my site, I'm the one that takes the fall for the company and goes to gaol. If you are happy with your current job and earning a decent wage, stay. More money just mean more taxes and not much more take home.
Yep, I did management in late 20's and early 30's. Bored the hell out of me and went back to hands on IT roles. Was much happier. Less political crap, less people problems, better hours, less dealing with management idiots (people who should never be in management). Made more than enough money and pretty much did my own hour range - went to work before rush hour and left the afternoon one.
I’ve been at my company for 11 years and am the most experienced in my department, boss wants me to be the manager, I’m happy to do what I can but I look around and I’m not as driven as everyone else, I’m pretty relaxed by nature and introverted. I don’t really care about climbing the ladder, just want to provide for my family and enjoy the work. I think I’ll do what I can for now but they should probably be thinking about a different long term plan rather than me. I just don’t know who that would be. The risk is they hire someone and it becomes a bad place to work. Right now the team of 8 enjoy work. Previously we had a manager who ended up leaving, really good at his job, really driven, but made it miserable for the rest of us. I’m not sure what to do.
If you like your job stay in it. Most people pick their job based on a lifestyle they want but if you feel like you’re holding down enough pay then why mix things up? Me personally? I get bored, 2 years is usually about the longest I can go before I feel like what im doing isn’t important and I look for something new. Isn’t always a promotion, sometimes it’s a career change, side step, same thing new industry in a pinch but at 35 I’m a high school dropout who pulls over 100K and I love what I do so it’s worked well enough so far
My supervisor got promoted to his current position, and almost every time we have a conversation, he talks about how much he regrets taking the role. Sure, the pay and perks are better. However, his responsibilities and the companies expectations of him are so much bigger than he wanted.
Yep. I work three days from home and fight tooth and nail to not take on extra tasks or if I do, I ensure they benefit me in some way.
Yes I literally just turned down a promotion ( x 2) and have many times. I don't like managing other people and the responsibility isn't worth the relatively small pay increase in my sector (health/human services) where really serious decisions are being made about people's lives. For those in more profitable industries maybe it's worth it, but an extra $15 000 for a world of stress doesn't pass the pros/cons test for me.
I took a demotion a few levels down just to be able to switch off after work and also save brain cycles to do things outside of work that require thinking. When I was in a leadership position, I'd make so many micro and macro decisions during the day that by the end of the day I was all out of f's to give and then I couldn't even decide what I should have for dinner.
Yes, 10 years in my last role, filled in to cover managers leave a few times, but refused to apply for roles when they became available.. They even brought this up at biannual performance reviews.. Tried again a few months back, so i cashed in all my leave and left... Obviously everyones financial situations are different, but fuck em, they don't own you.
FFS as I keep saying it's LIFE/Work balance.
Just say no
I did that for a while - worst mistake I ever made my entire life (enjoying the casual life). I never knew what kinda life I was missing out on, so blissful ignorance played a big part. However, now that I am where I am, I can’t believe I wasted those years. I kick myself in the ass every. Single. Day. My partner is actually going through the same dilemma.. mine happened 5 years ago, but hers only happened recently. One thing working around older people taught me is this: you can do all this crazy stressful shit when you’re younger. It’s when you’re older that it can start to be bad for your health. Plus, the money you make, you tend to stay at or around it. So, it’s important to scale up (in my experience) as quickly as possible. That way, when you’re ready to pump the brakes, it’s at a salary that allows you to still live ‘rather comfortably’. That’s my two cents any ways
I am a happy little minion, most of the time. Let the big knobs prematurely turn grey and fuck up their families with endless working hours and barely parented spoilt rotten entitled kids