Why does everybody hate their jobs?
Why do I keep writing about things I don’t have the answer to?
✨Propaganda. ✨
Photo by @brookecagle from Unsplash.
“At some point, most of us reach a place where we’re afraid to fail, where we instinctively avoid failure and stick only to what is placed in front of us or only what we’re already good at. This confines us and stifles us. We can be truly successful only at something we’re willing to fail at. If we’re unwilling to fail, then we’re unwilling to succeed.”
Maybe I’m being a little biased here and basing my argument on a very small sample size (read: my close friends), but I’m not completely convinced by some of the articles I’m reading about how it’s a lie propagated by the far-left liberals in the U.S. that folks hate their jobs or don’t want to work in general.
I’m looking at you, random opinion article from The Atlantic (sorry for the paywall, folks).
I’m the one on the right..
Photo by @helloimnik from Unsplash.
Maybe I’m just turned off by the general condescending tone in this article or by the privileged viewpoint that since people are employed, they clearly don’t want to quit their jobs. But I do think the argument offers some interesting points. Mostly that recent surveys say that most Americans are, in fact, satisfied with their work. Despite my grumbles of discontent, even I would say that I’m somewhat satisfied with my job, or at least my rate of pay and the amount of work I receive.
Something I want to point out in this article by Mr. Derek Thompson is this quote he offers: “The Great Resignation isn’t really about quitting jobs; it’s about switching jobs."
Well, shit. Doesn’t he know something everyone else clearly doesn’t?
(She said, sarcastically)
Pardon me for being so annoyed.
I wonder if this author drank too much of the Kim Kardashian juice (Kardashian, the woman born into a family of millionaires: “Get your fucking ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days.”).
“What the whole world wants is a good job, and we are failing to deliver it — particularly to millennials. This means human development is failing, too. Most millennials are coming to work with great enthusiasm, but the old management practices — forms, gaps and annual reviews — grinds the life out of them.”
This narrative is simply false. There are clear indicators that people want to work.
Some of the evidence for this arises from the pandemic, and, as it’s become colloquially known as, “The Great Resignation.”
In a survey conducted by Indeed in late 2021, 92% of respondents indicated that “the pandemic made them feel life is too short to stay in a job they weren't passionate about."
That’s 👏 what 👏 I 👏 said.
Or what I say super regularly because, despite the pay rates at my current job and the relatively simple and oftentimes laid back nature of my work, I find myself very dissatisfied. Even if I’m grateful to receive a paycheck higher than the national average (though certainly not enough to buy a house in one of the most expensive cities in the United States or start a family, as many boomers went to work for in the first place), I find myself increasingly realizing that the career path I’m going down is definitely not the one I thought it would be when I was in college (but that’s a different matter entirely, isn’t it?).
What’s more, so many jobs don’t offer basic benefits that so many other countries do — I’m looking at you, sick leave and maternity/paternity benefits. For example, I recently spent about a week in the hospital, and though my company was understanding (the bare minimum, I suppose), I still had to use a good chunk of my vacation time (of which I get 14 days annually) because sick leave is not included in my contract. It also sucked because, you know, my health insurance company decided they wouldn’t cover it, despite the hospital petitioning on my behalf that it was a necessary treatment.
Rant aside, it’s almost nice to know I’m not alone in these struggles. Even if switching to a full-time career in writing won’t be the easiest thing, I’ll defer to this quote (and perhaps resign to the fact that, should I abandon my cushy gig, I’ll probably suffer for a few years):
“To be a successful fiction writer you have to write well, write a lot … and let ‘em know you’ve written it! Then rinse and repeat”
Now that we’ve reached the end, it’s time for me to include my usual annoying demands for you to preorder my book or sign up for my Patreon. Do as you will. Just know I’m watching.
