Workers Drained, Dehumanized by Their Jobs
These individuals across various roles express a deep sense of disillusionment and suffering stemming from their jobs. The core pain isn't about specific tasks, but a pervasive feeling of being drained, dehumanized, and losing their sense of self due to demanding workloads, toxic environments, and interactions that negatively impact their mental and emotional health.
SOURCES (60)
“It feels like every job is now mobile or hourly. I really miss the days of commission, and I’m making less now. I found a shop to work in (don’t want mobile because driving a big vehicle gives me anxiety), but the hourly pay is…”
“I’m feeling like I’m nothing, everything is pointless, and I’m going to die soon/young. I don’t want to work to keep living, but I have to make money to keep surviving. I don’t really care but when I’m hungry or want to not think/feel this way and want a place to live, I need to work. How do I work while feeling like nothing has a point, knowing that future me is gonna want to spend money to not feel like this later. And I still want to have a place to sleep, so I have to pay rent. I would like”
“Last year I took on a new job that I thought was my “dream job”. It was a creative director role that allowed me to make executive decisions for the first time in my career. It was a very fun job and I got to work with celebrities but unfortunately demanding job at the same time. I would come home exhausted and was not mentally present for my baby so I had so much guilt. I felt my body physically breaking down because it was so exhausted. I ended up leaving after a few months and took a more jun”
“I’m 21, working as a Virtual Assistant in Islamabad. I work around 9 to 10 hours every night, then I have university in the morning. I’m in my last semester. I’m working my ass off, but I’m still stuck financially. I have university fees from 4 semesters that I need to clear. It’s a huge amount for me, and honestly, it has started putting a lot of pressure on me. I’m not looking for sympathy. I’m looking for direction. My weekends are completely free, and I know I should be using them to increas”
“Yes this is a burner account because I have too much personal info on my regular one and I'm afraid my coworkers might lurk in this sub. Anyway, I'm so over my HR job and I want to quit but my husband keeps telling me Im overreacting. So I need some advice from other hr people about whether this kind of stuff is normal. I'm an hr coordinator in a mid sized company. Theres 4 of us in my team. Here's a quick rundown of the issues I've dealt with just in the past couple of weeks”
“I was hired by a small luxury hotel as an in-room dining server. The wage isnt even competitive but they give you 40 hours. Its also a very small team, less than 15 employees. Within a month, it seems everyone has to say something: - housekeeper sent pics to the manager that I didnt finish cleaning a water spill in the room when I said brb -server said some of my sticker labels were crooked and sent pics to the manager -was told by another employee I must do all of the dishes everyday and clean”
“I work part time at my current job and my boss is the absolute worst. He knows I do the job of 3 people and still underpays me. I climbed up a “ladder” with no real incentive (I got a $0.30 raise). My boss told me about this raise expecting me to be grateful but I just nodded and gave a slight smile. People have walked out on the job because of his weaponized incompetence. We are all HIS glorified assistants that run around for him when he has been doing this longer than any of us have. He is in”
“Is this a career killer? Will anyone offer me a job if I take it? I am genuinely losing my mind (sobbing uncontrollably in the office, genuinely losing any sense of myself, worrying friends and family). I’m a rising third year at a v10 who is going to probably come in at over 3K. Every day is 6AM-2AM, and I’m still missing deadlines left and right. I am the only associate on a few of my deals, so I’m likely making mistakes and no one looks at my work or gives any kind of guidance for anything I”
“Idk if this is the right sub but I'll just post it here, please be humane. Ts is just not worth it. For context, I work in a startup with the founder as an intern and the team is so fucking ominous and off putting. It's just pure panic and anxiety for the whole 8 hours it lasts. The majority of the management in the corporate world tends to always point out what you're doing wrong or where the people are fumbling while they forget that these people literally carry mountains of work o”
“Hi, I’m 27(F), and I’m in my 6th year at my current company. I’ve been promoted 4 times already, but right now I want to quit. I know deep down that the job doesn’t fit me , I just accepted the promotion because of the raise. I feel like instead of helping, I’m dragging the whole team down, and I want to go back to being an individual contributor. I have debts that need to be paid, but I am constantly overthinking because of this job, which is causing me severe headaches. I’m torn — I’m afraid I”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. This isn’t normal. Never happened to me before. I have a job I like, but it doesn’t pay the bills. I have to have at least two to live just a frugal paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle. I got two job offers recently. I couldn’t even make it through orientation. Nothing bad happened. The jobs didn’t seem hard. I just started crying and couldn’t stop. “Is this all there is?” or “how long will this last? until I can really start to live?” I couldn’t bear the thought of”
“I agree that it’s my problem and my fault. I am more so asking how I can really put in the effort now. I’ve spent all this time hating myself for my decision to coast as long as I have, but that would just depress me to the point of still just scraping by. I’m now taking accountability, but while focusing on increasing knowledge, but I’m afraid my superiors could look to the past year of work and ask themselves and me why I was so silent then and all of a sudden i’m trying to be involved and ask”
“Im 31 year old Project Manager at an IT solutions company. I honestly feel like amputee at an oil rig at my job. Spent like 10 years in the IT industry. Started out of necessity because I was going to be homeless so I had to drop out of college and accept a chance in a corporation. The money offered was like an entire fortune in my 21 year old eyes. Never ever had any ambitions, desires or interest in this field. I always found it extremly boring and depressing environment. Agreed for the money,”
“I studied accounting because I always envisioned myself working to get a paycheck and going home to enjoy my real life, but lately I’ve been finding my job unbearable. At the end of this year, i’ll have been working in tax for 4 years, and I feel like I haven’t accumulated any knowledge. I worked in asset management for almost 3 years then pivoted to real estate and I still feel like I have no idea what i’m doing. I know how to read a tax return, but realistically, if I were asked to prepare one”
“I'm a 22M, working as a Financial analyst in a Start-up firm in Delhi. I've working there for a few months now and the environment is beyond toxic. I have worked hard since Day 1 and I'm also working on their lead project now. I was working alone for a few days and it was going good but my boss put my senior with me on that work and now I'm stuck. She messages and calls me every hour, I have told her number of times that I will update you timely, and discuss everything with you b”
“Finally realized that I am not one of the few chosen ones who has a future at this company despite being an early employee and working my a** off for 5 years. I dont seem to be part of any conversations of 'future leadership'. Recently got moved back to my old department from 2 years ago under the guise that they needed someone more senior to help stabilize meanwhile a younger, less experienced employee filled my place. Hope they are not trying to push me out but it sure seems like it. W”
“Had the worst night shift of this year last night i dont wanna go back to work tonight i want to cry :( Thankfully I'm a floater so there's a lower chance of me going back to that unit but it's not zero!! I'm only on 2/4 shifts this set 😭 submitted by /u/balsamicnigarette [link] [comments]”
“I started this senior 1 tax role at EY in February. My Cycle 3 feedback was exceptional. No complaints, just praise. Then I got severely overbooked. Not busy, overbooked. A workload none of my peers seem to be carrying. I’ve flagged it, tried to get it resolved, and it hasn’t actually gone away. On one particular engagement, my performance took a hit because there was no version of that workload where I could do it justice. The manager on that engagement has since started cutting me out of team”
“Literally have no idea wtf to do with my career. I want to do YouTube and I started succeeding at it and freaked out due to personal stressors in my life and quit. Anyways, it takes a lot of time but I think I have a real shot at it. ANYWAYS, I moved out last year and my rent is pretty steep for me rn. I have been working for my dad's company for 5 years and it completely drains me mentally and has made me extremely burnt out for the past few years. I finally decided I want to get out but I”
“Changes in team, réorganisation, even a recent promotion i got ; it triggers something in me, a deep fucking anguish. The ground is opening beneath me, swallowing me, the walls are melting, the office is closing in on me. It’s like these changes are threatening the very matrix of my life, even though they are supposed to be positive. I think i am afraid because i am confortable in my current position, and a promotion threatens that. I try to be positive about it, but i can feel in my chest this”
“My mental health got so bad that i can’t function anymore. I am trying really hard to do my job because it was my dream. I literally make money off of drawing, but with my brain slowly eating itself i can’t do it. The work is just piling on itself, my manager and coworkers are mad about it and i am also mad about it but i just cant. I need help and i am currently working on getting it, but i’m also trying to pretend that i am normal and functional adult while i cant go a day without crying over”
“I thinkI’m about to get let go. Is there anyone I can chat with in real time? I’m soooooo confused. submitted by /u/ListenToLinda [link] [comments]”
“Hello! I'm new here and really struggling right now and need support. Let me give you a little backstory so you can understand me better as a person.I barely remember my childhood from 0 to 7, but from 8 to 14 I was dealing with neglect and abuse from my parents. (They are much better people now I promise). It left me emotionally unstable (obviously). When I turned 16 I got my first job at a restaurant. I was homeschooled at the time, but they still let me leave early most days. After I grad”
“I recently lateraled to another firm, and I’m majorly struggling. I’m already getting killed with work, and the loneliness is worse than ever- long hours plus trying to integrate is just not great for my mental health. When does it get better? submitted by /u/WinterFill2078 [link] [comments]”
“No. Not a word from coworkers either. I was so shocked and humiliated that I didn’t ask any questions just said “I’m so sorry.” I’m trying to tell myself it was for the best. But the coldness stings.”
“On a work trip and got an invite for a “One-on-One” google meet at EOD the next day. I immediately start to freak out and finally calm myself down. The next day (today), the meeting finally comes and it’s my worst fear. I got laid off (with a two week notice) only 5 months after I started due to several clients cancelling our service, totaling to a loss of 25% of our revenue in only a month. This was the first full-time gig I’d gotten in my industry after 2+ years post-grad clawing my way toward”
“Are you happy where you are, actively looking, completely checked out, or somewhere in between? submitted by /u/Few-Recognition8348 [link] [comments]”
“Following my last post, I have resigned from public and was happy to secure a new job in a very difficult job market. I started this Monday and I’m turning to all you beautiful accountants for some feedback. I have had this ill feeling since day one. For some context: this large organization offered me the position and I accepted it in late July but I postponed start date to late August. During this time, they hired a new manager who manages my position. He started two weeks ago. I have been bom”
“I’m a master electrician in germany, I have ADHD, and I’m starting to realize that my current job situation is affecting me mentally far more than I expected. I’ve been in a technical management position for a few months. My first official probation reviews were good to above average. Then, shortly before the end of probation, the feedback suddenly changed completely. Now I’m being told that I lack “role understanding,” that I’m not assertive enough, and that I need to act more like a boss. The”
“Almost 69, love my job, and yet I came home today wishing I could quit. I need some advice about how to navigate this new normal. I’m a high school English teacher, almost 69, and I genuinely love what I do. I’m outgoing, cheerful, optimistic, and I absolutely love my students. But I am miserable in my department office in ways that are surprising since one-on-one each person is great. There are nine of us, mostly late 20s to mid-40s. Four sit together and the nonstop joking, teasing, and camara”
“I’m 30 and currently working my first full-time job after graduating with my Master’s, and honestly I feel completely overwhelmed and burned out. I’m at the point where I have almost no motivation or energy to work anymore, and I’m trying to understand whether the problem is the job, my manager, burnout, or something that started before I even got here. A bit of background because I think it matters. While doing my Master’s, I was working part-time for a small company (around 12 people). The pla”
“I just started a job on Monday and am already hating it. After moving across the country and searching for two months for any job to take me, I hate what I'm doing. The company recruited me, so I didn't apply. They pushed my start date back twice a full two weeks and I had only one day of training. I haven't even been able to clock in and out because they never showed me. Due to my unhappiness, I was thinking about doing Walmart Spark as in the area I live in, it looks like the pay i”
“I moved countries earlier this year after spending most of my adult working life elsewhere, and today I was told that my new job isn’t working out during probation. The weird thing is, I agree. I’ve been deeply unhappy, considered quitting several times and had already started looking elsewhere. I just kept telling myself to wait a few more weeks for Financial reasons. I’m fairly senior in my career, have been doing this type of work for many years and have never been let go before. This company”
“Recent grad - graduated prestigious film school 1 year ago. Had a really good internship but it didn’t lead to jobs (for me and my cohort) bc there were no opened positions. Directed a film there, and while the studio wanted to do something with it, after six months they stopped giving me updates and stopped responding when I asked. Bc I don’t own the rights, I cant submit it anywhere. And I currently don’t have resources to make another thing of that quality. After that I moved to NYC to try an”
“was on medical leave for three months earlier this year and returned to work two months ago. Since coming back then workload gradually increased dramatically, and over the past few weeks I’ve felt overwhelmed and drained. The biggest factor is the fully onsite work environment(job site i work with). I’m planning to go back to my family doctor to discuss medication. I was skeptical before as i was only doing therapy and stopped it as i didn’t feel improvement of it, I’m struggling now. I also wan”
“I’m a master electrician in germany, I have ADHD, and I’m starting to realize that my current job situation is affecting me mentally far more than I expected. I’ve been in a technical management position for a few months. My first official probation reviews were good to above average. Then, shortly before the end of probation, the feedback suddenly changed completely. Now I’m being told that I lack “role understanding,” that I’m not assertive enough, and that I need to act more like a boss. The”
“I recently started a new job that hasn’t been as advertised at all. I knew from the first week that it would be a bad fit and that I wanted out. Around my 3 month mark I reached out to my manager at my old job and asked about returning to my old role. It’s a step down in pay and title but a much better run company. Has anyone been in a similar position where they’re looking to boomerang back to their old job after just a quarter+ away? How did you handle the conversations with both your old and”
“I am grateful for a job in this economy but I am no where close to my dream career. I have been trying for the last 3+ years with no luck. I am so confused on what career to take and I just want to not work, but that is not possible. I am crying as I feel so weighed down by the pressure, everyone is far ahead of me in their careers and other areas of life and I am just stuck there like a sore loser. Cant move ahead. What can I do? submitted by /u/Complex-Line-22 [link] [comment”
“Anyone experienced this? 3 months unemployed im super happy I have a job but man Im not feeling it So there are some surface level complaints like going from 9am fully remote to 830 with an hour commute. That i can get used to. The pay is lower. I can make it up in other places Then there are structural things. The last job I had I could go the whole day without saying a word out loud. Which I loved. Im a very introverted person. Now im going to be having very structured and monitored interactio”
“Honestly, I was lucky enough to get a job after I graduated, but honestly, I feel extremely exhausted and tired all the time. I want to quit my job rest for a while before getting a new job but a lot of people say it's better to find a new job before u quit submitted by /u/Prudent-Chicken-557 [link] [comments]”
“I (25 F) used to work at a design studio and also freelance simultaneously. A client (US) reached out to that company and me and I found out about this because my boss was telling us. I've left that company now a month ago to focus on my study abroad. This client told me she loved my work and wanted to go through. So my hopes were high because it would've been a big financial support for me considering I'd earn in USD as an Indian. But then she disappeared for 2 months. I followed ba”
I'm posting here because I need a reality check or some perspective. I absolutely despise my job. Every single day I walk into work, I genuinely feel depressed. I have been as…
“Hi. I am 23 years old male. I am working as an office manager for an overseas education and immigration services firm. Although it sounds fancy, my salary is bad. This position is an entry level job in the literal sense. My boss told me that she wanted me because she knew that I can be trusted with money, that's it, so it isn't extremely unusual that it doesn't pay well. The only reason why I have chosen this job is to escape the draining, tedious legal translation job. Yet, 8 months”
“I am really struggling with my career trajectory and feeling I am wasting my life. I am my mid-late 20s. I was officially diagnosed with early stage cancer earlier this year, and I am luckily in remission right now but I lost a few organs on the way. I have been working at the same company since I graduated from my degree for about 4 years now, post a graduate scheme I completed 2 years ago. I am now stuck feeling like I am wasting my life because I do not find my job fulfilling but I have no am”
“I have been at my first corporate job since March. I'm an analyst on a small team in an open plan office, about 20 feet from the break room. I take lunch at 12:30 and I usually walk to the park two blocks over and eat there. If it's raining I eat at my desk with headphones on. It is the only quiet half hour I get all day and I have started looking forward to it by about 11. In my check-in yesterday my manager brought up visibility. She said a few people have noticed I don't eat in th”
“I need to quit the job I’m at or else my mental and physical health will continue to suffer. I spent 2.5 hours going to work and coming back home (over 4 hours in total each time for work), and amongst a million other things I just can’t stand it there anymore. I’m quitting on Saturday via email, and I don’t know how to deal with the guilt. It’s a small business, was my first ever and has been only job, and I communicate with my boss on day to day basis. She makes me feel overpaid and under-qual”
“I started working at my company a-little over 3 years. My first role was extremely low stress and my first job out of college. It was hybrid but with my team being so small, it really was just going into office 2-4x a month. The job was great in terms of work life balance, super stress free, but the pay was lower and I didn’t see a lot of up upward growth. I transferred to a new role in May of this year which paid 20% more. There is a lot more work to do and it’s WFH. It started off good and I w”
“I dont know what I need to hear, so I may just need to say this to the void. I don't know how to do this job without losing myself to it. I am in year 13. For many of those years I threw my whole life into it. I was that 12 hour day, say yes to everything, working all day on the weekends, go to everything teacher. About 4 years ago I burned out hard, sought help and had been doing an ok job of starting to set some work boundaries. I am that type of teacher because of something broken inside”
“> My main concern is that this job is slowly making me sick.This needs addressing sooner rather than later, either by fixing the problem(s), managing to care less, or getting out of dodge. It sounds like you want option 3 but are having trouble finding somewhere to go to.For fixing the problem: make sure that you definitely understand the problem. This sounds odd (surely you know what is going on in your own head?) but it is often difficult to see the rotten needle of wood amongst the treestack.”