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The corporate world is pretentious and pointless
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I don’t understand the corporate world, it’s so pointless and meaningless, full of useless meetings, deadlines, jargon, a false sense of urgency, the list goes on.
I don’t understand people who take their work way too seriously, when their job is not all that serious or big a deal. Bosses who are evil and mean to their subordinates, obsessed with productivity and efficiency, chasing after meaningless corporate goals and KPIs, just to make the bosses richer while the rest of us peasants suffer endlessly.
I understand we all have to work to survive. I need to work to have money to sustain myself. But I don’t understand bosses and those people who take things way too seriously, for those people whose jobs literally define them and are their identity. I feel like everyone is putting on a meaningless show. Not to mention all the backstabbing and double faced people. People who talk behind your back and try to pull you down.
I also don’t understand why some people think they’re better than others just because they have a higher position. At the end of the day when we all die, work will not matter at all. No one cares about your pretentious job title outside of work in fact. I don’t understand why we have to treat CEOs and bosses like VIPs, like we’re peasants that have to bow down to them.
Why do we do this? When my boss stresses me out, chasing for deadlines, and so on, I get very stressed and anxious but when I step back and think about it, what is all of this for?
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People who worked in corporate and left: what's your story?
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I've been told my whole life that a corporate job is the only way to be financially stable. I have a master's degree in a STEM field that I hate and I'm starting to think that that's not true. However, all the people around me that are doing well financially are in corporate and whoever is not, is kinda struggling...
I wanna switch to something else, probably something in the service industry, but I don't have any examples of people that are financially stable while working non-corporate jobs. That and the deeply ingrained idea that "success = corporate" makes me feel very discouraged and anxious and like there's no chance I could live a happy and fulfilling life that way.
I guess I need to hear some real stories to feel like it's possible and to get some encouragement to pursue something that actually brings me joy and confidence that I won't end up living paycheck to payckeck that way, since there's no representation of that around me.
Which brings me to my questions:
How did you get out of the corporate world and what are you doing now? Is it better or worse than you expected/hoped for?
Are you satisfied with your current situation and are you glad you made the change?
How did you feel during the chance?
What advice would you give someone that is too scared to follow their passion?
TL;DR: I want to switch to a completely different type of career, but I have no representation of fulfillment outside of the corporate world around me, so it's difficult for me to believe that it can actually be done. I invite you to share your story.
Edit: thank you all for sharing your stories and for the advice! It's helping me feel more reassured and less anxious about my choices and the future!
Top Comment: Corporate seems nice but I feel like nowadays it's not even that secure, with so many companies doing frequent layoffs
How do you guys keep working in corporate?
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How do people find purpose in the corporate world beyond just the salary? After completing my academic studies, I struggle with the idea that any work I do in a corporation only serves to make my boss richer by his/her rules and I find it difficult to motivate myself. I'm seriously considering leaving to return to academia, as I'm not sure if I could ever find fulfillment in a company where employees simply come and go and collect their paychecks every two weeks, while the company continues to grow
Top Comment: The money helps. The corporation I work for pays me very well. There are a lot of other people in the corporation. Many of them are lower on the pyramid than I am. I work to make their jobs less crappy because this is the only place they can work to make the kind of money they do to support their families. Just because I don't care for my corporate overlords, doesn't mean I don't believe in the product we create. I do what I can to ensure that the people responsible for building said product are safe, and can create a quality product that will operate safely once installed. Yeah, my corporate overlords make a boatload more money than I do, but, I just focus on my work and don't let that bother me. Most of the time they're mostly not evil about it so it's OK. Is it a perfect situation? No. Is it sometimes soul crushing? Yes. But at the end of the day I log out, go home, and enjoy the things that my generally good salary can afford to give me in life outside of that place.
Im so sick of corporate work and as I get older, I feel even more trapped. Does this ever get better?
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Lately I feel this crushing sense of helplessness everytime I work at my corporate gig. Ive been at it for almost 10 years, transitioning between companies every 2 years. I find that things are really good at my job the first two years, but the pretentiousness and performative interactions at work are starting to drain me out slowly. Today would be 2 years in my current role, and I just found out I might be getting more work added to my plate for being a good performer in the interest of "collaboration". there is no end to being good enough, there is always an incessant need to be better and continuously deliver 100% each day
Its the double speak and implied language that exhausts me the most. Ive also learned that any feedback is just responded to with roundabout jargon and tossed aside at best, or puts a target on your back at worst. I came back from a vacation feeling energized a few weeks ago, and in two days, went back to being drained and feeling hopeless.
Will this ever get any better? I think going to the r/antiwork sub will depress me even more, so wanted to chat with the over 30 bros
and for those who might suggest this, I quit therapy a few months ago. I am actively using the tools and framework learned in my sessions, even today, and see most talk therapy/CBT sessions now as unproductive and not worth my time.
Top Comment: It’s awful, I resigned from a large law firm and my last day is today. Broke me mentally. You are just a number and they try and break your spirit.
Is corporate life getting worse?
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Feels like corporate used to be "the dream" but with layoffs, offshore, AI, and other things, feels like everything is getting worse?
Top Comment: All work life is getting worse. Non-profit, corporate, private. It doesn't matter.
What is wrong with a corporate job?
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As a man that has had jobs everywhere but corporate level, my goal is to ultimately get to corporate. The idea of being indoors and not doing manual labor while receiving good pay is very enticing to me. However, I keep seeing people hate it and make it look like the worst thing. What is wrong with corporate?
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is corporate life as bad as everyone says it is?
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does it really feel like ur just a slave to the system? i have fears of becoming a living zombie for the rest of my life.
Top Comment: If it’s a bad culture it can get very monotonous and soul crushing. If you have a good culture that allows for people to express themselves it can at times be fun.
How to survive in a corporate environment?
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So, it’s been 5 months since I have joined very big highly-profitable company with a range of businesses. To be honest, before I joined it, I always imagined that people in such company are best of the best not only knowledge- and experience-wise, but also in terms of people skills. I always had an impression (based on career exhibitions) that working there is like living in paradise in terms of everything, I thought that everybody will be kind to me and will do their best to help me to develop and learn. Now, I’m not saying that it totally turned out to be different (there are many things that still make this company to stand out in a good way) but there are a lot of things that made me disappointed and kinda scared for my future career development. So to be short, I sometimes get the feeling of being surrounded by sharks and smaller sharks:) Like very very few people from what I’ve seen around me are very honest and polite people that never refuse if I ask for help. Also, because of the company having quite complex structure, I’m trying to understand who my career depends on, whom I supposed to keep happy in order to get promotion or get bonuses and etc. I’m not saying that the whole environment is completely terrible, no, there are certainly good things as well. I’m just trying to understand how should I navigate in this environment in order to be successful (while having very bad social skills, which I think is very helpful for surviving in such environment). Any pieces of advice, books, articles are welcomed.
Top Comment: Oh you sweet summer child. Rule 1: business is business. Rule 2: these people are not your friends. Rule 3: Nobody making financial decisions at your company cares about you. If they thought they could get more productivity for less money, they would fire you and hire that person. If they thought your position no longer offered value to the company in any way, they would fire you and eliminate the position. Try to internalize those points. Use it to protect yourself, let it inspire you to raise your game. And keep it in mind when you get a better offer and are thinking about "loyalty" to your current company.
How is the corporate world
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Is the corporate world like what i see on social media? 9-5 everyday, commute, meetings, little salary growth, small talks with co workers, waiting all day for 5 pm, feeling like you are in the rat race? People who chose corporate / study in business, do you regret your choice and feel like a career in healthcare or other domain might be better?
Top Comment: Its worse