Looking for a change...maybe...or not

I have worked in the same place for the past 28+ years. I started in this department while still in college and had the benefit of wonderful bosses and co-workers who continually encouraged my professional development and ongoing education to the point that I have moved from my original, part-time clerical position through several positions to my current full-time management position and have a master's degree. Many in my organization (in my department and outside) have encouraged me to take the next step and go for the boss' job when it opens up this summer.

While I know I have the skills to do the job, I have never aspired to that position. I am also at a point where I am wholly and totally frustrated with the bureaucracy of the larger organization (I was ready to turn in my letter of resignation yesterday because of a staffing issue that is being forced on us.) :blowup: I know this kind of thing happens in every organization of any size, but I tend to take it all very personally.

I love my co-workers and we are an amazing team (all women and absolutely no cattiness or competition, just teamwork and support - its been that way from the first day through a myriad of staff changes), but I feel like the life is being sucked out of me. It is very apparent that while the powers-that-be pay us a lot of lip-service, they ultimately aren't very supportive of our needs for additional funding and staffing. I hate the thought of abandoning my co-workers and this department that I have put 28+ years of my life into, but right now, I feel like I am at my limit physically and mentally all because of my job. A leave of absence is not possible (more than a few days off at a time is barely possible).

While I have been struggling for a while, I feel like I am now at a cross-roads and am frozen in fear. Some days I still ask the question "What am I going to be when I grow up?" I am reasonably creative and feel that that part of myself is totally shut down because of my work responsibilities. I dread going to work, but I am terrified of not having a job and the prospect of searching for a new one. I'm also afraid of losing that ideal workplace where we all get along and support one another through thick and thin (We have a unique bond in that one of our co-workers vanished without a trace a few years ago - it created a tie amongst the rest of us that I can't explain). I can't afford not to work and I live in a community where well-paying jobs are few and far between. Retirement is far off, but at the same time, close enough that I don't want to screw up that part of my future.

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

I don't even know why I'm posting this. I'm not sure what I'm looking for from my fellow Intercotees...maybe I just needed to get it out...

Thanks for reading my rant...:sad:

I wish I had some words of wisdom but sadly don't. You do sound in need of a change, that's for sure. You mention your boss leaving, do you think that will help your situation. Is it possible that someone new can help the situation? If you were to apply/get the job would you be able to be the boss of these people you've worked with for so long or would it be uncomfortable?

If your ready for change, send out some resumes and test the waters. You won't know what's out there until you try. In the meantime, vent away! That's what we're here for :grouphug:

It sounds to me as if you have way too much vested in your career to just move on. You also have formed friendships along the way, however those can continue wherever you find yourself, not just "on the clock". If everything is as you say it is within the confines of your immediate work environment....STAY !! There is not an organization out here without it's craziness and upper management stupidity. If it were me, with the information I have at hand, I'd stay.....if nothing more than to make the upper, powers that be miserable !! I probably didn't help, but it's good to talk through things, huh ??:thumbsup:

My sister felt much the way you do. Stuck. She is in her mid-50s and looking at having to work another 17 years, she says. Her job pays well, she likes the locations of where she lives and where she works (close to one another). She liked her job duties but, unlike you, did not like her coworkers. Recently she was able to transfer laterally to a job she's not really keen about but has wonderful coworkers now. It's helped some. And gotten rid of some of the irksome bureaucracy rampant in her previous job, even tho she still works for the same corporation.

I agree, send out some resumes and see what you get. You might be pleasantly surprised. And, just because you're offered a job doesn't mean you have to take it.

Perhaps this is part of the problem. You're being urged to go for a promotion you don't really want. Thus you feel trapped and scared. It's okay to feel flattered that folks think you can handle a particular position even tho you don't want that job at all. I suspect your boss has to deal with the bureaucracy even more than the rest of you.

And that does seem to be everywhere. My niece is getting quite tired of more and more coming down, especially in the "responsibility" aspect, but it doesn't seem to go the other way. Folks at corporate headquarters seem to have little accountability.

Do you have time to volunteer somewhere or take up a hobby or begin to work on your bucket list (my sister has sky diving on hers! :crazy: ). Perhaps your job part of your life is fine; it's just time to start thinking about transitioning to retirement.

Good luck!

Jan

Thank you so much for posting because I'm in the same position. I love my place of work SO much - I've been here over 12 years, started as a grunt, am now general manager...and boss is selling.

We were promised all these golden promises that haven't panned out. And right now, 7+ months into the sale, I am the only one left. Everyone else is new and have questions that I can't ask because no one's talking to me other than to say "you're going to be the boss." I have made it clear to my old boss after all the yo-yoing that I'm not sure I want to walk into this without an offer and after every meeting he just comes back with "you're going to be the boss." But apparently...at the same salary I'm making now. Which is less that what the former GM made, but with triple the work. I'm going from a private owned business to a corporation where I'll be less of a person, and more of a bottom line. I hate it. I'm very thankful to still have a job but at the same time I feel like I'm being trampled over by the boss on his way out the door.

I have a Disney trip planned in ten weeks that I've planned for two years for and this is all sucking the joy out of me.

I hope you've found peace with your situation!

In reading your post I was wondering if you were writing about me. I know exactly how you feel. I have been at my job for 27 years and for the first 25 it was wonderful, I was never unhappy to come to work and would have done anything for my company. The management truly treated everyone like a family and most of the people I work with have been here as long as me or longer.

The last years 3 saw a large turnover among all high level management and boy what a difference. Long term employees were valued, now they treat us like we are looking for a handout. No matter how hard you work it is never enough. Many employees were laid off in 2008 and never replaced, which means loads of extra work for everyone. My co-workers are wonderful but I dread coming to work and like you I take this treatment very personally.

Just as an example, one employee who was here 25 years was being congratulated by our President who said in his speech "Thanks for your hard work, it is because of people like you that I get to stay in 4-star hotels and eat at the best retaurants every day." Nice man.....not. People literally gasped at that one. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Their behavior borders on harassment daily.

At this point the thought of starting over is scary, just the thought of a job interview after almost 30 years is terrifying. I love the people I work with, but I hate working hard for people I no longer respect. I regret giving so much of my life to this company now, and it depresses me.

So you are not alone, but I know now that I was very lucky to have had those wonderful 25 years, most people never do. So for now I will probably stick it out, you never know how much worse it can get. I hope you can find what you need, I feel your pain.

I was in this position several years ago. The job was steady, but sucking the life out of me. Some days I had to talk myself into going into work. The money was nice but I had gone as far as I could go at the company and the bureaucracy was horrible.

It took me a year to psych myself up to turn in my resignation (I was working a new job part time and they kept offering me full time hours). I felt like I was jumping off a cliff without a safety net--a very scary feeling--because the new job was so different. It was fun a few hours a week, but would I like it full time?

Sometimes I talk to some of my friends at my old job. It's still exactly the same and they sound like me. They'd like to get out, but they are afraid. I'm so glad I took the risk. I'm so much happier now.

My advice? Explore your options. You may ultimately decide to stay, but it will be a choice, not inertia, that keeps you there then. I think the feeling of control over your own choices/life will make you much happier whatever you choose. Good luck. I hope it all works out for you.

I trade time for money... Been with my current employer for almost 15 years, but will jump if a better offer comes around. They have no loyalty to me and I have no loyalty to them. It's all lip service as you mentioned...

We have moved and changed companies a few times over the years. If you can stay with the same company and retire, I would do it. Reaching retirement age and knowing I can't retire, and my friends that stayed with jobs for years and now are retiring, I am jealous.

My husband was going to be promoted to the boss position in an organization when he was in his 40's. If he had taken that job he coud have retired with great benefits at a fairly young age. His coworkers were shocked he gave up this chance, but we were going through some personnel issues ( death of his father and wanting to move away from area of country we were in) so he passed on the promotion and took a job in another part of the country closer to his mom and other family members. Big mistake looking back now.