Quitting is hard. I’ve even found myself struggling with conflicting emotions when departing a job I truly hated. True, freedom may be right around the corner, but there’s often something that kept us at our hellish job for as long as we were there.
Perhaps a single coworker you’ve befriended has made the job worth enduring. Sometimes a nice steady paycheck keeps you around despite your frustration with a psychopathic boss. Maybe the commute is great or the convenience to your spouse provides the perfect car pooling opportunity.
Whatever your reasons for sticking around at a job you truly despise, it’s almost always in your best interest to move on if you hate working there. A post at Self Employed or Bust entitled 10 Good Reasons to Quit Your Day Job does a good job of explaining what is and isn’t reasonable to endure.
The theme also touches on something I’ve argued here before - be kind to yourself. As noble as loyalty may be, it is as pearls before swine when applied to many modern businesses. Companies devoted to the bottom line and stockholder satisfaction care little about the workers who keep them in business. You are more deserving of your loyalty than they are.
If terminating those employees will add to a company’s revenue, expect it to happen. With that in mind, be kind to yourself and only extend deserved loyalty. Adhere to the rules, do the best you can while you work there but never pass up a better opportunity out of misplaced loyalty. Your company likely wouldn’t do you the courtesy if the roles were reversed.
