Do you HATE your job and why?

[Ferrisbueller]

Reading these forums an awful lot of moustachians seem to really hate their jobs which i guess is a great motivation for FIRE. But if you hate your job is it because;

- you hate the day to day tasks themselves
- you hate your boss/co workers
- you're in the wrong job because you chose the wrong college course
- you happened to end up where you are by happenstance with no real planning
- it gets in the way of what you really want to spend time doing
- a combination of some/all of the above
- something else

[Vitai Slade]

I work as a poker room dealer.

I don't hate my job, but I do hate that I have to work a really weird schedule to make the most money (8pm-4am). I also hate that I have to work with really shitty people every day. My co-workers are great, but the players are mostly bottom of the barrel, drug dealer, felon, sexual predator types.

I want to FIRE because I want to live for myself than anything else. Working 40hr. weeks until you cannot feasibly work anymore (age 65) seems like a form of slavery that goes unnoticed by the majority of the populace - When 95% of the population has to work their entire lives and the other 5% can live off of the work they do.

[deborah]

It wasn't hating co-workers or boss, just being driven mad by them.

[oinkette]

I HATE being dependent on my job.  These days I can see it going downhill and I'm in a very small industry so there aren't a lot of options within my city for moving. 

Here's what I've discovered after only two moves within my career:  You can LOVE your job going in (I did), but there is ALWAYS the potential for the sh*t to hit the fan.  I still love what I do, but changes in personnel (management, coworkers, etc) have made me HATE where I do it. My whole reason for wanting FIRE is to be able to walk right out the door the instant things start getting bad. Or at least to be able to give a little pushback without fearing the consequences.

[Jessa]

I don't hate my job. I kind of like it, it's a pretty sweet job at a pretty nice place making pretty good money. I just hate having to spend 40 hours of my week on someone else's agenda. I hate having to get out of bed at a certain time, even if I didn't sleep well and am exhausted. I hate not being able to work out when I have the most energy because I'm stuck behind a desk until I get tired again. I hate not having the time to do things I want because I work. This time of year, I hate that I miss all the daylight hours because I work. So I want to FIRE to get my life back to myself, not because I hate my job.

[MoneyCat]

I hate being an expert in my field but getting absolutely no respect for that expertise.  I hate the fact that millionaires can waltz in any time they want and change every policy about my job with absolutely no experience at it and absolutely no knowledge of how things work.  I hate that I spend 90-95% of my time doing bullshit paperwork that has absolutely nothing to do with my actual job and actually serves to prevent me from doing my best at my job.  I hate getting my pay and benefits cut every year while my workload is increased and if I complain I'm told that I'm greedy and selfish.  I am a schoolteacher.

[MrsK]

The funny thing is, the closer I am to FI, the more I like my job.  Last year we had a huge lay off and I was really hoping to get laid off.  When that didn't happen, I started working from home full time.  Everyone else was in a panic and working more hours trying to prove their worth and get more "face time" and I did the opposite. 

When my boss and I talked, I said I wanted to work at home full time and not work any more Fridays.  I also asked for 5 more vacation days, from 20 to 25.  He said yes, mainly because they had made themselves so short staffed with the layoff.  I LOVE working from home.  Saves money and is great for my sanity.  I also like my job more as I have better perspective and don't get caught up in office politics. 

And I have found more of my voice and speak up when I don't like the direction a project is going (I am in marketing).  I was very shy and also always afraid of losing my job and now that I am not afraid I am very brave and share ideas.  Some of my work now is quite fun as I am leading creative work and doing it they way I like. 

There is a rumor of another layoff coming and so many of my co-workers are going mad with worry.  I haven't given it any thought.  I am OK either way.

[RetiredAt63]

I don't know what level you are teaching at, but I taught Community College and University, and yes.  You left out changing student attitudes - the spoon-feeding is at all levels.

You will love retirement, teachers retire well.  As a group we are not ones to sit around and watch TV.

I hate being an expert in my field but getting absolutely no respect for that expertise.  I hate the fact that millionaires can waltz in any time they want and change every policy about my job with absolutely no experience at it and absolutely no knowledge of how things work.  I hate that I spend 90-95% of my time doing bullshit paperwork that has absolutely nothing to do with my actual job and actually serves to prevent me from doing my best at my job.  I hate getting my pay and benefits cut every year while my workload in increased and if I complain I'm told that I'm greedy and selfish.  I am a schoolteacher.

[Greenroller]

Classic case of "love what I do, hate who I do it for"
The reasons:
-Constant do more with less
-Expectation of giving patients a sense of connection and compassion, but not enough staff to be able to treat patients like anything other than part of an assembly line.
-Costant increases in insurance costs, with less options and no real raises to be able to keep up with it.
-always being asked what they can do to make our jobs easier, then not giving us anything we asked for.
-hours are always being cut so I can't count on a stable paycheck
-no appreciation from employer and plenty of "we should just be happy we have a job" lip service
-no cost of living increase, rarely a raise and even then it's like .5%
I could go on forever, but you don't need me to tell you all healthcare should never be allowed to be 'for profit' or am I the only one who sees the conflict of interest in that????
-I work for greediest hospital corporation in the USA who's hands are deep into politicians pockets.

[iris lily]

I'm just bored with it.

The things that would have thrilled me at one time just makes me go--enh, ok, big deal. So that's why I need to get out so that some other person, an enthusiastic young thing, can step in and have some fun with it.

[firedup]

Reading these forums an awful lot of moustachians seem to really hate their jobs which i guess is a great motivation for FIRE. But if you hate your job is it because;

- you hate the day to day tasks themselves
- you hate your boss/co workers
- you're in the wrong job because you chose the wrong college course
- you happened to end up where you are by happenstance with no real planning
- it gets in the way of what you really want to spend time doing
- a combination of some/all of the above
- something else

All of the above
 

[Lian]

I hate my job, but like my work. I was very wrapped up in my career for 10-15 years, had plenty of consumer debt and always assumed I’d be working at it ‘til I was 75 (attended college and started a career in my 30’s) and was OK with it. Then my company was purchased by a MegaCorp, and the career turned into a job I hated. I wanted out, realized that I had trapped myself with debt, so I paid it off over several years, and started saving once the debt was gone. I expect to be FI in 3ish years, so the whole process from MegaCorp purchase to FI will be about 11 years – excepting a layoff of more than a year.  I don’t fit well in the corporate culture. I used to just roll with it, but my tolerance for it gets lower every year.  I may figure out a way to do my work part-time (consulting), but dump the corporate job.

[G-dog]

Classic case of "love what I do, hate who I do it for"
The reasons:
-Constant do more with less
-Expectation of giving patients a sense of connection and compassion, but not enough staff to be able to treat patients like anything other than part of an assembly line.
-Costant increases in insurance costs, with less options and no real raises to be able to keep up with it.
-always being asked what they can do to make our jobs easier, then not giving us anything we asked for.
-hours are always being cut so I can't count on a stable paycheck
-no appreciation from employer and plenty of "we should just be happy we have a job" lip service
-no cost of living increase, rarely a raise and even then it's like .5%
I could go on forever, but you don't need me to tell you all healthcare should never be allowed to be 'for profit' or am I the only one who sees the conflict of interest in that????
-I work for greediest hospital corporation in the USA who's hands are deep into politicians pockets.

I don't work in the medical field, so replace the med specific terms here with a more generic term and this is me! Except my hours are never cut, hpjust more work piled on with no good support/resources.

[Daisy]

I actually like my current job and my coworkers. We also have some great benefits where I work such as 6 weeks PTO, an onsite gym, somewhat flexible hours.

What I don't like is my self-imposed commute and having to go in every day. I occasionally work from home (not so much in a new group now), but I still have those 40 hours that I have to stare at a computer. I don't mind working in binges, which is the best way I work, so if I had the opportunity to fit in the 40 hours as I saw fit during the week, that would be perfect. But it's not...

I really appreciate my current job and company. I worked here for quite a while and then left for another company (which I HATED), and then came back. So I kind of overlook everyone else's complaints about silly little things and appreciate the great work environment. Now that last job...that was a soul-sucking, mind numbing, boring experience....which actually triggered my intense desire for FIRE.

The other bad thing about my current job is the constant downsizings. It's a morale killer in an otherwise pleasant place to work.

I work with a fun group of people and I've known most of them for about 10-20 years so it feels like family. Even the newbies are great because they adapt well to the fun environment.

My goal in FIRE'ing isn't to escape my job, but rather to do other things with my life while I am healthy as I feel like my job is not my life's calling.

[rocketpj]

I like my job well enough, but the pay is pretty poor and I don't love the shifts.  There is zero doubt that my job is meaningful and makes a difference in people's lives, but like most 'helping' professions the pay is poor and the respect is even poorer.

I've been in my current position for almost 7 years.  There won't be an 8th.  I've been building my side hustle into a steady income over the past 2 (somewhat intense) years, but as of the 1st we are going into a big push that will hopefully get me over the hump and able to sustain myself and family from the business and not the 'day job'.