Meaningful work...

[AZDude]

I have been thinking lately that I actually prefer to be at mega-corp, spending all day half-assedly making widgets or whatever, rather than working someplace where my work is valued and needed. I currently work at a non-profit, I ended up here due to poor decision making(took a horrible job for more money, needed to leave ASAP, found this job). The people here are nice, and its close to home. The hours are reasonable for the most part.

However, because the organization lacks money, the working conditions are terrible. My office is very warm, the entire place is understaffed(and underpaid), and nothing seems to work correctly(phones, network... even my office chair is falling apart). Worse, because the people are nice and work is somewhat meaningful(I mean, its still software development so connecting what I do to improving people's lives is a stretch), I find myself working harder than I have since I was a young man fresh out of college.

Which made me realize, I don't like it here because of my sense of accountability. At a financial mega-corp, there was usually more people than work, and leaving in the middle of the day to watch a movie was no big deal. I was still getting more done than the average drone, and there was no way I'm busting my ass so someone else can make a few more million. Here, no one is making millions, and I feel compelled to work hard(self-driven, no one is pushing me).

I think I want to go back to mega-corp and watch movies...

[Northwestie]

I'm amazed at 1) the amount of folks on this site that get paid for 8 hrs but work 4, and 2) WTH someone would want such a job

[tobitonic]

I've had the job where I barely did anything and the job where I know I made a difference each day, and I vastly prefer the meaningful job.

[soccerluvof4]

When I Fire'd originally I took a job like that because on the outside i thought what a perfect match and just down the street. I hated it so forced me thankfully back to Fire'd where I hope to stay! I know where your coming from so yea....time to get looking!

[Libertea]

The crushing sense of responsibility and high sense of "purpose" is a major part of what I dislike about my current job, too.  Actually, "dislike" isn't really the right word.  I feel like the overwhelming stress of it all is decreasing my life expectancy.  It's consuming me.  And I don't want to be consumed by this work, which, in the end, is accomplishing nothing in the greater scheme of things even if it sometimes makes somewhat of a difference to the particular individuals whom I serve.  I'm meeting with my boss next week to discuss my exit strategy.  Maybe it's time for you to consider doing the same.

[Inaya]

I'm amazed at 1) the amount of folks on this site that get paid for 8 hrs but work 4, and 2) WTH someone would want such a job

I think in a lot of corporate situations it's very feast-or-famine. I've had stretches where I have to work pretty hard to invent busy work for myself just to do 4 hours of work, then give up and do vaguely related "research". And then there are stretches where I work 12 or 14 hours per day and still find myself behind (fortunately my boss is VERY anti weekend-work, so we're forbidden from working weekends, and to hell with the consequences). A day where I have exactly 8 hours of work is very uncommon--but I think in the end the feast days and famine days tend to equal out.  That said, I HATE the famine days--being unproductive is and inventing work for 4 hours is WAY more exhausting than 14 hours of real, productive work.

I work in financial, so it's questionable whether my work is "meaningful" in the "make the world a better place" sense (and some might argue I'm making the world worse  by working for an evil bank). But I'm in infosec, and I do care about protecting our customers' data and doing right by them, so I feel it's meaningful in that sense. The company also has a lot of incentives for community service, including hosting projects during working hours, and that is definitely meaningful in the "make the world a better place" sense. I guess it's a nice balance overall.

[mozar]

I once interned at a non-profit that had a meaningful purpose (wildlife conservation), it was very well run. I was bored a lot. Now I work for a small consulting firm. I would say that the work is meaningful, helping to make the federal government finances more transparent. Day to day is annoying though. It's mostly writing white papers about what the client is doing wrong they they will never read. I still don't do more than 10 hours of work a week. I've been working in my field for over 8 years. I've accepted that I will never have 40 hours a week of work. Thank goodness I finally have 2 days a week of tele-work, where I can just chill out if I want to.

IMO unless you are in a field that you are super passionate about (practicing medicine, art) work is just going to be blah. The only thing I care about is whether I am being micromanaged. As long as I am not micromanaged I can stick it out anywhere.

[spokey doke]

Another version: I took many years to pursue a career because I found it meaningful...have had plenty of success and freedom (movie watching? why not go skiing?), but the environment I'm in has taken what I originally took to be meaningful and trashed it so many times in so many ways that I no longer care about it, don't identify myself with the profession, and look forward to walking away very soon.

I've also worked for non-profits on causes I found meaningful and found the constant lack of funding and the chase for more, to be exhausting...I'm feeling nostalgic for punching a clock and pouring people beer (they usually appreciate it).

[randymarsh]

I tbink I know exactly what you're saying. I just left K12 for a small private corporation. LOVE it here. The last office wasn't as bad as yours it sounds like but OMG half the day was spent just getting stuff to work to actually DO the job you were hired to do. Although that place had basically no management so you could also watch a movie in the middle of the day. Pay sucked.

Corp life is soooo much better. I'm paid an amount that actual corresponds to my market value. They even do this thing called "raises". My non profit didn't know what that word meant. You were instead compensated in "making a difference".

So to recap I make more money AND am not overworked.

[Inaya]

It's mostly writing white papers about what the client is doing wrong they they will never read.

Oh man I feel your pain! I write policies that nobody reads--and then when they get audited they 1) demand to know why they didn't know it was in the policy (uh, because you didn't read it?) and 2) whine and beg us to remove it from the policy so they don't have to do any work to be in compliance (sure, we'll just get rid of all the policies, then everyone will be in compliance!). When I'm not actually writing, I'm cackling insanely while slamming my head on the desk repeatedly.

[Tris Prior]

I can relate to this a bit. I recently left meaningful-underpaid-job-at-tiny-company for a corporate job. (Tiny Company is going under so I had to leave regardless.) I like being busy, but I do NOT miss the stress that came with that level of accountability. We were so small that if any of us dropped a ball or made a mistake, it would have a VERY serious financial impact on the company. We all worked our ASSES off. And I was earning around $12/hour.

Nothing worked properly. Everything was falling apart. The ceiling leaked. We had mold. The back-end of our website would regularly choke on whatever small tasks we were asking it to do. No money to fix any of that.

At my new job, one night I stayed a bit late. I walked into the ladies' and found a cleaning lady scrubbing the toilets. I about fell over in shock. *WE* scrubbed the toilets at my old job. We took turns. Having a cleaner was so out of the realm of possibility there.

Part of me does miss making a difference and having a huge impact on the business simply because there were so few of us. But part of me is realizing that having a less stressful, better paying job allows me the time and mental space to make a difference elsewhere in my life - volunteering, helping others, dipping my toe into homesteading to the extent an apartment-dwelling urbanite can.

[ptgearguy]

I work as a physiotherapist and often work with people helping them recover from a variety of injuries. It can be a very rewarding job but also can be very difficult depending on the situation and person(s) involved. I love my job most of the time but there are days I wonder why I bother haha. I am always very busy for my entire shift and am payed for each person I see. I get pretty good pay (probably around 110-120K gross) and the work has meaning. I can't really think of a job id rather do so it works for me. I think you just need to keep looking and find what works for you.

[toodleoo]

I'm also beginning my search for a job at a mega-corp or in government. I work at a small company and I do the work of 2 people. The stress and level of responsibility are too much for me. I've been in jobs with nothing to do and jobs where I've been worked to the bone and I vastly prefer the former. I don't get bored easily and can occupy myself just fine.

[azure975]

The crushing sense of responsibility and high sense of "purpose" is a major part of what I dislike about my current job, too.  Actually, "dislike" isn't really the right word.  I feel like the overwhelming stress of it all is decreasing my life expectancy.  It's consuming me.  And I don't want to be consumed by this work, which, in the end, is accomplishing nothing in the greater scheme of things even if it sometimes makes somewhat of a difference to the particular individuals whom I serve.  I'm meeting with my boss next week to discuss my exit strategy.  Maybe it's time for you to consider doing the same.

I think that's why I'm glad I'm not a doctor or in a medical field where what I do makes the difference between life and death. In my corporate office-drone job, if I make a mistake it's generally pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Of course, the down side is--what I do is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But it gets me paid, which leads to FIRE, so it's pretty significant to me!

[Ricky]

I guess I'm a bit of a nihilist insofar as I don't see inherently more meaning in one thing over the next. It's just like having your own business is virtually the same as working for someone else, just with the chance of making more money - but maybe not either. Do what you want and be happy. I personally find more meaning in making more money to do things I want.

[EcoCanuck]

I think my perspective slightly breaks away from the norm...

I think in general its hard to find meaningful work because the system that we're working in is inherently flawed. We have more technology and know how than ever before yet we're working more than ever. We have the conveniences that kings could only dream of yet we remain unsatisfied. We're a group type species yet we're all working for our own individual success in a system that basically forces a winner and a loser in most scenarios (yes many of my statements can be torn apart but I'm not going to write an essay on this and I'm sure there are a few posts out there of a similar nature).

Thus, we have to find the 'meaning' in whatever work we pursue. That meaning might be to earn enough to FI, or to help put the kids through college or it might just be to go see a movie during the middle of the day.

Myself, I know I'm being a hypocrite working when I think most of its a sham(system) but I'm doing the best I can to find work in a sector that hopefully is a net good to people. I've forced myself to stay in the environmental field for better or worse (pay/hours/sanity) and even if we are way off on the reasons why things are happening (climate change, species extinctions, horrible diseases, etc) I'm trying to make things healthier. I'm often confronted with cynics and I usually just end the conversation by saying something to the effect of, if I'm wrong about the reason at least my actions means the air we're breathing doesn't give us cancer as fast. I find some meaning in my day to day work but unfortunately 90% of it is hitting my head against a wall. That 10% though... that 10% helps me through all of lifes low moments.

Find what meaning you can. Best of luck.

EcoCanuck

[Lanthiriel]

I'm coming off my busy season right now, and I can't wait to go back to only having about 20 hours/week of actual work. I completely understand where OP is coming from. I recently tried to get a job at a university that I thought would be more rewarding, but looking at their package, it was clear that staying in the corporate world is by far the better bet. Higher pay, better benefits, more flexibility, and the productivity expectations seem exceedingly low. Sure, it's not very fulfilling and there are a ton of beaurocratic hoops to jump through, but I keep my annual net worth numbers taped to a drawer in my desk and stare lovingly at them when it gets to be too much.

[Northwestie]

Wow.  Could-not-do-it

[Chris22]

I have been thinking lately that I actually prefer to be at mega-corp, spending all day half-assedly making widgets or whatever, rather than working someplace where my work is valued and needed. I currently work at a non-profit, I ended up here due to poor decision making(took a horrible job for more money, needed to leave ASAP, found this job). The people here are nice, and its close to home. The hours are reasonable for the most part.

However, because the organization lacks money, the working conditions are terrible. My office is very warm, the entire place is understaffed(and underpaid), and nothing seems to work correctly(phones, network... even my office chair is falling apart). Worse, because the people are nice and work is somewhat meaningful(I mean, its still software development so connecting what I do to improving people's lives is a stretch), I find myself working harder than I have since I was a young man fresh out of college.

Which made me realize, I don't like it here because of my sense of accountability. At a financial mega-corp, there was usually more people than work, and leaving in the middle of the day to watch a movie was no big deal. I was still getting more done than the average drone, and there was no way I'm busting my ass so someone else can make a few more million. Here, no one is making millions, and I feel compelled to work hard(self-driven, no one is pushing me).

I think I want to go back to mega-corp and watch movies...

There's a lot to be said for working at a place with the resources to help you be successful.  I don't mind working hard, but I hate working inefficiently, and always having to scrounge for tools, resources, etc, is inefficient and frustrating.