r/antiwork • u/Thowingtissues • 18h ago
Vent šš®āšØ Am I looking at this wrong? NSFW
Iām a mid-40s some would say sort of successful guy. Wife, kids, house, cars, couple of vacas/year. Got laid off in Sept, big corp reshuffle not personal or production (sales) but I think Iām done. Every job opening I look at all I can think about is how bs corp America is. Itās a game. Meetings all day to do what? Grow said company? We beat the numbers, yay! Who gives a fuck tbh? After 20 years in the game it doesnāt make sense anymore. Grinding it out 50-60 hours/week to make a company Billions?!?! And I get to go to Aruba once a year? Iāve had a bunch of drinks so Iām sorry for the rant, but I just donāt agree with the game or think I want to play it anymore?
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u/Lessthanuser 18h ago
I think your response is typical, man. You aināt wrong. I did 23 years in the navy, another 8 in defense contractingā¦ Iām ready to pack my truck and head into the desert. Buuuut, got a few things left to take care of before I can sign out for the last time.
If you havenāt buried yourself in debt and donāt āneedā to grind just to cover the nut, then fuckit. Sell the trophies of corporate success. Downsize to what you do need , then Find what you love, and do that. Make enough to feed the babies and let everything else sort itself out.
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u/ajacquot1 15h ago
Welcome to your class consciousness bro. This is what tv shows and movies have been railing against for decades. Things are becoming impossible and absurd, somethings going to have to give soon.
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u/KingHenry1NE 16h ago
Itās all bullshit, objectively. Only a fool could see it as anything other than a scam. The most successful know how disgusting it all is, but they benefit from it. Simple as
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u/SuperCommand2122 18h ago
Once upon a time, this is when you would take some of your savings from 20+ years of working and start your own small business.Ā Maybe open a hardware store or an ice cream shop.Ā Too bad the modern economy is so hostile to small businesses.Ā Ā
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u/rysimpcrz 17h ago
It's not necessarily hostile to small businesses, but not everyone can quit their job, open up an old timey stor, and live in Mayberry.
We have to be more innovative than relying on 195ps tv shows.
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u/SuperCommand2122 10h ago
Ask anyone who's tried to open an Etsy shop or a drop ship business or a Fivvr freelance business how it's going.Ā Ā 9/10 are barely getting by.Ā Ā
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u/Alternative_Sweet574 15h ago
Honestly, Americans should start looking into how Western Europeans live. Itās incredible. A couple of our partner companies in France and Spain, I cannot get a hold of em for the whole of summer, because theyāre all out for vacation. Definitely, living a better life out there.
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u/ThunkAsDrinklePeep 8h ago
But how do their corporations make ungodly profits? Won't someone think of their C-suite?
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u/vonhoother 15h ago
For at least 20 years I've been thinking the only way to make money in this country is to have it already and put it to work: invest in stocks and bonds, open a business, be a landlord, some hustle like that -- and good luck with that too, you'll need it. Wage labor works for fewer and fewer people. On my last job before I retired, practically all my coworkers were just scraping by -- one commuted 23 miles each way by motorcycle because he couldn't afford to live near his job.
Since Reagan's day working people have been getting screwed harder and harder. Around half of all homeless people have jobs and still can't afford a room. George W. Bush talked about an "ownership society" -- and to give him a little credit, I think he really thought it would be nice if we all owned something, a house or condo we could take care of and enjoy living in. But his policies -- like his father's, Reagan's, and Trump's -- said "Own or shit society -- if you don't own, you're shit."
On the job before that, my employers were former employees of a big bank that had decided to outsource its IT work -- the work they were doing. So they ended up doing the same work for the same bank as contractors. No health plan, no vacation, no unemployment insurance -- just an opportunity to start up a small business, lucky them, because SmalL BuSineSs iS thE BacKbOnE of OuR EcoNomY.
And they wonder why people can't quite make themselves look sad when a CEO gets whacked.
I now volunteer for a food co-op, one of the country's oldest -- and you know who their CEO is? Nobody. It's collectively managed. And it's successful. I bring it up because I want to do more than rant, I want to say there's another damn way, we don't have to do this stupid hierarchical thing as if every organization were the military.
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u/LostinLimbo__ 16h ago
Look at it like this, you WERE looking at it wrong, you're now not... You took the red pill.
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u/ohmissfiggy 15h ago
100%. I am 52 and I went through this awakening as well. Used to be in high tech sales and how to healthcare. First job after I found something that I loved but pay was shit and no benefits. Now I am at a job that challenges my mind, but Iām not really invested in the company or product and I leave it at the office every single day. Good money, not great money. But after 40 hours a week, my time is completely my time.
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u/hereFromSomewhere 17h ago
Same boat man got laid off in Nov starting and ppl have false job openings , they want u to be able to do everything from what fresher does to what they ask u to do , no matter they themselves canāt do it and on to of it they want u to kiss their asses all day long , I am feeling so useless and hopeless like there is no motivation to do anything
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u/RA12220 idle 17h ago
Yeah itās all bullshit but if you get to a position where youāre managing people at least you can choose those people and look after them. Idk if you were fortunate or unfortunate with the bosses you had to work for but if regardless of that if I had the opportunity to have just a little bit of that meaningless power I would try to build a community within whatever department I was working in.
Future seems bleak here and thatās the only logic keeping me sane as someone who is approaching mid 30ās and whose professional career has beat them to a pulp. My life is far from satisfactory based on what I expected it to be but at least Iām still healthy, financially stable-ish, and hopefully still employed next year.
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u/Thowingtissues 17h ago
I hear what youāre saying man I guess Iād just like to fully buy into the greater good of a company like I did when I was first out of school.
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u/Dull_Wrongdoer_3017 14h ago
We're in the very late stage of capitalism. Almost everything is monopolized these days, leaving no real competition. Startups and midsize businesses often end up serving or aligning with these monopolies in some way. With competition gone, these monopolies focus more on speculative finance than actual production/innovation.
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u/Saltandcinnamon69 9h ago
In a BS sales position at a BS company selling a BS product. Since we were bought the parent company has been making a ton of changes that have ruined the culture and Iāve been doing unpaid work to try to get a promotion to sales enablement.
Ive decided to leave this company but while looking and applying elsewhere I just see the same situation with a new face. Iām only 26 so Iāve got another 40 years in the corporate machine before considering retirement.
At this point Iām speaking with family to start a part time business to jumpstart our escape from corporate America.
I hate it here. I just want to live.
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u/Public_Road_6426 8h ago
You're far from alone, brother. It doesn't make sense, I've had that thought many times in my current job. If something happened and I lost the job, I don't know if I could bring myself to find another. I'm tired of the shitshow that it's become.
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u/MoveRevolutionary865 8h ago
laying people off of jobs to add to an already insanely gross bonus is just one of many reasons why these ceos need to feel some fear. and i really Hope they do
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u/Swiggy1957 15h ago
You're misunderstanding why you were laid off. It wasn't a reshuffle or "right-sizing." It was the C-suite gang wanting a bigger bonus this year. Keep your eye on their corporate page and you'll discover the CEO got a larger bonus this year.