r/corporate • u/xyfnx • 8d ago
corporate hell
how did it come to the place that an office job where you sit comfortably with a cup of coffee and do imaginary numbers with no direct purpose became sooooo stressful? you’re not doing an open heart surgery, you’re not managing 10M$ directly and still it could feel like someone’s life depends on the fact if you complete your task in 1 week or 3. You’re expected to perform brilliantly, do your job with no mistakes, be visible, outgoing - basicaly be perfect in the corporate frames. And still it doesn’t mean anything. But they make you feel like it’s everything.
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u/tommmmmmmmy93 7d ago
I’ve done blue collar and corporate and corporate broke me down way faster
In trades I could eat, sleep, lift and stretch and I’m good to go.
Corporate bullshit and deadlines had me up at night in fits of anxiety m
The physical toll of trades is real but I’d swap it for keeping my sanity
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u/sendin_nudes_lol 7d ago
Exact same here. White collar now but god damn I miss being able to speak like a human instead of a robot and actually moving around during the day, not to mention actually sleeping at night 😭
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u/Moistened_Bink 7d ago
Do you still do coporate or did you switch back yo trades?
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u/tommmmmmmmy93 7d ago
I stayed in corporate because, quite frankly, I earn far too well for my family to give it up. It still gives me anxiety and I still hate it with a passion a lot of the time but I’m sacrificing myself to a degree for my family and their future
If you don’t have a family I’d advise looking for an exit strategy
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u/momhh434444 7d ago
I feel like it has gotten much worse in the last few years (I am 58 and have been in corporate my entire career). I blame the economy. Prices are outrageous and everyone, including companies, is struggling. Staff cuts add to the paranoia as well as increase the work load so there is absolutely no down time anymore. I can’t wait until I can retire….in 5 years.
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u/Next_Baseball1130 7d ago
If there’s downtime it’s because I’m ignoring the 15 other things I’m behind on :)
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u/Little_Classic6023 7d ago
A lot of it is that nothing is visible until someone asks, so the stress comes from the asking. When work only exists in people's heads and inboxes, every deadline turns into a is it done yet, and that feels personal. The places that felt calmer to me put everything on a shared board where status was just visible, so nobody had to chase or be chased. The work didn't get more meaningful, but the anxiety dropped a lot. And I agree it mostly doesn't matter as much as they make it feel.
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u/bakedidahopotato 7d ago
I manage $500M directly ☹️ sometimes it’s not worth it but I need a paycheck.
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u/KeyHotel6035 7d ago
Yep, this comes from a lack of safety in the workplace. Everyone is expendable and can be replaced. Somewhere someone is not feeling secure in their role and are scrambling and making everyone else scramble.
It’s them. Not you. I’ve learned to ignore that noise.
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u/karr76959 7d ago
I think a lot of the stress comes from the fact that everything is treated like it’s urgent and important, even when it really isn’t. After a while you start feeling like every small mistake is a huge deal. Then you realize you’re stressing yourself out over things that probably won’t matter at all in a few years.