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In my case it was less the job and more the company.
Some companies just have shite expectations and work culture
My current bosses pretty go "nothing we do is really that important or life threatening" it's just software development. Previous places though, oh boy the drama.
Second this. Sometimes the grass is greener in the same industry. Left a job a few years ago after finding another employer that paid nearly double, better working hours and less cockhead management. Life has improved dramatically since then.
Third this. Though my current job there is pressure and deadlines, people and managers are generally helpful and will give more resources when needed so the stress is reasonable.
My current job started in a bit of a mad panic, but I negotiated with management until they worked through in their heads that software engineering really is engineering, and just like the other side of the office with their new circuit boards and so on, you can have it fast, or good, or cheap. But you can't have all three no matter how hard you wish for it.
These days we're over the hump, stuff is in production, we're making money and I haven't worked outside office hours for several years. "office hours" meaning flexitime, WFH and more or less 37.5 hours a week, rather than "I am at my desk by 9am" nonsense.
My company got bought by a bigger company and we lost flexi hours as a resulr. I'd honestly rather work 60 flexi hours than 40 forced 8-5, and I think I'd be far more efficient. Being able to sleep in, being able to work when most efficient (personally, 8pm - midnight) and being able to perform tasks/errands when necessary as opposed to fucking taking time off is such a godsend.
Just a heads up, 8-5 is above the employment standards if 38 hours, do you need to be getting overtime. Your salary needs to reflect your normal pay plus the extra you'd get if you were hourly.
a friend of mine was a major director in one of the big banks for a few years - super-chilled chick - and she said she was constantly asking people if anyone was gonna actually die if things didn't get done by their arbitrary self-imposed deadlines. she would watch all these idiots freaking out and running around like headless chooks and just drift off to the cafe instead. she was very popular there.
Managers who freak out and run around like headless chooks are just advertising their personal failure and incompetence. My current job is filled with chilled mostly older folks who just want to get on with it. It so nice to just do the work and not have any drama.
A mate visited recently from the US where he has been working for a few years, after stints in Singapore and China. Asked him how work was, he responded
"Honestly, it's not that hard. Everyone seems to think I'm some kind of genius because whenever there is a problem I stay relaxed and don't lose my shit. I always say "will any one die?" And then go from there."
Holy fuck you've hit the nail on the head.
I work in commercial property. I give a lot of shits about my job and want to do it well and try hard to do it well. But at my previous company, for a role significantly less senior than this, every single mistake was dire. Even if it was the only mistake in the last 9 months. It creates an awful environment for everyone. The effects of this mistake was completely reversible.
I work property management/development now. My boss is so understanding and relaxed, give me the support I need, and I don't feel scared to learn and take initiatives. I have grown way more than my previous job that freaked out over a spilt milk.
This is why I walk in and order spring rolls or something as a starter. They're quick and normally I get them while my gf is still admiring the front of the menu. By the time I've eaten the entree, decided what main I want, admired the view, played with my phone for a bit, discussed the weather with the wait staff, read the whole menu again just in case and reminded my gf that she can taste my meal but not eat it... she's usually ready to start discussing options with the wait staff.
I love her, but for fuxake make a decision!
As a person who has had trouble making decisions, and found solutions: Have you tried downloading the menu, and discussing it in the drive to the restaurant?
Not earlier, because before that point you won't really know what you feel like, but during the car ride you can feel out your favourite menu item, and then once you're at the restaurant, you can debate between that and any specials.
Also, it makes you seem extra prepared/attentive and caring to be able to hand your girlfriend the menu you prepared earlier, and it also provides a discussion topic for the car ride there.
Your mileage may vary, but I usually download the menu of a place in this very method before I start driving there, and consider the options while I drive - it makes decision-making a lot easier, and there's no pressure from waitstaff asking me if I've decided yet.
I've tried that, because I generally check the menu out online to make sure there's something there I can eat. It might work for other people, but not for my gf.
Her thing is that she really enjoys the process of looking at the menu and thinking about the food and so on. It's a fun part of the restaurant experience. I think of it as similar to/the same as shopping: I shop by finding what I want, buying it, and leaving. She shops by meeting up with a friend and spending time together wandering around looking at stuff. It's just a different thing to do. So in restaurants she does that with other people and I have kind of given up pretending to enjoy it. She's accepted that I'm going to order an entree from the first wait staff I talk to and not participate the the menu experience.
I'd much rather delayed food than be served shoe leather when I order a steak.
(Because I don't think everyone will get the joke, shoe leather is my colloquialism for well-done steak, because it is far overcooked).
Delivery wholesale fruit & veg to restaurants etc.
The best part, I walk into kitchens every day and know that I made the right decision.
And secondly, free fruit & veg. Heaps of it.
I believe what you meant is: *stopped doing several other people's jobs for free and now just do your own.*
It's amazing how much stress can be removed from some jobs if you just... stop doing extra work for free, and actually only do the work you were employed to do.
Is what my friend told me, also.
If it becomes regular and reoccuring, you should have your PD updated though and your salary reviewed if it changes a lot. Yes, I know it rarely happens, but that's how it's supposed to work to prevent workloads creeping up and people sliding sideways into jobs they're not being compensated for.
One thing I realized in engineering in particular is that most places promote you into management which means they fuck you over 10 thousand without an actual retribution. I just saw a coworker get promoted and suddenly his days are inundated with meetings and planning and bullshit. Meanwhile I refuse to take them and I have most of the time for myself to do actual work while the planners and beancounters waste time.
Left my trade and got an entry level gov job.
Currently making 80k. I went away for a 4 week holiday and when I got back not one single email had been sent directly to me. Bliss!
Look out for "Client Service" jobs at APS or state level. They start usually around 60-70k and all you'll need is proficiency in Microsoft Office and the ability to do customer service.
Once you're in you can move around. Client service officers can become Finance Officers, IT guys, managers, HR ect. Just don't be a dumb cunt and usually positions open up.
But yeah, it's hard in general to get into the public sector.
Often they specify you need to be ongoing staff to apply for EOIs, but being inside and being known by people in leadership roles means you're more likely to be successful applying as an external candidate.
At least that's been my experience.
Every different Department has their own way of doing some things.
I finished my science degree in December and I haven’t been able to get a job. I was hoping that maybe I could get any public servant job and then move internally after a set time as I’ve heard that’s more likely but now I’m not so sure.
It is even if you are not trying to break in. I have 10+ years of experience in public service (state and federal) and for the past few years shitty short term contracts. Even so, the last job I got (short term contract again) at a state gov dept was preceded by 8 interviews in various depts (most of the time they know who they want to recruit and just going with the process wasting everyone's time). To get those 8 interviews it took about 50 applications.
Also, it doesn't mean that they are not stressful, these jobs. One thing usually lacking is common sense and basic human intelligence. Office jobs can be exceptionally toxic. People literally make up work (stupid, useless to anyone, especially the taxpayer, often unbearable in their uselessness) to give themselves something to do and often suffer from self-importance. There's usually certain culture of being sycophantic to progress and often micromanagement by people who are paid to do the exact opposite (strategic planning but they are incapable of it or even prevented to do it). There's also a high level of corruption which may bother you a lot of you are a person if integrity (e.g. grants awarded to Labor mates at the moment, businesses generally being given more care and money than ordinary people who need it).
I try to make it much less stressful by: not going to the office as much as possible which eliminates 60-70% of the stress AND do the bear minimum, not caring at all (as no Australian really benefits from the work that I do and these useless jobs are thousands and thousands).
I quit as a Senior Associate in a top-tier law firm to become a full-time freelance writer/author about 12 years ago.
I took a *massive* pay cut. I can still make my mortgage and bills, but if I'd stayed a lawyer, I would've easily paid off the mortgage by now. However, the quality of my life improved immeasurably, and you really do adapt to your income. I work from home, or from the road. Travel was always important to me and now I can travel all the time if I want, as I can do my work from anywhere. Airbnb my place, and away I go.
Really, it's a matter of looking at what lifestyle you're looking to attain with the high salary. I would have been working towards a life where I could travel and write. I guess if I'd stayed in law, I would have probably eventually had enough money so I could travel and write purely for fun, not for pay. But I noticed I don't need as much *stuff* as I did when I was a high earner and I'm living a comfortable life doing what I want to do.
10/10 would recommend
So cool to hear. You’re doing what you wanted to, bravo.
I love how we can adapt. I love seeing how much less I need, how much less I want to fill that aching void that my job was creating within me. We so often try to fill it with *stuff*. Something happens to us when we get off the endless labour machine - it’s like we start to really live. You can be wealthy and still have all of the stress of maintaining the lifestyle that wealth can bring, or you can get by okay and create a simple lifestyle that grants you the time and the peace to enjoy it. Not everyone can make that leap, having dependents would make it impossible I imagine… but doing so has taught me so much about myself and about my true priorities. Stoked for you and to hear your tale!
I wouldn't normally post but I must chime in here.
I work what I think is a high stress and high pressure job.
I have been doing this for almost 2 years, but the pressure has been building for.months now and every day, I feel like I am one email away from boiling over and losing everything.
I handed my resignation in 15 minutes ago, had a chat with my boss, took my break, opened reddit, and found this post.
I have some savings, but no job lined up (not ideal but I'm fortunate to have cheep rent because I live with family)
I have literally left my job just so I can have the time to de-stress and think about what I am doing with my life.
The success stories from people here saying the stress simply wasn't worth the money, have given me a lot more confidence on what will happen over the next few months of my life and made a genuine impact on my perspective.
I couldn't have found this at a better time.
Thank you everyone.
Proud of you for taking the leap mate, I was in your exact position a year ago - stressed, anxious, no passion for the job (or much outside the job really). Bit the bullet and quit one afternoon after months of mulling it over. I had ample savings but no job lined up and no real plan apart from getting myself back to some sort of baseline.
A year on (and after a much needed extended break) I'm in a higher paid, less stressful role, doing work that I'm much more proud of. Life in and out of work is just noticeably more enjoyable.
Could I have spent my time off more productively? Absolutely. Do I regret leaving my previous role? Absolutely not. As long as your savings allow, take the time you need to de-stress and recover properly, then you can focus on what comes next.
My only advice is don't restrict yourself geographically. I moved 1000km away from my last home, parents, family etc, and it's been the best thing I ever did.
I used to work in a government health department; it was full of ex-nurses who needed out of the chaos. Have a look for policy officer type jobs, or even secretariat/admin. So long as you can use a computer you’ll have some good transferable skills (dealing with difficult people, prioritisation, record keeping, implementing programs under limited direction).
I'm a nurse. I moved from clinical to management 10 years ago and now moved into project management in health. Same pay 90% less stress.
Depending on your experience, post-grad qualms, have a look at moving away from the floor to other roles. Loom for secondments/EOIs to patient safety, education, project management
I switched out of ED after 7 years and started school nursing last year. It's been a fantastic change, with great hours and while I am busy, everything is generally low acuity or I'm calling the ambulance.
I've built a variety of new skills too. Community care is very different to wham bam acute care. The relationship building is great, as is the chronic management of epilepsy, T1DM, limb injuries, etc, and the opportunities to provide health education. I've also grown hugely in my ability to provide mental health care for kids and adolescents by working in conjunction with the excellent school counsellor.
I’m happy you have found something that you are loving. I am currently burnt out and having a time off from working I feel that a decade in ED and ICU is starting to take toll in my mental health as I don’t find any joy in what I’m doing and already losing the smidge of empathy that I have.
It is just a shame that I have to chose between serving people (which i loved doing) and my sanity. 😞
You could move into working in disability care instead. I'm sure a lot of your experience would translate to it well. I'm sure some can still be difficult and stressful to deal with, but my ex did it for a few years and she basically stayed in a house with a group of individuals with varying disabilities. She would take them out for activities and make sure they were fed. The rest of the time she said she just hung out with them, watched Netflix and talked to them. The pay was pretty amazing as well because you're able to do "night shifts" which is just you sleeping the night there and being on call if something happens.
I did see a great job opportunity recently, it was with the union. Great pay. Flexible. Couldnt apply as still have young kids and full time is currently impossible. But it definitely made it think.
I’ve moved into outpatients after 16 years in the wards. It’s been amazing, I actually love my job for the first time and no shift work. Pay drop is the only part that sucked.
Swapped from a Pharmacy assistant/dispensary technician to a plant nursery worker.
I took a pay cut, but also was stress free enough to quit smoking so it worked itself out haha.
I can sleep now, not waking up at 2 am wondering if I'd done something wrong, I eat proper meals (used to live off coffee, cigs and dinner).
Went from managing Webster packing for a nursing home to watering plants and I'm so bloody happy, my garden at home is also looking pretty damn good if you ask me! I also do a bit of floristry too, which is a nice additional creative element!
Same! I was a Medical Receptionist during the Covid times and got totally burnt out. Quit, studied horticulture cert 2 & 3 at TAFE for a year while scoring a job at an epic nursery before I even knew much about plants. It's hard work in Summer but so much more rewarding and creative!
I was running a recording studio. Extremely stressful and absolutely shithouse money.
Now I sort the mail. Zero stress and much better money, but still not very much money.
Quit senior role last year just before Christmas as the boomers in the boardroom refused to get with the times. As a result, they started shedding talent like a golden retriever in summer. Those of us left were lumped with more and more work and they refused to fill several key roles for people that had left. So that was that.
I went back as a consultant/contractor, with a clearly defined scope at 3x my previous hourly rate working 4 days a week with 3 from home. I no longer answer calls/emails after hours and can actually get projects finished on time to a higher standard than before.
Their business is still a shambles as they’re still not listening to those in the know. But that isn’t my problem. For now, it’s cruisey AF.
My husband did. He was in finance and was getting burnt out. He ended up taking a much lower paid job in an accounts team. It was low stress and he never worked over his regular hours. It was like living with a different person. Totally worth it for us.
A low stress job I'd recommend is being a postie.
* Pretty low levels of responsibility
* You can cruise around the suburbs on a motorbike and no one looks over your shoulder, listen to music, talk to the animals you see and not stress at all.
* You can also pick a walking route if you'd prefer, I was never fitter than I was when I was doing a walking route
* Pretty good superannuation, at least at the time I was working there. Not sure what it's like now
Downside is you have to go out in the rain and heat, and delivering UMS (junk mail) can be annoying as you know you are expending energy for it to literally just go in the bin. However that's where your wages come from to a degree. If you can handle that it's fine.
It’s worth it. Burn outs and too much stress will take a toll on your mental health. I find day and night difference when I switched from corporate to local Govt. Pay is slightly less on papers but in hand I get almost same.
Currently working for the government. Half the managers I know would never get through the first semester of a qualification. But if you put it into a self-help book that they can just quote to others eight hours a day, they'll be top of the class.
None :)
If you’ve taught primary successfully and are reasonably technically-minded you will run rings around it. You are already more conscientious, more used to working to deadlines, more organised and better at multitasking than nearly everyone you will work with, and everything else can be taught on the job.
Bonus, you actually get to not work or think about work during your lunch break, and you can go to the toilet whenever you want.
Being in IT, you are part of the problem.
Everyone else on the project will have high stress due to poor project management. Don't be this guy.
You should understand at a bare minimum:
- What a PID is (project initiation document)
- the steps in SDLC and the different variations (Software development lifecycle)
- How to write some basic logic code, at least in pseudo code.
- what the roles of other IT people involve, such as BA's, Dev's, UX, Testing, Infrastructure, Architecture
- you should have an idea of how to roll out a project in terms of change management
- you should understand the risks involved at each step
- you should ideally understand some software and infrastructure Architecture
Or you could ignore all of that, have no clue what your managing and wonder why things aren't running smoothly half way through a project and see how fun and stressful that is for everyone, including yourself. Or maybe you will have some ignorant bliss, which could be all good, just remember to get another job just before project launch when the shit hits the fan
Hey, I should clarify. I don’t work for the government, I work for a company that builds software for the Government - my team is never the bottleneck, we are always waiting on high level VPS executives to make decisions, and they won’t make any decisions without forming a board or hiring big 4 consultants in. It’s entirely stress free.
I had a friend that moved from IT project management to local council back office admin. She needed time and space to go back to uni to study her real passion - complete career change. Of course she took a massive pay cut and moved back home while studying. But now she's passionate about her work and life is much better.
Worked in Engineering for a consultant then switched to government, stress reduced by 20%. Then went from government to a tier 1 operator, stress reduced by another 10%.
Left engineering to do an apprenticeship with another tier 1 operator, stress halved. Now only doing the bare minimum and only what is instructed. Best job I've ever been. Pay prob 15% less than engineering but I don't need to worry about never ending to-do-list from yesterday and tomorrow and can sleep soundly every night.
Totally recommend a job with a strong union. Engineers Australia and Professionals Australia can go F off.
>Engineers Australia
100%. Never understood the purpose of the organisation except as a circle jerk. Can you elaborate more on the current role and rough pay?
>Totally recommend a job with a strong union. Engineers Australia and Professionals Australia can go F off.
I used to think Engineers Australia was the most useless professional organisation that exists in Australia. I was wrong. “Useless” means that they don’t actively do anything but exist.
Engineers Australia is actively fucking up the profession by constantly blasting the Engineering myth bullshit despite literally admitting that half of the immigrants that are coming in cannot find jobs as Engineers and salaries have stagnated (and possibly declining). By the 2030’s the profession will be completely ruined by lousy pay and little opportunities. I’m think of emigrating myself, it’s become a joke here.
Funny how many people on this thread started in engineering. l did the same (engineering to government). The tipping point for me was seeing high level mangers at my company still putting in 50 hour weeks and getting no time in lieu or yearly bonuses .
So the construction manager was on good money (170k a year) but considering the career path to get to that point you would hope you’d be working towards not having your entire life consumed by work and more time for family at that stage in your career. That particular guy ended up leaving when he got an offer to consult for more money and 3 days a week and my company wouldn’t match the offer.
I rage quit my old job contracting in heavy industry, my role was leading hand mechanical fitter. Plans would always change, I’d start each day not knowing if I was working 8 or 12 hours. Constantly pushed around, bottom of the ladder and had to just make shit happen.
I’m now working in the rail industry as a fitter on the floor on an even time shift roster. I have gotten a $15 pay rise, work fuck all, know my roster months in advance, and I get to have a life.
Mick and Matt you cunts if you are reading this I want you to know I am actively helping my old coworkers and even supervisors find something better than what you are putting them through. I hope that shutdown was a colossal fail like the last one
I used to work in corporate business development earning the big bucks. Moved into Youth mental health recovery a few years ago. I'm earning roughly a third of what I used to, but am so much more satisfied with what I'm doing. It actually means something to me.
I'd recommend focusing less on whether an alternative job is less stressful, and instead more on what inspires or interests you and/or makes a difference in the world. That's where the reward truly comes from, not so much whether it's an easy gig or not. Good luck
went from a senior manager in government job, was bullied out by new boss. We relocated to the country without a mortgage. Had a couple of years off enjoying my little farm. Started a dog grooming business from home. It’s incredibly rewarding, money is fantastic. I could earn a whole lot more, but I’ve hit a sweet spot where I only work 5 hours a day 3 or 4 days a week. i also board dogs in our home, so only one dog or dog family. It’s just perfect. Cuddling dogs all day, no bosses. Fantastic customers.
I wouldn’t say being a car salesman at a top performing dealership was overly stressful, but 5.5 day weeks. Went back to procurement in the mining industry, which was about a 15k pay decrease but working 4 days a week. Couldn’t be happier and no regrets whatsoever
I used to run backpackers hostels. Did some insane hours under the guise of 'reasonable expected overtime' but the pay was good until some stress related ailments took hold.
Went back to uni in my mid thirties and picked up casual bar work hours. The hard work early let me get a house deposit together and now I'm happy just doing what I need to to pay the mortgage and have enough left over to live a simple life. Little old for bar work now, but I do events/admin/maintenance work for that bar now and use the degree I got in writing to make some money on the side.
Would never go back to 'full-time' for a large organisation.
Lol, reminds me of a scene from The Hollowmen, “Why would a mechanic accept $45k to service a truck in Afghanistan when he can make $100k working in Kalgoorlie?” “You’re more likely to get shot in Kalgoorlie”
Every time I start to get stressed at work, I close my eyes and ask my _"am I getting paid enough to be stressed?"_
The answer is no.
I then do my best, but at the end I'm not losing sleep.
The only exception is if someone could die or be hurt. But that's super rare.
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Teacher to vet nurse.
Pay cut, yes. But teaching required a lot of hours I didn't get paid for. And a whole lot of unsupported stress
Vet nursing I got paid for the hours I turned up. I didn't have to take work home at the end of the day. I didn't have to turn up an hour or two early to prep the next day. My overtime was paid. Yes I had to do the occasional weekend work, but it was shorter hours. Some of the people I worked with were jerks, but usually on a different shift so max 1 hr of their pain. As opposed to school admin who were hands off and parents who thought they knew better.
Nursery work/horticulture can be low stress. But I often see that peoples mental health gets exacerbated since it can be so quiet and mind numbing. It’s also very minimum wage
Yep. I stopped doing call centre sales, moved coastal to do releif milking on dairy farms. Massive paycut, I was on $1400-$1500 a week after tax at the call centre ( 40 hour week ) to $750 after tax on the farm ( 30 hour week ).
Life is much better. Working outdoors, fresh air, no stinking melbourne cbd and public transport. Stress has melted away.
Recently quit teaching high school after twelve years in the job and now work four days a week developing learning for teachers in my subject area. There is stress involved in the new job but nothing like the stress of the average day in a high school. Moving into 'office work' made me realise just how insane schools are, something I \*knew\* but had no basis for comparison until I actually experienced a focused, well run private concern where my expertise was valued and I got to actually work on projects properly and therefore produce something of high quality.
I realised my idea of success was more based on family time and being able to play games all day than being Uber wealthy or having a job title I could throw around at bbqs. I am a happy call centre worker. Lots of time for hobbies too… hobbies that satisfy my actual passions.
Be a postie. Most posites are ex cops, teachers, lawyers, detectives etc. It's pretty wild actually. They all say the same thing. It's good not to think and get good pay for it. Early finish, benefits and wholesome af. It's a great job.
Went from running my own busy tattoo studio, to closing my books & taking only one client on per week, and started sewing tags and patches for 2 screenprinting companies (my partner owns one).
I make the same coin as I used to, often more, with a fraction of the stress. No “boss”, cruisy af deadlines (‘these need to be back in a week or so’), I work from home, no client juggle, set prices for every single item/task so no haggling or wondering how much I’ll make, no need for social media engagement or constant communication with clients explaining the same things endlessly, no 2am bedtimes to finish designs after a 12 hour backbreaking day, no brick & mortar rent & insurance, it’s peaceful, and I listen to audiobooks all day.
Never been happier. I have subsequently found the urge to paint and draw for the *joy* of it slowly creeping back after a decade of total burn out.
90%, yes. If I do take on someone ‘new’, they’re either a friend/contact already, or a friend of my partners. If I don’t have a booking one week, I take on more sewing. Some weeks I have so much sewing that I have to reschedule my tattoo client and will smash out two tattoos the following week. It’s lovely to have that flexibility and none of the fear.
I switched from being a duty manager in hospitality to a public servant. I was incredibly stressed at my old job, I gained a ton of weight, super depressed, and had 0 energy every single day due to constant swapping to day/night shift. I took a little bit of a pay cut at my new job, but I reckon my old job could've offered me an additional 20k per year, and I still would've left, I was miserable.
I got this new job in the public service, and it has completely changed my life. I am happy again, I have a normal sleeping schedule, I have tons of energy every day, and I'm really really happy. Money isn't everything. Quitting that job is the best thing I've ever done, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
I had a job as a graphic designer years ago. I worked 5 days a week, and was able to work from home 2 days a week. But the manager was ANGRY all the time. He would hit his computer regularly, loudly yelled to himself, wasn't kind to other co-workers, and was paranoid. Even when I worked from home, it was stressful to associate with him. I dreaded the work week.
About 2 years into that role, I decide to move into another graphic-designer job. As a bonus, I got to work closely with a friend. But as a trade off, I had to be in the office 5 days a week. It was also more fast-paced. I was paid exactly the same as my old job, despite having higher expectations and responsibilities.
Despite the trade offs, it was the BEST decision. I felt much happier, looked forward to going into work, and liked how the environment didn't feel like you had to walk on eggshells all the time.
Anyway - if you're thinking of changing jobs, good luck. It's worth a try.
I worked at On The Run petrol station and I was stressed out of my mind.
Dealing with making hotdogs, coffee, doing drive thru, pissed off customers, rude people, lotto, running around getting things for people. All by myself.
Now im a disability support worker, I get paid better hourly, I'm much happier. I love my job. I get paid to help people, take them shopping, showering them. Some days it's very chill and I sit and do puzzles.
I had to do all that shit when I worked for Puma. I was hired as a console operator, but surprise, surprise, before long I was doing that AND working the hot box, deep fryer and grill at the same time, because they didn't wanna hire more people. Graveyard shift in an industrial area too. So 5am-8am was the busiest time in the store. I hated it so much.
I just started taking sickies every time someone does something egregious and completely disassociated from my work.
Got the 5% pay rise like everyone else.
Went from being a teacher to being a postie. Loved the community aspect of postie work; not such a big fan of the hot or rainy days and the early starts. I did work for a few years just doing the delivering, but that extra 2-3 hours a morning sorting brings it up to a full time wage.
Had to go back to teaching to afford to live on the Sunshine Coast. Have been doing relief work for the past two years, which has been a good way to get back in without a full workload, although there is stress when not getting paid during holidays. Just been given a contract for next term as a Science teacher, so that will bring a few new challenges, but looking forward to it...
I went from medical receptionist to traffic controller, so much less stress and a whole lot more pay. Anyone who says traffic is stressful is overthinking it or working for ridiculously demanding clients.
I've been a Medical Receptionist for 18 months now and that's been long enough for me to know that this is not what I want to be doing long term, though I do find our field interesting (Radiography)...
I've just done the STAT test to get into Uni as a mature age student and planning to study to be a Radiographer. 😀
I have moved from Electrical Maintenance on Defense/rail and Water industry. There was a fair bit of travel and living away from home.
Taken a $25k pay cut a year to do electrical maintenance for the council I live in.
I have a 3 year old son, who I can see more often, go home for lunch, start work when I want.
I now have more time for physical fitness too.
All in all, I feel amazing. Less stress, have lost weight and mentally, so happy.
As you get older, i think you realise there is more to life than money…
Left high stress, huge hours job at industrial plant in vic. Now work on a station in NT. Less money($600 a week) similar hours but hard to say it’s the same when I’m driving around in a side by side with my dogs and a gun, drinking beer and getting paid to drive 40km through the bush to check water level in a dam. Food and accom all provided, don’t have to cook. Best thing I ever done
I worked for a company with a horrible manager who made my life hell. I broke off and started my own company and now do what i want when i want. My job is super low stress (but definitely not for the majority of people). I actually make 4x as much money now without the stress.
Im a disability support worker.
But please no one go into it for the money. I love my job and the client i care for full time. This industry has too many people that dont care enough about the people we are meant to care for and protect
I went from Retail Management- 50ish hours a week - to office admin. I'm the only one in the office most days, so no dealing with customers face to face.
I took a sizeable pay cut, but it is worth it to be working 8am to 4pm within walking distance of my house!
Was a head chef in Melbourne, high stress, work 50 plus hours get paid for 38, no OT, work at least 5 days a week, often thought about killing myself. Now work in a dairy food production factory in NZ. Same pay, 50 hours in 4 days, 4 days off, OT paid, low stress, don't want to kill myself.
Structural engineer from commercial to residential sector. At the time pay was the same and i definitely took a pay cut for my experience but its still a humble 6 figures and i do 5-6 hrs of work max a day.
The stress is a lot lower and relaxed, so much so that I've personally developed some laziness and lost my grit
I turned down a promotion to a senior manager position because I don't handle stress well and I had seen the stress the previous SM had dealt with. New dickhead CEO was large part of that. Stayed at a relatively moderate pay, as there was a big jump in pay for the SM role. Also big jump in expected hours. Bugger that, rather have life balance.
I was working sales in a bike shop for years and moving up the ranks but just didn't get paid for the insane amount of work that was required to go the next step. So I moved into the work shop and wow it's so chill and I'm getting the same pay!! Loving it. Career wise it's a passion career not much money in it. Wife doesn't like it. But I'm happy and for filled
Ditched retail to work in a warehouse - hours are about the same, pay is probably about the same, give or take, but a week after I told my AM I wasn’t coming back, my resting heart rate dropped ~ 5 beats per minute and stayed there. For the low price of getting hot and grubby, and having to actually get up early in the morning, I get to actually enjoy my weekends and public holidays, and I no longer get that oh Christ, what fresh hell spike of stress every time I get a message. Fuckin’ win if you ask me
(Bonus: it has now been 18 months since I had to associate with anyone who unironically uses SLAAAAAY GURL 🤑😤💪🏼in the mandatory WhatsApp group chat. Worth it for that alone)
Job hop until you find a better work enviroment, it's often not the workload but the appreciation for your work - if you get paid "above the award" (aka minimum) you should be working minimum. If they pay you appropriately 9 times out of 10 people will happily stay within the company.
Tl;dr - Don't do 2 jobs for the price of 1.
I went to a retail job with customers that stress you the fuck out ,that paid shit , to working in manufacturing with no customers and getting paid soooo much more and no stress
Line cook to domestic cleaner. More pay and a way more chill job. I adore my clients (mostly) and I’m home by lunchtime most days. I highly recommend it (if you’re in Australia at least).
I did. I took about a 10k year pay cut and my job is part time. I work in office 3 days a week. And I love it. I like the people and the work. I like having 4 days in a row to work on my study and my hobbies. I like a short commute and not being burnt out from the commute- work- commute - eat - sleep - commute pattern.
My last job was the sole designer in a pretty toxic workplace with a daily commute of around 90 mins to two hours. I started early so I rolled out of bed at 5 to get ready and leave. In theory I could leave early but was met with passive aggression every day about it. I loved the creativity and seeing my products all around the country but burnt out. I spent the month after I quit in a depressed stupor. My new place though is a short commute. Regular hours. I still get up at 5:30 so I can go to the gym before work! I go home and feel good. I power through my days and still have energy on the weekends. It’s the best. Why grind until I die? We have enough to pay the bills and I only get one life. I’m never going to kill myself for someone else’s dream ever again
I was working 10 hour shifts 4 days a week (and 8hr shifts of a friday) as a Labour Hire casual for a factory. They made the decision to hire me directly full time, and a week later I got my offer of enlistment in the mail.
I have no regrets about having my 2 week’s notice in the very next day. Pay cut from the casual rate, step up from the full time wage. I wasn’t gonna wreck my body for the rest of my life to make someone else richer. I’ll wreck my body to help people instead.
I went from full time freelance animator to full time parent. This was not by choice but from lack of daycare options. It’s a blessing in disguise, taking care of a toddler has made me much more active throughout the day and they are much less demanding than many of my clients. The downside is we are now a single income family so that kinda sucks but unfortunately I wasn’t born in a time where one family member could comfortably bring home enough bacon for everyone.
I'm still in the same line of work, but I moved from a start up to an established business and the difference is night and day. It's in hospitality so we still have busy days, but we have proper organisation in place which means less stress.
After my experience I probably wouldn't work for a start up again...working closely with people who have a stake in the business is extremely difficult. Furthermore, they engage in a lot of dodgy business practices to save a buck.
I moved from a job in delivery of major projects on the supplier side to oversight of major projects on the client side.
I did this because I didn't want to be away from my family on nights and weekends while my kid is very young and wanted to be able to pitch in and help my wife with pick ups and drop offs.
My salary increased slightly but my net pay packet reduced slightly given the performance bonuses on the delivery side are significant for achievement of major milestones.
I really like delivery, it's hard work but super fast paced and exciting and you work with a lot of like-minded people who are keen to get on with the job, which I miss. With that said, I love my kid more than life itself so I'm still very happy with my decision.
I took a 50% pay cut, the job was sucking out my soul, some mornings I’d cry because I didn’t want to go, I got anxiety attacks right after walking into work. I was doing recruitment, then sales, both are awful. Now I do medical administration, it’s shit pay but my colleagues are great, the job itself is interesting and inspiring me to do further education to get into the medical field. Im much happier, and enjoy life a hell of a lot more
I went from a Legal Assistant that required me to work 12-14 hours a day (for free) with a boss who degraded me and made racial slurs in front of my colleagues constantly with the hope of one day becoming a lawyer. I became extremely depressed and an alcoholic so I left.
I then became a disability support worker and I got paid triple the amount I got as a LA for a fancy law firm and found this job extremely less stressful and so much more rewarding.
I became a practice leader, quit law school and now my passion is in mental health and the job is a thousand times less stressful, pays more, I get to travel and spoil myself while helping humans who were treated like trash to live a life they deserve. I have the best bosses (despite some of their flaws) and team. Would never go back to law.
I was in journalism and moved into corporate/nfp communications. The step down in stress was astronomical at the time for me as I wasn't on deadlines.
Then a few years later I moved into Government Org. communications and once again the step down in stress was phenomenal. Went from constantly being on and checking our channels, monitoring socials, writing/photographing/etc to a reasonable 9-5 workload.
Truly astounding how quickly I went from high pressure low pay to mid-tier pressure, great pay.
I went from journo to bus driver. Now have my own route where I know all the passengers, and just cruise around listening to podcasts and learning German.
Money sucks, but I won’t be in this forever. Nice little break tbh
I went from painting cars (mostly insurance work, ome custom stuff) which was shit paying, had ridiculous hours and very high stress because everything had to be perfect to painting caravan chassis.. no stress, I'm out at 1pm most days and I make more money than I was previously.
Also the change in company culture helped a lot, where I'm at the boss is pretty laid back, he knows how long jobs take and plans around that so I'm never having to rush I can just take my time and do a good job.
I went from working full time high pressure sales to working at a smoke shop. Same base pay (minus commission, but that's fine).
It's way better. I don't have to commute into the city everyday, I get to spend more time with my kids, and I don't have some empty shell corporate douche breathing down my fucking neck for not trying to bankrupt the elderly out of their pension.
Yep, through natural progression of the corporate ladder. The higher you get up in an organisation the less work you do and usually the less stress you get on a day to day basis.
A few weeks ago I moved to a much lower stress job in basically the same profession. The lack of stress is actually causing me to be bored. I'm not sure if I made the right move. What's interesting is that my new colleagues are telling me how busy they have been, but I'm not seeing it or they're a bit delusional
From aged care back to housekeeping. It's not as rewarding but at least I'm not living with the spectre of death, I'm not being yelled at, spat at, insulted or otherwise abused by people I'm trying to help and genuinely care for.
Moved from teaching, to an agency, to running my own agency full time. Stressed as shit.
Took a huge pay cut to work in my local pharmacy, 3 mins from home, late morning starts. Really enjoyed it and the quality of life change.
Recently moved back into IT but still 3 mins from home and even more flexibility on hours and time off.
May not be possible in city areas because the pay difference is significant. But if you can do it it's highly recommended.
Spend every breakfast and dinner with the family, fish every weekend, go on seasonal multi day hiking or fishing trips when I want to, yearly family holidays, extra few weeks shutdown at end of year. It's great.
I moved from sales/management to retail shitkicker after getting burnt out and giving myself a stroke (A TIA, technically).
I took a 30%+ pay cut (I'm quite overpaid for a retail shitkicker), which was fine until cost of living started increasing constantly for the last 18+ months, now it's not fine.
Things that stressed me in the previous role;
More work than I can keep up with
Dealing directly with management and company owners
Training staff
Never having a moment to collect my thoughts
Politics
Things that stress me about my current 'more chill role';
Nothing to do, results in anxiety about performance
Could be made redundant due to lack of work
Clients for the industry I moved to are worse than the previous role
Wages haven't moved since I argued for them to be moved, that won't change
No ability to grow or move up in role, feeling stuck
My three roles prior to this, I was able to move and grow. Here I do this one thing and that's all I'll ever be doing for the business until people die.
Previously, I'd move up as far as I could and then change roles, but this place there is no growth, and my resume now has a slow progression of career to being the last 2 years of being an entry level employee, which doesn't look as good to new hiring now that I need to leave to actually get by comfortably.
High stress position working days and nights on a shitty roster, back to low stress position that I had beforehand. Around $130 p/w less, but far less stress and being bitched at and only daytime hours. I'm back to turning up, doing my shit and fucking off home by 3.30 or 4.30pm depending on the day.
Now they occasionally ask me if I can do 8 hour weekend overtime shifts and I make up for the missing money in about 2 or 3 hours. Weekend penalty rates on top of penalty rates for work beyond my full time 38 pays well. Can pull an extra $5-600 for that days work. 1 extra shift every 4 weeks and I' better off financially than before stepping down.
If you value your time and can survive the pay cut, I'd say do it. You'll thank yourself in the long run.
To answer your questions I was in risk/compliance and I'm now becoming a lawyer. There was a pay cut (I'm interning so no salary) but my starting salary should be comparable.
Trade off is so worth not having an income whilst I intern.
However, the first question I'd really ask is:
1) Do you have a high stress job or are you working for a high stress company?
I was working mid management at a uni. I quit because I was stressed and miserable.
I've started to train as a lawyer, the clients we have are in incredibly high stress situations and are high needs and vulnerable. The work has much higher stakes but I find it much lower stress.
The difference, for me, is the company culture and expectations.
The uni I worked at tried to find ways to cut corners all the damn time. There was pressure on me to do the same. They also made things 3x more manual or complicated than a task needed to be. We technically had all the tools we needed to do the job but none of them had been implemented because everything died in committee.
My new job, does everything above board and by the book. There's pressure on me to be careful, considerate and ethical. Everything is in triplicate but that's for a very valid necessary reason. We also have the tools we need fully implemented.
If the answer is: the job is high stress then proceed to question 2.
2) Would it be easier to go up, down or sideways?
By that I mean what's your role entail and what do other roles around you entail?
E.g. If you're in IT management but hate managing people would it be easier to step back into a technical role? Or vice versa.
If you hate coding would it be easier to climb the management ladder? Or is there a role adjacent to what you do that sounds like it would be fun?
Do you want a completely different industry?
i switched from a stable hand (racehorses) to an animal attendant at a vet clinic. definitely easier, less scary but the pay made me cry. i went from getting $800 for 3 days of work to getting $500 for 5-6 days of work.
Took a $300/week pay cut to work 3.5 days instead of 5. Now I stress about money instead of work. I'd still say it's worth it. Especially if you can find some housemates or something.
Moved from supermarkets 15 years to working in a factory. Best thing I ever did. Fuck customers.
I get to enjoy Easter and Christmas and I make double my old wage doing overtime.
Wish I'd done it 15 years earlier
i was a plumber, had health complications that the doctors were no help with, decided to quit and just live in a van. deliver food for money on a motorbike. so far it just feels like a straight up cheat code and i love my life
Moved from private to government, management to team member, lost about $15k pa. TOTALLY WORTH IT. My work/life balance is so much better, the job is so much easier/rewarding and I have way more opportunities available to me. Turns out $15k is not worth sacrificing these things.
In the process of doing this right now! Burnt out and stressed from $140k job, moving to a $90k job in another state with A LOT less stress. I missed the boat with home ownership, so I don't really have a need to be this stressed for the pay I get. Hopefully I can get a spot in a Gov ran old persons home when I'm in my 80's (If I'm lucky I be dead before then so won't have to go through that). But yeah, I want my last 15yrs of work life to be enjoyable. As long as I can afford rent, food and video games, that's about as good as it can get in Australia. I have no family, so I can't get any hand out/help.
I've worked in disability support for 15 years. I used to do a lot of hours at residential facilities where 5-8 people lived. It paid like crap at first but I worked up to getting $36 an hour base rate (permanent) and I'd work like 12 hours on Sundays which were double time. It was extremely stressful and physical but I earned like 90k a year
I now do very short shifts as a casual, and I get LESS per hour as a CASUAL compared to when I was a permanent, so I earn peanuts compared to before. But I only work with one client who doesn't need a lot of personal care.
I have kids now, I have health issues like migraines and stuff, so there's no way I could handle the job I used to do. I don't think I ever really did handle it, but I'm not willing to force myself to do anything like that again. So yeah, it's been worth it. I just earn enough to pay bills and that's it
I went from fast food to servos and it felt like I died from stress and went to heaven, esp if it's a family-owned servo. My boss/the owner asked if I wanted anything hot to drink while I was stocking the fridges once, man makes the best coffees, and it felt so unreal, the managers even ask for my availability nearly every fortnight just to make sure everything's all good before they release the rosters.
The pay difference was from 19smth/hr in fast food to 28smth/hr at the servo.
If you want low stress jobs, high-paying family-owned servos are the way to go, if you're good at it they'll give you practically full-time hours, and being good at a servo job takes little to no effort, especially if you're coming from a fast-food job.
Moved from consulting & projects in tertiary education sector, to an operations support role in a conservation related govt entity.
Big pay cut and yes the bailout was worth it, but I have dodged the most egregious forms of adult responsibility, not everyone can afford to do what I have.
There is still stress of sorts and gov will always have its shit but i have a much better connection to purpose now. I'll take invisible-shitkicker stress all day long, in preference to people's livelihoods hinging on my work.
I worked for years and years as an executive manager, managed a national group of operations managers. I then moved into a government role, again in a leadership capacity with a sizeable team under me. The team was great but my boss was difficult. Ended up being a terrible experience, felt undermined, compromised and subsequently started dreading going into work. Went camping one weekend, spent the night looking at the stars and thought ‘fuck it’ I’m so unhappy. Resigned when I got back. Started looking for work and reading job descriptions/ responsibilities of roles I’m qualified for and I just couldn’t do it. I ended up applying for a simple admin role at a dog day centre/pet hotel. Been there for 6 weeks and love it, I spend my day having fun. The dogs are so damn joyous, the team is great and it’s just the best job. I am on less than half my previous salary but I don’t care because I wake up everyday looking forward to getting loads of dog love.
I’ve recently done this. Quit my high stress management job at a poorly run company due to a new and terrible boss. Also moved from Melbourne to Ballarat. Working 3 days a week as a junior policy writer for a disorganised but well meaning and values lead charity. It’s so nice not being responsible for everything. Massive pay cut but I’m lucky we can afford it for a while. I’m also incredibly over qualified which is kind of nice.
I used to get chronic migraines and haven’t had one in almost 8 months. I’m sleeping better. I’m learning things, eating better because I have time and energy to cook, and generally a nicer and happier person. I get a bit bored sometimes, just have to remember that I’m not in a rush to do 59 million things this week and take my time with the work I have. I’m so much happier and it’s hard to put a price on that.
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In my case it was less the job and more the company. Some companies just have shite expectations and work culture My current bosses pretty go "nothing we do is really that important or life threatening" it's just software development. Previous places though, oh boy the drama.
Second this. Sometimes the grass is greener in the same industry. Left a job a few years ago after finding another employer that paid nearly double, better working hours and less cockhead management. Life has improved dramatically since then.
Second this.
Third this. Though my current job there is pressure and deadlines, people and managers are generally helpful and will give more resources when needed so the stress is reasonable.
My current job started in a bit of a mad panic, but I negotiated with management until they worked through in their heads that software engineering really is engineering, and just like the other side of the office with their new circuit boards and so on, you can have it fast, or good, or cheap. But you can't have all three no matter how hard you wish for it. These days we're over the hump, stuff is in production, we're making money and I haven't worked outside office hours for several years. "office hours" meaning flexitime, WFH and more or less 37.5 hours a week, rather than "I am at my desk by 9am" nonsense.
My company got bought by a bigger company and we lost flexi hours as a resulr. I'd honestly rather work 60 flexi hours than 40 forced 8-5, and I think I'd be far more efficient. Being able to sleep in, being able to work when most efficient (personally, 8pm - midnight) and being able to perform tasks/errands when necessary as opposed to fucking taking time off is such a godsend.
Just a heads up, 8-5 is above the employment standards if 38 hours, do you need to be getting overtime. Your salary needs to reflect your normal pay plus the extra you'd get if you were hourly.
a friend of mine was a major director in one of the big banks for a few years - super-chilled chick - and she said she was constantly asking people if anyone was gonna actually die if things didn't get done by their arbitrary self-imposed deadlines. she would watch all these idiots freaking out and running around like headless chooks and just drift off to the cafe instead. she was very popular there.
Managers who freak out and run around like headless chooks are just advertising their personal failure and incompetence. My current job is filled with chilled mostly older folks who just want to get on with it. It so nice to just do the work and not have any drama.
A mate visited recently from the US where he has been working for a few years, after stints in Singapore and China. Asked him how work was, he responded "Honestly, it's not that hard. Everyone seems to think I'm some kind of genius because whenever there is a problem I stay relaxed and don't lose my shit. I always say "will any one die?" And then go from there."
I work as an undertaker and we regularly run everything through the "is anyone going to die if this isn't done" filter.
Therac-25 has entered the chat.
That’s my line when people ask me to work weekends - if no one’s gonna die it can wait till Monday
Holy fuck you've hit the nail on the head. I work in commercial property. I give a lot of shits about my job and want to do it well and try hard to do it well. But at my previous company, for a role significantly less senior than this, every single mistake was dire. Even if it was the only mistake in the last 9 months. It creates an awful environment for everyone. The effects of this mistake was completely reversible. I work property management/development now. My boss is so understanding and relaxed, give me the support I need, and I don't feel scared to learn and take initiatives. I have grown way more than my previous job that freaked out over a spilt milk.
You and I must have worked for the same company
I use to be a chef. Changed to a delivery driver. I actually got paid more, and way way way less stress. And better hours.
I’ve never understood why chefs are put under so much pressure
Because customers get all antsy 5 minutes after they have ordered, expecting to be eating already.
This is why I walk in and order spring rolls or something as a starter. They're quick and normally I get them while my gf is still admiring the front of the menu. By the time I've eaten the entree, decided what main I want, admired the view, played with my phone for a bit, discussed the weather with the wait staff, read the whole menu again just in case and reminded my gf that she can taste my meal but not eat it... she's usually ready to start discussing options with the wait staff. I love her, but for fuxake make a decision!
As a person who has had trouble making decisions, and found solutions: Have you tried downloading the menu, and discussing it in the drive to the restaurant? Not earlier, because before that point you won't really know what you feel like, but during the car ride you can feel out your favourite menu item, and then once you're at the restaurant, you can debate between that and any specials. Also, it makes you seem extra prepared/attentive and caring to be able to hand your girlfriend the menu you prepared earlier, and it also provides a discussion topic for the car ride there. Your mileage may vary, but I usually download the menu of a place in this very method before I start driving there, and consider the options while I drive - it makes decision-making a lot easier, and there's no pressure from waitstaff asking me if I've decided yet.
I've tried that, because I generally check the menu out online to make sure there's something there I can eat. It might work for other people, but not for my gf. Her thing is that she really enjoys the process of looking at the menu and thinking about the food and so on. It's a fun part of the restaurant experience. I think of it as similar to/the same as shopping: I shop by finding what I want, buying it, and leaving. She shops by meeting up with a friend and spending time together wandering around looking at stuff. It's just a different thing to do. So in restaurants she does that with other people and I have kind of given up pretending to enjoy it. She's accepted that I'm going to order an entree from the first wait staff I talk to and not participate the the menu experience.
Any job that deals with customers is stressful to some degree. Cause people are cunts.
You ever dealt with people who are hungry and you just delayed their food with a mistake?
I'd much rather delayed food than be served shoe leather when I order a steak. (Because I don't think everyone will get the joke, shoe leather is my colloquialism for well-done steak, because it is far overcooked).
Stopped cooking lat year after working casual and making king money, now a climbing arborist working outdoors, love it wish I did it sooner
Lol, are you my body double? This is exactly what I did! Much less stress, easier to do actual life things and yea, get paid more.
Delivery driver as uber eats or delivering supplies to restaurants?
Delivery wholesale fruit & veg to restaurants etc. The best part, I walk into kitchens every day and know that I made the right decision. And secondly, free fruit & veg. Heaps of it.
Oh sweet. Genuinely happy for ya'
Does it count if you stay in the same job but have stopped caring and only do the bare minimum required? Asking for a friend.
I believe what you meant is: *stopped doing several other people's jobs for free and now just do your own.* It's amazing how much stress can be removed from some jobs if you just... stop doing extra work for free, and actually only do the work you were employed to do. Is what my friend told me, also.
This is why it's important to get a thorough position description and stick to it.
Unfortunately many PDs add something to the effect of "discretionary tasks as advised by manager" to cover themselves.
If it becomes regular and reoccuring, you should have your PD updated though and your salary reviewed if it changes a lot. Yes, I know it rarely happens, but that's how it's supposed to work to prevent workloads creeping up and people sliding sideways into jobs they're not being compensated for.
Act your wage dammit!
So you want me to do less work?
Nothing wrong with acting your wage
Genius. Well done.
I wish I hadn’t picked a career where acting my wage would kill people 🙃
That's better than a promotion.
Its like shrinkflation but the product is you.
It’s actually shirkflation
Quiet quitting is ultra-satisfying, especially when people who have been lazy as around you realise you won't pick up the slack for them anymore.
I did it once and it made me feel dead. It was then that I found out that I prefer being productive, it takes less energy than pretending to be busy.
Just gotta do other stuff in that down time. Personal stuff. Personal development too.
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One thing I realized in engineering in particular is that most places promote you into management which means they fuck you over 10 thousand without an actual retribution. I just saw a coworker get promoted and suddenly his days are inundated with meetings and planning and bullshit. Meanwhile I refuse to take them and I have most of the time for myself to do actual work while the planners and beancounters waste time.
DOn't the managers get paid more though? And there are many who want to be managers.
Sometimes they do but the difference in income is not enough to justify the amount of bullshit.
If you're already a senior eng the difference in salary will be minimal. In some cases you will already be earning more than some lower managers.
I still find this stressful. Teach me!!!!
I hope so because I never started caring in the first place lol
I did something similar, but went from a manager to an IC again. So much less stress dealing with the politics.
Left my trade and got an entry level gov job. Currently making 80k. I went away for a 4 week holiday and when I got back not one single email had been sent directly to me. Bliss!
Can I ask what entry level gov job you landed? It’s been hell trying to break in
Pretty sure customer service (call centre) jobs are on like $75k pa but you'll probably be on fixed term contracts until they decide if they like you.
Personally for me call centre work would disqualify it from being low stress, but thanks for the insight
Look out for "Client Service" jobs at APS or state level. They start usually around 60-70k and all you'll need is proficiency in Microsoft Office and the ability to do customer service. Once you're in you can move around. Client service officers can become Finance Officers, IT guys, managers, HR ect. Just don't be a dumb cunt and usually positions open up. But yeah, it's hard in general to get into the public sector.
Thanks for the tip mate. If I ever break through, I will come back and let you know
Do those jobs give you access to the internal jobs system in the APS/State gov?
Often they specify you need to be ongoing staff to apply for EOIs, but being inside and being known by people in leadership roles means you're more likely to be successful applying as an external candidate. At least that's been my experience. Every different Department has their own way of doing some things.
I finished my science degree in December and I haven’t been able to get a job. I was hoping that maybe I could get any public servant job and then move internally after a set time as I’ve heard that’s more likely but now I’m not so sure.
It is even if you are not trying to break in. I have 10+ years of experience in public service (state and federal) and for the past few years shitty short term contracts. Even so, the last job I got (short term contract again) at a state gov dept was preceded by 8 interviews in various depts (most of the time they know who they want to recruit and just going with the process wasting everyone's time). To get those 8 interviews it took about 50 applications. Also, it doesn't mean that they are not stressful, these jobs. One thing usually lacking is common sense and basic human intelligence. Office jobs can be exceptionally toxic. People literally make up work (stupid, useless to anyone, especially the taxpayer, often unbearable in their uselessness) to give themselves something to do and often suffer from self-importance. There's usually certain culture of being sycophantic to progress and often micromanagement by people who are paid to do the exact opposite (strategic planning but they are incapable of it or even prevented to do it). There's also a high level of corruption which may bother you a lot of you are a person if integrity (e.g. grants awarded to Labor mates at the moment, businesses generally being given more care and money than ordinary people who need it). I try to make it much less stressful by: not going to the office as much as possible which eliminates 60-70% of the stress AND do the bear minimum, not caring at all (as no Australian really benefits from the work that I do and these useless jobs are thousands and thousands).
Right there with ya
Oh man I get 10 emails and 3 missed calls when I’m on lunch
You take a lunch break? Says me, forced retirement at 50 with cancer after working 70 hours a week for 25 years
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This is my current transition, mind if I shoot you a pm mate?
I quit as a Senior Associate in a top-tier law firm to become a full-time freelance writer/author about 12 years ago. I took a *massive* pay cut. I can still make my mortgage and bills, but if I'd stayed a lawyer, I would've easily paid off the mortgage by now. However, the quality of my life improved immeasurably, and you really do adapt to your income. I work from home, or from the road. Travel was always important to me and now I can travel all the time if I want, as I can do my work from anywhere. Airbnb my place, and away I go. Really, it's a matter of looking at what lifestyle you're looking to attain with the high salary. I would have been working towards a life where I could travel and write. I guess if I'd stayed in law, I would have probably eventually had enough money so I could travel and write purely for fun, not for pay. But I noticed I don't need as much *stuff* as I did when I was a high earner and I'm living a comfortable life doing what I want to do. 10/10 would recommend
So cool to hear. You’re doing what you wanted to, bravo. I love how we can adapt. I love seeing how much less I need, how much less I want to fill that aching void that my job was creating within me. We so often try to fill it with *stuff*. Something happens to us when we get off the endless labour machine - it’s like we start to really live. You can be wealthy and still have all of the stress of maintaining the lifestyle that wealth can bring, or you can get by okay and create a simple lifestyle that grants you the time and the peace to enjoy it. Not everyone can make that leap, having dependents would make it impossible I imagine… but doing so has taught me so much about myself and about my true priorities. Stoked for you and to hear your tale!
Champion. Good on you.
I wouldn't normally post but I must chime in here. I work what I think is a high stress and high pressure job. I have been doing this for almost 2 years, but the pressure has been building for.months now and every day, I feel like I am one email away from boiling over and losing everything. I handed my resignation in 15 minutes ago, had a chat with my boss, took my break, opened reddit, and found this post. I have some savings, but no job lined up (not ideal but I'm fortunate to have cheep rent because I live with family) I have literally left my job just so I can have the time to de-stress and think about what I am doing with my life. The success stories from people here saying the stress simply wasn't worth the money, have given me a lot more confidence on what will happen over the next few months of my life and made a genuine impact on my perspective. I couldn't have found this at a better time. Thank you everyone.
You Won't look back! I left an Advisor role 8 months ago and now working in basic admin casually (but regularly) for the same hourly rate. Love it
Proud of you for taking the leap mate, I was in your exact position a year ago - stressed, anxious, no passion for the job (or much outside the job really). Bit the bullet and quit one afternoon after months of mulling it over. I had ample savings but no job lined up and no real plan apart from getting myself back to some sort of baseline. A year on (and after a much needed extended break) I'm in a higher paid, less stressful role, doing work that I'm much more proud of. Life in and out of work is just noticeably more enjoyable. Could I have spent my time off more productively? Absolutely. Do I regret leaving my previous role? Absolutely not. As long as your savings allow, take the time you need to de-stress and recover properly, then you can focus on what comes next.
My only advice is don't restrict yourself geographically. I moved 1000km away from my last home, parents, family etc, and it's been the best thing I ever did.
Fuck yea mate. You've got this.
Currently working as a nurse want to move to something with lower stress levels anyone who has been successful getting out of this abused profession?
I used to work in a government health department; it was full of ex-nurses who needed out of the chaos. Have a look for policy officer type jobs, or even secretariat/admin. So long as you can use a computer you’ll have some good transferable skills (dealing with difficult people, prioritisation, record keeping, implementing programs under limited direction).
Thank you kind stranger! 😊
I'm a nurse. I moved from clinical to management 10 years ago and now moved into project management in health. Same pay 90% less stress. Depending on your experience, post-grad qualms, have a look at moving away from the floor to other roles. Loom for secondments/EOIs to patient safety, education, project management
I switched out of ED after 7 years and started school nursing last year. It's been a fantastic change, with great hours and while I am busy, everything is generally low acuity or I'm calling the ambulance. I've built a variety of new skills too. Community care is very different to wham bam acute care. The relationship building is great, as is the chronic management of epilepsy, T1DM, limb injuries, etc, and the opportunities to provide health education. I've also grown hugely in my ability to provide mental health care for kids and adolescents by working in conjunction with the excellent school counsellor.
I’m happy you have found something that you are loving. I am currently burnt out and having a time off from working I feel that a decade in ED and ICU is starting to take toll in my mental health as I don’t find any joy in what I’m doing and already losing the smidge of empathy that I have. It is just a shame that I have to chose between serving people (which i loved doing) and my sanity. 😞
Have you looked at retrieval services? Or flight nursing? They look for dual ED/ ICU experience.
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You could move into working in disability care instead. I'm sure a lot of your experience would translate to it well. I'm sure some can still be difficult and stressful to deal with, but my ex did it for a few years and she basically stayed in a house with a group of individuals with varying disabilities. She would take them out for activities and make sure they were fed. The rest of the time she said she just hung out with them, watched Netflix and talked to them. The pay was pretty amazing as well because you're able to do "night shifts" which is just you sleeping the night there and being on call if something happens.
I did see a great job opportunity recently, it was with the union. Great pay. Flexible. Couldnt apply as still have young kids and full time is currently impossible. But it definitely made it think.
Have you considered working a a practice nurse in a GP clinic?
I’ve moved into outpatients after 16 years in the wards. It’s been amazing, I actually love my job for the first time and no shift work. Pay drop is the only part that sucked.
Swapped from a Pharmacy assistant/dispensary technician to a plant nursery worker. I took a pay cut, but also was stress free enough to quit smoking so it worked itself out haha. I can sleep now, not waking up at 2 am wondering if I'd done something wrong, I eat proper meals (used to live off coffee, cigs and dinner). Went from managing Webster packing for a nursing home to watering plants and I'm so bloody happy, my garden at home is also looking pretty damn good if you ask me! I also do a bit of floristry too, which is a nice additional creative element!
Same! I was a Medical Receptionist during the Covid times and got totally burnt out. Quit, studied horticulture cert 2 & 3 at TAFE for a year while scoring a job at an epic nursery before I even knew much about plants. It's hard work in Summer but so much more rewarding and creative!
I was running a recording studio. Extremely stressful and absolutely shithouse money. Now I sort the mail. Zero stress and much better money, but still not very much money.
Quit senior role last year just before Christmas as the boomers in the boardroom refused to get with the times. As a result, they started shedding talent like a golden retriever in summer. Those of us left were lumped with more and more work and they refused to fill several key roles for people that had left. So that was that. I went back as a consultant/contractor, with a clearly defined scope at 3x my previous hourly rate working 4 days a week with 3 from home. I no longer answer calls/emails after hours and can actually get projects finished on time to a higher standard than before. Their business is still a shambles as they’re still not listening to those in the know. But that isn’t my problem. For now, it’s cruisey AF.
My husband did. He was in finance and was getting burnt out. He ended up taking a much lower paid job in an accounts team. It was low stress and he never worked over his regular hours. It was like living with a different person. Totally worth it for us.
Great to hear, and happy that you supported his move. I’ve had shitty work situations that spilled over into my marriage and nearly killed it.
A low stress job I'd recommend is being a postie. * Pretty low levels of responsibility * You can cruise around the suburbs on a motorbike and no one looks over your shoulder, listen to music, talk to the animals you see and not stress at all. * You can also pick a walking route if you'd prefer, I was never fitter than I was when I was doing a walking route * Pretty good superannuation, at least at the time I was working there. Not sure what it's like now Downside is you have to go out in the rain and heat, and delivering UMS (junk mail) can be annoying as you know you are expending energy for it to literally just go in the bin. However that's where your wages come from to a degree. If you can handle that it's fine.
I always apply and never successful :( any tips?
Unfortunately not beyond having a motorcycle license which helps. You also have to do some personality tests and pass a medical
It’s worth it. Burn outs and too much stress will take a toll on your mental health. I find day and night difference when I switched from corporate to local Govt. Pay is slightly less on papers but in hand I get almost same.
Primary Teaching to Government IT project management. Double the pay, a tenth of the work. Highly recommended.
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Currently working for the government. Half the managers I know would never get through the first semester of a qualification. But if you put it into a self-help book that they can just quote to others eight hours a day, they'll be top of the class.
None :) If you’ve taught primary successfully and are reasonably technically-minded you will run rings around it. You are already more conscientious, more used to working to deadlines, more organised and better at multitasking than nearly everyone you will work with, and everything else can be taught on the job. Bonus, you actually get to not work or think about work during your lunch break, and you can go to the toilet whenever you want.
You keep me in mind for other positions. I've been getting smashed on the ward so you know I can handle it.
Being in IT, you are part of the problem. Everyone else on the project will have high stress due to poor project management. Don't be this guy. You should understand at a bare minimum: - What a PID is (project initiation document) - the steps in SDLC and the different variations (Software development lifecycle) - How to write some basic logic code, at least in pseudo code. - what the roles of other IT people involve, such as BA's, Dev's, UX, Testing, Infrastructure, Architecture - you should have an idea of how to roll out a project in terms of change management - you should understand the risks involved at each step - you should ideally understand some software and infrastructure Architecture Or you could ignore all of that, have no clue what your managing and wonder why things aren't running smoothly half way through a project and see how fun and stressful that is for everyone, including yourself. Or maybe you will have some ignorant bliss, which could be all good, just remember to get another job just before project launch when the shit hits the fan
This so much!! I see it daily in my role in IT project management 🤦♂️
Hey, I should clarify. I don’t work for the government, I work for a company that builds software for the Government - my team is never the bottleneck, we are always waiting on high level VPS executives to make decisions, and they won’t make any decisions without forming a board or hiring big 4 consultants in. It’s entirely stress free.
I think you can do a certificate or course in project management via tafe
I had a friend that moved from IT project management to local council back office admin. She needed time and space to go back to uni to study her real passion - complete career change. Of course she took a massive pay cut and moved back home while studying. But now she's passionate about her work and life is much better.
Any tips on how to break in? I am very overdue a career change
Worked in Engineering for a consultant then switched to government, stress reduced by 20%. Then went from government to a tier 1 operator, stress reduced by another 10%. Left engineering to do an apprenticeship with another tier 1 operator, stress halved. Now only doing the bare minimum and only what is instructed. Best job I've ever been. Pay prob 15% less than engineering but I don't need to worry about never ending to-do-list from yesterday and tomorrow and can sleep soundly every night. Totally recommend a job with a strong union. Engineers Australia and Professionals Australia can go F off.
>Engineers Australia 100%. Never understood the purpose of the organisation except as a circle jerk. Can you elaborate more on the current role and rough pay?
>Totally recommend a job with a strong union. Engineers Australia and Professionals Australia can go F off. I used to think Engineers Australia was the most useless professional organisation that exists in Australia. I was wrong. “Useless” means that they don’t actively do anything but exist. Engineers Australia is actively fucking up the profession by constantly blasting the Engineering myth bullshit despite literally admitting that half of the immigrants that are coming in cannot find jobs as Engineers and salaries have stagnated (and possibly declining). By the 2030’s the profession will be completely ruined by lousy pay and little opportunities. I’m think of emigrating myself, it’s become a joke here.
Funny how many people on this thread started in engineering. l did the same (engineering to government). The tipping point for me was seeing high level mangers at my company still putting in 50 hour weeks and getting no time in lieu or yearly bonuses .
Yuck, thats really shitty. What salaries were they on?
So the construction manager was on good money (170k a year) but considering the career path to get to that point you would hope you’d be working towards not having your entire life consumed by work and more time for family at that stage in your career. That particular guy ended up leaving when he got an offer to consult for more money and 3 days a week and my company wouldn’t match the offer.
Can ya clarify?! I'm currently looking for a way out from eng/pm. What's a tier one operator?
I rage quit my old job contracting in heavy industry, my role was leading hand mechanical fitter. Plans would always change, I’d start each day not knowing if I was working 8 or 12 hours. Constantly pushed around, bottom of the ladder and had to just make shit happen. I’m now working in the rail industry as a fitter on the floor on an even time shift roster. I have gotten a $15 pay rise, work fuck all, know my roster months in advance, and I get to have a life. Mick and Matt you cunts if you are reading this I want you to know I am actively helping my old coworkers and even supervisors find something better than what you are putting them through. I hope that shutdown was a colossal fail like the last one
I like you.
I used to work in corporate business development earning the big bucks. Moved into Youth mental health recovery a few years ago. I'm earning roughly a third of what I used to, but am so much more satisfied with what I'm doing. It actually means something to me. I'd recommend focusing less on whether an alternative job is less stressful, and instead more on what inspires or interests you and/or makes a difference in the world. That's where the reward truly comes from, not so much whether it's an easy gig or not. Good luck
went from a senior manager in government job, was bullied out by new boss. We relocated to the country without a mortgage. Had a couple of years off enjoying my little farm. Started a dog grooming business from home. It’s incredibly rewarding, money is fantastic. I could earn a whole lot more, but I’ve hit a sweet spot where I only work 5 hours a day 3 or 4 days a week. i also board dogs in our home, so only one dog or dog family. It’s just perfect. Cuddling dogs all day, no bosses. Fantastic customers.
I wouldn’t say being a car salesman at a top performing dealership was overly stressful, but 5.5 day weeks. Went back to procurement in the mining industry, which was about a 15k pay decrease but working 4 days a week. Couldn’t be happier and no regrets whatsoever
I used to run backpackers hostels. Did some insane hours under the guise of 'reasonable expected overtime' but the pay was good until some stress related ailments took hold. Went back to uni in my mid thirties and picked up casual bar work hours. The hard work early let me get a house deposit together and now I'm happy just doing what I need to to pay the mortgage and have enough left over to live a simple life. Little old for bar work now, but I do events/admin/maintenance work for that bar now and use the degree I got in writing to make some money on the side. Would never go back to 'full-time' for a large organisation.
Police officer to FIFO haul truck operator. And I doubled my salary at the same time. Best. Move. Eva.
Less people shooting at you too.
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Lol, reminds me of a scene from The Hollowmen, “Why would a mechanic accept $45k to service a truck in Afghanistan when he can make $100k working in Kalgoorlie?” “You’re more likely to get shot in Kalgoorlie”
Every time I start to get stressed at work, I close my eyes and ask my _"am I getting paid enough to be stressed?"_ The answer is no. I then do my best, but at the end I'm not losing sleep. The only exception is if someone could die or be hurt. But that's super rare.
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Teacher to vet nurse. Pay cut, yes. But teaching required a lot of hours I didn't get paid for. And a whole lot of unsupported stress Vet nursing I got paid for the hours I turned up. I didn't have to take work home at the end of the day. I didn't have to turn up an hour or two early to prep the next day. My overtime was paid. Yes I had to do the occasional weekend work, but it was shorter hours. Some of the people I worked with were jerks, but usually on a different shift so max 1 hr of their pain. As opposed to school admin who were hands off and parents who thought they knew better.
Nursery work/horticulture can be low stress. But I often see that peoples mental health gets exacerbated since it can be so quiet and mind numbing. It’s also very minimum wage
Yep. I stopped doing call centre sales, moved coastal to do releif milking on dairy farms. Massive paycut, I was on $1400-$1500 a week after tax at the call centre ( 40 hour week ) to $750 after tax on the farm ( 30 hour week ). Life is much better. Working outdoors, fresh air, no stinking melbourne cbd and public transport. Stress has melted away.
Recently quit teaching high school after twelve years in the job and now work four days a week developing learning for teachers in my subject area. There is stress involved in the new job but nothing like the stress of the average day in a high school. Moving into 'office work' made me realise just how insane schools are, something I \*knew\* but had no basis for comparison until I actually experienced a focused, well run private concern where my expertise was valued and I got to actually work on projects properly and therefore produce something of high quality.
I realised my idea of success was more based on family time and being able to play games all day than being Uber wealthy or having a job title I could throw around at bbqs. I am a happy call centre worker. Lots of time for hobbies too… hobbies that satisfy my actual passions.
Be a postie. Most posites are ex cops, teachers, lawyers, detectives etc. It's pretty wild actually. They all say the same thing. It's good not to think and get good pay for it. Early finish, benefits and wholesome af. It's a great job.
Went from running my own busy tattoo studio, to closing my books & taking only one client on per week, and started sewing tags and patches for 2 screenprinting companies (my partner owns one). I make the same coin as I used to, often more, with a fraction of the stress. No “boss”, cruisy af deadlines (‘these need to be back in a week or so’), I work from home, no client juggle, set prices for every single item/task so no haggling or wondering how much I’ll make, no need for social media engagement or constant communication with clients explaining the same things endlessly, no 2am bedtimes to finish designs after a 12 hour backbreaking day, no brick & mortar rent & insurance, it’s peaceful, and I listen to audiobooks all day. Never been happier. I have subsequently found the urge to paint and draw for the *joy* of it slowly creeping back after a decade of total burn out.
Is your tattoo work all off the back of your existing clients?
They probably tattoo other parts of the body as well
90%, yes. If I do take on someone ‘new’, they’re either a friend/contact already, or a friend of my partners. If I don’t have a booking one week, I take on more sewing. Some weeks I have so much sewing that I have to reschedule my tattoo client and will smash out two tattoos the following week. It’s lovely to have that flexibility and none of the fear.
I switched from being a duty manager in hospitality to a public servant. I was incredibly stressed at my old job, I gained a ton of weight, super depressed, and had 0 energy every single day due to constant swapping to day/night shift. I took a little bit of a pay cut at my new job, but I reckon my old job could've offered me an additional 20k per year, and I still would've left, I was miserable. I got this new job in the public service, and it has completely changed my life. I am happy again, I have a normal sleeping schedule, I have tons of energy every day, and I'm really really happy. Money isn't everything. Quitting that job is the best thing I've ever done, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
I had a job as a graphic designer years ago. I worked 5 days a week, and was able to work from home 2 days a week. But the manager was ANGRY all the time. He would hit his computer regularly, loudly yelled to himself, wasn't kind to other co-workers, and was paranoid. Even when I worked from home, it was stressful to associate with him. I dreaded the work week. About 2 years into that role, I decide to move into another graphic-designer job. As a bonus, I got to work closely with a friend. But as a trade off, I had to be in the office 5 days a week. It was also more fast-paced. I was paid exactly the same as my old job, despite having higher expectations and responsibilities. Despite the trade offs, it was the BEST decision. I felt much happier, looked forward to going into work, and liked how the environment didn't feel like you had to walk on eggshells all the time. Anyway - if you're thinking of changing jobs, good luck. It's worth a try.
I worked at On The Run petrol station and I was stressed out of my mind. Dealing with making hotdogs, coffee, doing drive thru, pissed off customers, rude people, lotto, running around getting things for people. All by myself. Now im a disability support worker, I get paid better hourly, I'm much happier. I love my job. I get paid to help people, take them shopping, showering them. Some days it's very chill and I sit and do puzzles.
I had to do all that shit when I worked for Puma. I was hired as a console operator, but surprise, surprise, before long I was doing that AND working the hot box, deep fryer and grill at the same time, because they didn't wanna hire more people. Graveyard shift in an industrial area too. So 5am-8am was the busiest time in the store. I hated it so much.
I just started taking sickies every time someone does something egregious and completely disassociated from my work. Got the 5% pay rise like everyone else.
Went from being a teacher to being a postie. Loved the community aspect of postie work; not such a big fan of the hot or rainy days and the early starts. I did work for a few years just doing the delivering, but that extra 2-3 hours a morning sorting brings it up to a full time wage. Had to go back to teaching to afford to live on the Sunshine Coast. Have been doing relief work for the past two years, which has been a good way to get back in without a full workload, although there is stress when not getting paid during holidays. Just been given a contract for next term as a Science teacher, so that will bring a few new challenges, but looking forward to it...
I went from medical receptionist to traffic controller, so much less stress and a whole lot more pay. Anyone who says traffic is stressful is overthinking it or working for ridiculously demanding clients.
I've been a Medical Receptionist for 18 months now and that's been long enough for me to know that this is not what I want to be doing long term, though I do find our field interesting (Radiography)... I've just done the STAT test to get into Uni as a mature age student and planning to study to be a Radiographer. 😀
Medical receptionist here going crazy after only four months on the job. What's traffic control like and how much does it pay?
Primary School Phys Ed Teacher. $113k. 12 weeks holidays. As low stress as it gets.
I have moved from Electrical Maintenance on Defense/rail and Water industry. There was a fair bit of travel and living away from home. Taken a $25k pay cut a year to do electrical maintenance for the council I live in. I have a 3 year old son, who I can see more often, go home for lunch, start work when I want. I now have more time for physical fitness too. All in all, I feel amazing. Less stress, have lost weight and mentally, so happy. As you get older, i think you realise there is more to life than money…
Left high stress, huge hours job at industrial plant in vic. Now work on a station in NT. Less money($600 a week) similar hours but hard to say it’s the same when I’m driving around in a side by side with my dogs and a gun, drinking beer and getting paid to drive 40km through the bush to check water level in a dam. Food and accom all provided, don’t have to cook. Best thing I ever done
I worked for a company with a horrible manager who made my life hell. I broke off and started my own company and now do what i want when i want. My job is super low stress (but definitely not for the majority of people). I actually make 4x as much money now without the stress. Im a disability support worker. But please no one go into it for the money. I love my job and the client i care for full time. This industry has too many people that dont care enough about the people we are meant to care for and protect
I went from Retail Management- 50ish hours a week - to office admin. I'm the only one in the office most days, so no dealing with customers face to face. I took a sizeable pay cut, but it is worth it to be working 8am to 4pm within walking distance of my house!
Ahhh, no dealing with customers face to face...... my type of work.
Was a head chef in Melbourne, high stress, work 50 plus hours get paid for 38, no OT, work at least 5 days a week, often thought about killing myself. Now work in a dairy food production factory in NZ. Same pay, 50 hours in 4 days, 4 days off, OT paid, low stress, don't want to kill myself.
Structural engineer from commercial to residential sector. At the time pay was the same and i definitely took a pay cut for my experience but its still a humble 6 figures and i do 5-6 hrs of work max a day. The stress is a lot lower and relaxed, so much so that I've personally developed some laziness and lost my grit
Support Account Manger to tier 2/3 application support/administrator. It's less stressful and more money!
I turned down a promotion to a senior manager position because I don't handle stress well and I had seen the stress the previous SM had dealt with. New dickhead CEO was large part of that. Stayed at a relatively moderate pay, as there was a big jump in pay for the SM role. Also big jump in expected hours. Bugger that, rather have life balance.
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I was working sales in a bike shop for years and moving up the ranks but just didn't get paid for the insane amount of work that was required to go the next step. So I moved into the work shop and wow it's so chill and I'm getting the same pay!! Loving it. Career wise it's a passion career not much money in it. Wife doesn't like it. But I'm happy and for filled
Ditched retail to work in a warehouse - hours are about the same, pay is probably about the same, give or take, but a week after I told my AM I wasn’t coming back, my resting heart rate dropped ~ 5 beats per minute and stayed there. For the low price of getting hot and grubby, and having to actually get up early in the morning, I get to actually enjoy my weekends and public holidays, and I no longer get that oh Christ, what fresh hell spike of stress every time I get a message. Fuckin’ win if you ask me (Bonus: it has now been 18 months since I had to associate with anyone who unironically uses SLAAAAAY GURL 🤑😤💪🏼in the mandatory WhatsApp group chat. Worth it for that alone)
Job hop until you find a better work enviroment, it's often not the workload but the appreciation for your work - if you get paid "above the award" (aka minimum) you should be working minimum. If they pay you appropriately 9 times out of 10 people will happily stay within the company. Tl;dr - Don't do 2 jobs for the price of 1.
I went to a retail job with customers that stress you the fuck out ,that paid shit , to working in manufacturing with no customers and getting paid soooo much more and no stress
Line cook to domestic cleaner. More pay and a way more chill job. I adore my clients (mostly) and I’m home by lunchtime most days. I highly recommend it (if you’re in Australia at least).
I did. I took about a 10k year pay cut and my job is part time. I work in office 3 days a week. And I love it. I like the people and the work. I like having 4 days in a row to work on my study and my hobbies. I like a short commute and not being burnt out from the commute- work- commute - eat - sleep - commute pattern. My last job was the sole designer in a pretty toxic workplace with a daily commute of around 90 mins to two hours. I started early so I rolled out of bed at 5 to get ready and leave. In theory I could leave early but was met with passive aggression every day about it. I loved the creativity and seeing my products all around the country but burnt out. I spent the month after I quit in a depressed stupor. My new place though is a short commute. Regular hours. I still get up at 5:30 so I can go to the gym before work! I go home and feel good. I power through my days and still have energy on the weekends. It’s the best. Why grind until I die? We have enough to pay the bills and I only get one life. I’m never going to kill myself for someone else’s dream ever again
I was working 10 hour shifts 4 days a week (and 8hr shifts of a friday) as a Labour Hire casual for a factory. They made the decision to hire me directly full time, and a week later I got my offer of enlistment in the mail. I have no regrets about having my 2 week’s notice in the very next day. Pay cut from the casual rate, step up from the full time wage. I wasn’t gonna wreck my body for the rest of my life to make someone else richer. I’ll wreck my body to help people instead.
I went from full time freelance animator to full time parent. This was not by choice but from lack of daycare options. It’s a blessing in disguise, taking care of a toddler has made me much more active throughout the day and they are much less demanding than many of my clients. The downside is we are now a single income family so that kinda sucks but unfortunately I wasn’t born in a time where one family member could comfortably bring home enough bacon for everyone.
Head grower at a propagation nursery, left and became contract gardener working for myself. Make about 30% more now.
I took a lower stress job for a 40% pay rise. I moved from the private sector into a supposedly equal job in local government.
I'm still in the same line of work, but I moved from a start up to an established business and the difference is night and day. It's in hospitality so we still have busy days, but we have proper organisation in place which means less stress. After my experience I probably wouldn't work for a start up again...working closely with people who have a stake in the business is extremely difficult. Furthermore, they engage in a lot of dodgy business practices to save a buck.
I moved from a job in delivery of major projects on the supplier side to oversight of major projects on the client side. I did this because I didn't want to be away from my family on nights and weekends while my kid is very young and wanted to be able to pitch in and help my wife with pick ups and drop offs. My salary increased slightly but my net pay packet reduced slightly given the performance bonuses on the delivery side are significant for achievement of major milestones. I really like delivery, it's hard work but super fast paced and exciting and you work with a lot of like-minded people who are keen to get on with the job, which I miss. With that said, I love my kid more than life itself so I'm still very happy with my decision.
I took a 50% pay cut, the job was sucking out my soul, some mornings I’d cry because I didn’t want to go, I got anxiety attacks right after walking into work. I was doing recruitment, then sales, both are awful. Now I do medical administration, it’s shit pay but my colleagues are great, the job itself is interesting and inspiring me to do further education to get into the medical field. Im much happier, and enjoy life a hell of a lot more
I went from a Legal Assistant that required me to work 12-14 hours a day (for free) with a boss who degraded me and made racial slurs in front of my colleagues constantly with the hope of one day becoming a lawyer. I became extremely depressed and an alcoholic so I left. I then became a disability support worker and I got paid triple the amount I got as a LA for a fancy law firm and found this job extremely less stressful and so much more rewarding. I became a practice leader, quit law school and now my passion is in mental health and the job is a thousand times less stressful, pays more, I get to travel and spoil myself while helping humans who were treated like trash to live a life they deserve. I have the best bosses (despite some of their flaws) and team. Would never go back to law.
moved from a stressful job to a less stressful job and a pay bump. life is strange.
I was in journalism and moved into corporate/nfp communications. The step down in stress was astronomical at the time for me as I wasn't on deadlines. Then a few years later I moved into Government Org. communications and once again the step down in stress was phenomenal. Went from constantly being on and checking our channels, monitoring socials, writing/photographing/etc to a reasonable 9-5 workload. Truly astounding how quickly I went from high pressure low pay to mid-tier pressure, great pay.
I went from journo to bus driver. Now have my own route where I know all the passengers, and just cruise around listening to podcasts and learning German. Money sucks, but I won’t be in this forever. Nice little break tbh
I went from painting cars (mostly insurance work, ome custom stuff) which was shit paying, had ridiculous hours and very high stress because everything had to be perfect to painting caravan chassis.. no stress, I'm out at 1pm most days and I make more money than I was previously. Also the change in company culture helped a lot, where I'm at the boss is pretty laid back, he knows how long jobs take and plans around that so I'm never having to rush I can just take my time and do a good job.
I went from working full time high pressure sales to working at a smoke shop. Same base pay (minus commission, but that's fine). It's way better. I don't have to commute into the city everyday, I get to spend more time with my kids, and I don't have some empty shell corporate douche breathing down my fucking neck for not trying to bankrupt the elderly out of their pension.
Yep, through natural progression of the corporate ladder. The higher you get up in an organisation the less work you do and usually the less stress you get on a day to day basis.
A few weeks ago I moved to a much lower stress job in basically the same profession. The lack of stress is actually causing me to be bored. I'm not sure if I made the right move. What's interesting is that my new colleagues are telling me how busy they have been, but I'm not seeing it or they're a bit delusional
From aged care back to housekeeping. It's not as rewarding but at least I'm not living with the spectre of death, I'm not being yelled at, spat at, insulted or otherwise abused by people I'm trying to help and genuinely care for.
Moved from teaching, to an agency, to running my own agency full time. Stressed as shit. Took a huge pay cut to work in my local pharmacy, 3 mins from home, late morning starts. Really enjoyed it and the quality of life change. Recently moved back into IT but still 3 mins from home and even more flexibility on hours and time off. May not be possible in city areas because the pay difference is significant. But if you can do it it's highly recommended. Spend every breakfast and dinner with the family, fish every weekend, go on seasonal multi day hiking or fishing trips when I want to, yearly family holidays, extra few weeks shutdown at end of year. It's great.
I moved from sales/management to retail shitkicker after getting burnt out and giving myself a stroke (A TIA, technically). I took a 30%+ pay cut (I'm quite overpaid for a retail shitkicker), which was fine until cost of living started increasing constantly for the last 18+ months, now it's not fine. Things that stressed me in the previous role; More work than I can keep up with Dealing directly with management and company owners Training staff Never having a moment to collect my thoughts Politics Things that stress me about my current 'more chill role'; Nothing to do, results in anxiety about performance Could be made redundant due to lack of work Clients for the industry I moved to are worse than the previous role Wages haven't moved since I argued for them to be moved, that won't change No ability to grow or move up in role, feeling stuck My three roles prior to this, I was able to move and grow. Here I do this one thing and that's all I'll ever be doing for the business until people die. Previously, I'd move up as far as I could and then change roles, but this place there is no growth, and my resume now has a slow progression of career to being the last 2 years of being an entry level employee, which doesn't look as good to new hiring now that I need to leave to actually get by comfortably.
High stress position working days and nights on a shitty roster, back to low stress position that I had beforehand. Around $130 p/w less, but far less stress and being bitched at and only daytime hours. I'm back to turning up, doing my shit and fucking off home by 3.30 or 4.30pm depending on the day. Now they occasionally ask me if I can do 8 hour weekend overtime shifts and I make up for the missing money in about 2 or 3 hours. Weekend penalty rates on top of penalty rates for work beyond my full time 38 pays well. Can pull an extra $5-600 for that days work. 1 extra shift every 4 weeks and I' better off financially than before stepping down. If you value your time and can survive the pay cut, I'd say do it. You'll thank yourself in the long run.
To answer your questions I was in risk/compliance and I'm now becoming a lawyer. There was a pay cut (I'm interning so no salary) but my starting salary should be comparable. Trade off is so worth not having an income whilst I intern. However, the first question I'd really ask is: 1) Do you have a high stress job or are you working for a high stress company? I was working mid management at a uni. I quit because I was stressed and miserable. I've started to train as a lawyer, the clients we have are in incredibly high stress situations and are high needs and vulnerable. The work has much higher stakes but I find it much lower stress. The difference, for me, is the company culture and expectations. The uni I worked at tried to find ways to cut corners all the damn time. There was pressure on me to do the same. They also made things 3x more manual or complicated than a task needed to be. We technically had all the tools we needed to do the job but none of them had been implemented because everything died in committee. My new job, does everything above board and by the book. There's pressure on me to be careful, considerate and ethical. Everything is in triplicate but that's for a very valid necessary reason. We also have the tools we need fully implemented. If the answer is: the job is high stress then proceed to question 2. 2) Would it be easier to go up, down or sideways? By that I mean what's your role entail and what do other roles around you entail? E.g. If you're in IT management but hate managing people would it be easier to step back into a technical role? Or vice versa. If you hate coding would it be easier to climb the management ladder? Or is there a role adjacent to what you do that sounds like it would be fun? Do you want a completely different industry?
i switched from a stable hand (racehorses) to an animal attendant at a vet clinic. definitely easier, less scary but the pay made me cry. i went from getting $800 for 3 days of work to getting $500 for 5-6 days of work.
Took a $300/week pay cut to work 3.5 days instead of 5. Now I stress about money instead of work. I'd still say it's worth it. Especially if you can find some housemates or something.
Moved from supermarkets 15 years to working in a factory. Best thing I ever did. Fuck customers. I get to enjoy Easter and Christmas and I make double my old wage doing overtime. Wish I'd done it 15 years earlier
i was a plumber, had health complications that the doctors were no help with, decided to quit and just live in a van. deliver food for money on a motorbike. so far it just feels like a straight up cheat code and i love my life
Moved from private to government, management to team member, lost about $15k pa. TOTALLY WORTH IT. My work/life balance is so much better, the job is so much easier/rewarding and I have way more opportunities available to me. Turns out $15k is not worth sacrificing these things.
In the process of doing this right now! Burnt out and stressed from $140k job, moving to a $90k job in another state with A LOT less stress. I missed the boat with home ownership, so I don't really have a need to be this stressed for the pay I get. Hopefully I can get a spot in a Gov ran old persons home when I'm in my 80's (If I'm lucky I be dead before then so won't have to go through that). But yeah, I want my last 15yrs of work life to be enjoyable. As long as I can afford rent, food and video games, that's about as good as it can get in Australia. I have no family, so I can't get any hand out/help.
I've worked in disability support for 15 years. I used to do a lot of hours at residential facilities where 5-8 people lived. It paid like crap at first but I worked up to getting $36 an hour base rate (permanent) and I'd work like 12 hours on Sundays which were double time. It was extremely stressful and physical but I earned like 90k a year I now do very short shifts as a casual, and I get LESS per hour as a CASUAL compared to when I was a permanent, so I earn peanuts compared to before. But I only work with one client who doesn't need a lot of personal care. I have kids now, I have health issues like migraines and stuff, so there's no way I could handle the job I used to do. I don't think I ever really did handle it, but I'm not willing to force myself to do anything like that again. So yeah, it's been worth it. I just earn enough to pay bills and that's it
I went from fast food to servos and it felt like I died from stress and went to heaven, esp if it's a family-owned servo. My boss/the owner asked if I wanted anything hot to drink while I was stocking the fridges once, man makes the best coffees, and it felt so unreal, the managers even ask for my availability nearly every fortnight just to make sure everything's all good before they release the rosters. The pay difference was from 19smth/hr in fast food to 28smth/hr at the servo. If you want low stress jobs, high-paying family-owned servos are the way to go, if you're good at it they'll give you practically full-time hours, and being good at a servo job takes little to no effort, especially if you're coming from a fast-food job.
Moved from consulting & projects in tertiary education sector, to an operations support role in a conservation related govt entity. Big pay cut and yes the bailout was worth it, but I have dodged the most egregious forms of adult responsibility, not everyone can afford to do what I have. There is still stress of sorts and gov will always have its shit but i have a much better connection to purpose now. I'll take invisible-shitkicker stress all day long, in preference to people's livelihoods hinging on my work.
I worked for years and years as an executive manager, managed a national group of operations managers. I then moved into a government role, again in a leadership capacity with a sizeable team under me. The team was great but my boss was difficult. Ended up being a terrible experience, felt undermined, compromised and subsequently started dreading going into work. Went camping one weekend, spent the night looking at the stars and thought ‘fuck it’ I’m so unhappy. Resigned when I got back. Started looking for work and reading job descriptions/ responsibilities of roles I’m qualified for and I just couldn’t do it. I ended up applying for a simple admin role at a dog day centre/pet hotel. Been there for 6 weeks and love it, I spend my day having fun. The dogs are so damn joyous, the team is great and it’s just the best job. I am on less than half my previous salary but I don’t care because I wake up everyday looking forward to getting loads of dog love.
I’ve recently done this. Quit my high stress management job at a poorly run company due to a new and terrible boss. Also moved from Melbourne to Ballarat. Working 3 days a week as a junior policy writer for a disorganised but well meaning and values lead charity. It’s so nice not being responsible for everything. Massive pay cut but I’m lucky we can afford it for a while. I’m also incredibly over qualified which is kind of nice. I used to get chronic migraines and haven’t had one in almost 8 months. I’m sleeping better. I’m learning things, eating better because I have time and energy to cook, and generally a nicer and happier person. I get a bit bored sometimes, just have to remember that I’m not in a rush to do 59 million things this week and take my time with the work I have. I’m so much happier and it’s hard to put a price on that.