It seems the grass isn’t always greener.
After a historic period of over 4 million Americans leaving their jobs in late 2021 to pursue better opportunities, many are now having quitters’ remorse.
While troves of great resigners went into their new thought-to-be-better gigs with high hopes and ambitions of career advancement, what they are getting in return is burnout, awful work-life balances, insufferable colleagues, boredom, and overall employment misery. A recent survey by the online career platform the Muse found that more than 70 percent of workers who changed jobs during the Great Resignation have been surprised to find that their new positions aren’t what they expected.
“I was so excited to be in [a] new city, new job, better pay, better work-life balance. But as soon as I started … I realized how big of a mess I am in. It’s been two weeks now, work-life balance is in the s–tters … The culture doesn’t seem great either,” Reddit user Darksideofthemoon90 wrote earlier this week.
Over 4 million Americans left their jobs in late 2021 to pursue better opportunities. Getty Images
The lunar Redditor is one of many taking their complaints to the court of public opinion in online forums where employees now often admit to being the ones who got worked over — not their former bosses.
But it’s not all that uncommon to hit some waves at the start of something new, according to Austin, Texas career and business coach Jenay Rose.
“There’s a lot of shock to the system that comes with [starting a new role], but try to at least give it 90 days to have enough understanding of, is it me that’s not working or is it some other variable,” Rose — now a self-made millionaire who quit corporate life five years ago Friday — told The Post.
“Is it because you think that there’s something bigger and better out there? I know for me that’s how I felt during my corporate career over about six years and eight jobs … I quit a couple of jobs because I had that bigger and better syndrome, I kept looking for the next thing.”
Disliking a new role at first isn’t so uncommon, expert Jenay Rose said. Getty Images/Westend61
That’s the case for Tom B, an upstate New York man unsatisfied with his new role as an administrator for an energy efficiency company.
Tom, who didn’t share his full name for privacy reasons, was recently compelled to leave his job of nearly five years for a new opportunity, but now he has some regrets.
“Last year I applied for a promotion at my old job and was basically told, ‘We like you where you are and we’ll revisit this in a year,'” the 33-year-old said. “I kind of got pissed off, I hung up on that call and then immediately started applying for jobs.”
Just weeks later, Tom was offered a managerial role at a new company for 30 percent more than what he’d been making. It was “too good of an opportunity to pass up,” he recalled.
He took the job, but it hasn’t been what he expected.
“It was a whirlwind to get started. The person who ran my job quit while I was waiting to start and I didn’t know that, so then I had no training or anything. I got thrown in and it just was not what I was really hoping for. It’s just been very challenging to do this,” he said.
Beyond Tom’s trial by fire, he’s also missing the great rapport he used to have with former colleagues.
Employees are missing relationships they had at their old jobs as their new roles aren’t panning out. Getty Images
“A couple of the people I [previously] worked with were honestly some of my best friends and here I feel like I’m on an island,” he said, noting that working remotely doesn’t help. “The culture here is very different but it’s not a very friendly one, it’s not a ‘water cooler’ culture.”
Tom was also quick to admit that his choice to change jobs came at a time in his life where a lot was going on, namely the birth of his son.
“I felt like I made a lot of emotional decisions in a short period of time because I was upset at my old job and went through a serious life change,” he said. “I made a lot of quick decisions without thinking everything through.”
Others like Jeff Bashlor, who lives near the Missouri-Kansas border, were just happier in their former disciplines.
Others are upset at switching careers and wish they remained in their old jobs. Getty Images/iStockphoto
He now works remotely for a call center after winding down a home baking business shared with his wife, according to a post Bashlor wrote.
“Now here I am doing call center work and I f–king despise it,” he posted, adding that he took the job out of his wife’s concerns toward their retirement. “If I quit I’m gonna get lambasted by my wife for it, [but] I wanted to continue with our own gig.”
One woman, Anibugg, posted just over a week ago that leaving her former job as a hostess — one where she worked more hours — to start at a remote, chat-based customer service gig has turned into a nightmare.
“I figure trading 5 11+hour days for 5 8hr days from home would be fine. I’m week 2 of training and already burnt out and over it,” she wrote, going on to admit her career ambition has been diminished by the job and its lectures on things like “1 minute late is still late.”
Many are feeling stressed that the new jobs they have taken during the Great Resignation are actually worse than their previous ones. Getty Images/Tetra images RF“And worse, I feel ungrateful. Like I’m just creating issues because I just don’t want to work, but I don’t. I just don’t want to work anymore.”
For these and more cases, Rose passed on this advice on how to manage what feels like a career path that’s taken a wrong turn.
“What is it about the position that’s not fulfilling you? Take away the money, take away the environment, take away everything else, is it the true work? Or is it something else?” she said. “When you are able to isolate that indicator, then you can make an informed decision on what to do next. You’ll be responding, not reacting.”
