That's it, I just can't think of a future where I can sustain myself without being forced to use the shitty tool that is AI. Everywhere you go it's there, everywhere it's all about efficiency for the sake of efficiency. And yes, we need money, but I'm tired about giving up our sould, resources and money to a tool that's destroying the world, taking our resources, making everything cost more and that's making lots of people lose their jobs

​I just started a new job at a chip manufacturing factory. The entire job consists of one thing: picking up bags of chips and packing them into cardboard boxes, from 8 AM to 4 PM. 48 hours a week of absolute repetition.

​It has only been two days, and it feels like psychological torture. My brain is completely starved of any stimulation. To make things worse, management has a strict no headphones policy, so I am trapped in total silence with the deafening hum of the machinery and my own thoughts driving me insane.

​People keep telling me, "You'll get used to it," but honestly, the thought of getting "used" to this feels like accepting slow mental death.

​How do people survive this kind of mindless, repetitive labor without losing their minds? Any advice for getting through the first month or two while keeping my sanity intact?

I have been at my job for 3 years now. My boss at the beginning was nice as most bosses try to be at the start but since then she’s been micro-managing… this year it got worse since I had a medical emergency at work. I thought she would lay off a little bit but she’s truly showing her true colors. No concerns about how the job might be part of what’s taking a toll on me while I deal with uncertainty about what’s happening to my body. I also have things at home that aren’t so great and the boss knows this and still chooses to make my life miserable. She’s got her “favorite” employee who seems to be the only one she thinks can do no wrong but I do my job and I don’t bother anyone but she seems to have it out for me. I don’t know what her issue is and honestly I just want to be able to do my job with little to no one giving me a hard time but she makes it basically impossible….

Hello everyone,

I'm currently I'm in a job that I hate and I'm regularly finding it hard not to start randomly screaming at my desk.

It's a combination of intense boredom or intense stress, no screen privacy, constant monitoring, no opportunity for growth or movement and senior leadership with no ability to regulate their emotions. Oh, and bad pay.

I currently don't have the option to be jobless, but I've been applying to about 20 jobs a day for the last 4 months with no responses.

This has manifested in biting my nails and writing long rants into my phone notes to vent some frustration.

Any recommended coping mechanisms? Weirder the better. Thaaanks 💖

I had a job that I genuinely loved last year. I worked for a small nonprofit, for a cause that I cared about, with a team that thought I was fantastic and loved giving me opportunities for training and growth, and they paid enough that I never minded the downsides. The commute sucked, and there wasn't a ton of room to move up in my department, but I felt like I mattered there.

And then budget cuts came down from the government, and four rounds of layoffs later, I was finally out the door.

I knew it was coming, and I made the best of it. I used it as a chance to do some short-term temp work that was more directly in my field for experience, then to get in at a bigger company with a bigger team and (in theory) more opportunities at promotions. It was a $10,000 pay cut, but that's the job market for you. I was lucky; I wasn't out of a job for more than a week.

But this job is slowly chipping away at me and i don't know how long I can keep this up.

It's not an issue of pressure, at least not in the usual way. It's that there's no pressure. No responsibility, no learning, nothing but redirecting calls and mindlessly scanning files into an out-of-date system. My boss somehow expects this task to eventually be finished, as if a stack or even a box of new ones don't show up at my desk every other week. I'm the only person in my department with no work-from-home days, no standing desk, no freedom to go get coffee or go for a walk to the next building to get water. I have exactly one meeting every other week. No one even bothers to pretend that my job is important; i found out from a coworker that my boss didn't even want to fill the position and only hired me under duress.

They said when I was hired that I would get experience in this position so I could move up. What exactly am I getting experience in, the sensation of my brain dribbling out my ears? There's theoretically an opening for a promotion coming up, but it's only available because my boss fired someone on their first day back from medical leave and I'm not even sure she's allowed to do that!!

I wish I could leave without my resume being full of short-term employment. I promised myself that I'd stay until at least April, but I don't know if i can do it anymore.

Unpopular truth: it seems that at a lot of workplaces, the loudest and most aggressive people get promoted, not the kindest. I've watched it happen again and again. I'm not going to change who I am, but it truly sucks that this is a reality for a lot of us. I love being kind and cordial. It’s so hard for me to be rude and aggressive especially for no apparent reason.

I don’t even know how to explain how much I hate working a 9–5 office job. And I mean genuinely HATE it. Not in the normal “I don’t feel like going to work today” kind of way. It’s so much worse than that.
Sometimes I literally lock myself in the bathroom at work and cry because I can’t stand being there. I feel so trapped, and I don’t even know how to put that feeling into words.
And I know how ungrateful this probably sounds. I know people need to work to survive. I know I’m lucky to even have a job. But knowing all of that doesn’t change how I feel.
The thing is, I’m not even a lazy person. I can literally study for 12 hours a day, including weekends, and be completely fine with it. I love learning. I love feeling like I’m developing as a person. I don’t mind working hard at all.
But sitting in an office for eight or nine hours every single day makes me feel like I’m wasting my life. I hate that I have to give away most of my day just to earn enough money to live. I hate waking up knowing that my time isn’t mine. I hate coming home and realising how little of the day I actually have left for myself.
And what makes it even worse is knowing that I’m expected to just accept this as normal. Five days a week, every week, for decades.
I don’t want to spend my life waiting for weekends. I don’t want to constantly look at the clock wishing the hours away. I don’t want to feel like I’m only actually living when I’m not at work.
I have so many things I want to do. So much I want to learn. I genuinely enjoy being productive, but I want to decide what I spend my time on.
I wish I could explain just how intense this feeling is. Sometimes I feel like screaming because I can’t believe this is what adult life is supposed to be.
I’m not writing this because I expect to never work again. I know that’s unrealistic. I just want to know if anyone else feels this strongly about it.
Because sometimes I look around the office and see everyone just going about their day, and I genuinely wonder how they’re all okay with it while I’m sitting in the bathroom trying not to cry.
Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels this way

i’ll try to make this quick

i (23f) started a new job about 2 months ago now, with the job i get to earn my cert 4 in business and just overall gain more skills.

i was super excited at first, like i said more skills! i’ve been doing the exact same task for those two months, ive asked numerous times for the last week multiple times a day for something new; my coworkers say they’ll come to me and teach me something new but they never do. i’ve brought it up to both of my bosses but they say they the same thing “it’s busy, we’ll teach you when we can”.

i’ve been having days off recently (health issues), and every time i come back to work one of my bosses is super dismissive of me. every time i try to ask for a task or anything she just tells me to sit down and she’ll come and give me something.

they’re both complaining that im not working hard enough or not doing enough. i dont know what to do, i just know i need the job.

help, please :’)

Hi. I just really need to get this off my chest and maybe hear some advice from people who have experienced something similar.

I’m 23F, graduated last year with Latin honors, and currently working in IT. I was originally hired as a UI/UX Designer, which is something I genuinely love doing. Ever since SHS, alam ko na talagang design yung gusto kong career path.

Everything was manageable naman before. I had my routine, I knew what I was doing, and kahit may stressful days, kinakaya ko.

But recently, our company dissolved our UI/UX team and transferred us to different departments. I ended up becoming a full-stack developer.

And honestly, I hate it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m willing to learn naman. I’m trying my best to understand C#, React, databases, APIs, debugging, etc. Pero sobrang overwhelming. Every day, I feel anxious going to work because I don’t know what kind of task they’ll give me. I feel so lost and incompetent, especially when I’m surrounded by developers who already know what they’re doing.

What’s worse is that I have so much going on outside work.

My older brother is currently battling Stage 4 cancer. He’s undergoing chemotherapy, and our family has been struggling emotionally, physically, and financially. I try my best to be there for them, especially since they rely on me for certain responsibilities.

I also have debts and bills to pay, so quitting without another job isn’t really an option.

And here’s the worst part. I have an employment bond.

Lately, I’ve been absent from work because I genuinely cannot bring myself to go anymore. Every morning, I wake up feeling anxious and exhausted. Sometimes I just lie in bed wishing I didn’t have to face another day at the office.

Even Sundays aren’t peaceful anymore.

I usually spend my weekends with my boyfriend, and honestly, those are the only moments when I feel genuinely happy. He takes care of me, and for a little while, I forget about everything that’s happening in my life.

But every Sunday night, I start feeling anxious again because I know I have to go back to work the next day.

Sometimes I just want to stay with him and forget that I have responsibilities waiting for me.
I know that sounds irresponsible, but I’m just so tired.

I’m tired of forcing myself to do something I don’t enjoy. I’m tired of pretending I’m okay at work. I’m tired of constantly worrying about my brother, money, and my future.

I used to be so excited about my career. I graduated with honors, had so many plans, and genuinely believed I was going to build a good future for myself.

Now I’m only 23, and I already feel so defeated.
I don’t even want a high-paying job anymore. I just want a stable WFH UI/UX job where I can do something I love, earn enough to pay my bills, and be close to my family while my brother is undergoing treatment.

If someone offered me that opportunity right now, I’d take it in a heartbeat.

I know I should be grateful that I have a job, especially in this economy. But is it really worth staying somewhere that’s affecting my mental health this badly?

I don’t want to be unemployed. I don’t want to abandon my responsibilities. I just want to stop feeling miserable every single day.

To anyone who’s experienced something similar:
How did you manage to get through it? Did you eventually resign? Was it worth it?

And for those who had employment bonds, how did you handle leaving your company?

I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore. I feel like I’m slowly losing the person I used to be.
I just want to be happy again.

I'm a 3rd year in college and I work at my school as a Resident Advisor, or RA. Basically the person you go too if there's an issue on the floor or with your roommate and stuff. It's a very social job and I'm not a social person, I hate being this viable to everyone and try to save as much peace for me as I can. But recently that's been getting me in trouble and I can't take it anymore. Basically my manager was saying that residents have been emailing saying that they don't know who I am and that's gotten around to the leadership committee and now i have an initial warning on their punishment system, which is the second step in their 6-ish part punishment system and it ends with you getting fired. I'm not trying to deliberately avoid people, but I need my space, and this semester I'm bombarded with everything going on and to keep getting in trouble and getting this upset over a job I don't even want is hitting me hard. The only reason I have this job is because I need the money. It covers costs for room and board plus a meal plan for my college and I go to a fairly expensive college (even tho nowadays they all are). But yeah, I'm only doing it for the money but I've started to realize it's just not worth it anymore. The amount of stress and anxiety I'm experiencing is just too much.

I've thought about quitting and I did the research and I can't. My college can't guarantee hosing if I give up my current RA room so I'm stuck. I've talked to my manager about how I feel and he seems to understand that I know what's going on and we worked out a plan to try. Today I cried in his office and I've never felt more stupid in my life, he kept asking about why I'm stressed and I mentioned my mom and how she doesn't believe in me and when I tried to tell her all this she got mad and kept saying I'm being a baby and the year will end before I know it and it's not that bad and bullshit like that. And she's always made it clear she doesn't believe in me, she thinks my major (animation) is stupid and has basically said "I'm only letting you go to this school because my father has an engineering degree and he wasn't able to find stable jobs" and she's also basically said that the only reason I can go to this school is because I agreed to be an RA. And no matter how miserable I tell her I am, she doesn't care, she had it worse, I need to suck it up and push through.

I cried today in front of my boss.

It's far past the point of "pushing through". But I can't quit. I can't find housing elsewhere because it's too big a gamble to give it up, and even if I could quit my mother would kill me and never let me hear the end of it. She would literally be the most pissed off I've ever seen, and she would hang it over my head for the rest of my life as an example of why I'm not good enough.

I don't know what to do. I hate everything about this situation, but I'm genuinely stuck, there is nothing I can do.

What do I do?

i’m currently finishing my pre requisites to go to nursing school, i have a two year old, and i serve/bartend at a local downtown restaurant. it’s good money for what it is, but i genuinely despise the experience of working there. but it’s the only thing flexible enough to allow me to make enough money to pay my bills while also being in school and being a mother.

it’s a small restaurant with very few FOH staff. it’s incredibly clique-y and being there mentally transports me right back to being a lonely teenage girl in high school. it’s all other women working there and they’re unbelievably two faced and i get excluded and targeted constantly for no reason. genuinely all i do is show up, do my job, and leave. and i’m the only person who actually DOES my job correctly. most of them get drunk on the clock and leave so much sidework not done but never get in trouble. but if i leave a speck of dust out of place one of them will say something about it. my home life consists almost entirely of just studying and mothering so work is like my only chance to be social at all but instead i’m just painfully lonely and left out, my boss plays favorites so badly so i found myself getting screwed over recently with my best shift being given to a brand new girl. it’s like i’m imprisoned with all of the stereotypical high school mean girls every day. i’ve had two different people steal money from me (one of them admitting to doing it intentionally) and my boss never did anything about it.

i feel such a major spike in my anxiety and depressive mental state the more that i’m there because i just feel so alone and unappreciated. i have another 2.5 years before i will be graduating nursing school and i genuinely don’t know how i’m gonna be able to suffer through it for that long.

Job market is very bad, and even if I am trying to get a job, there is not enough openings. And if we tried business, the big giant corporations are eating away the small businesses. We don't have that much money to give the advertisements or anything, but whereas the big companies are eating, I don't know how small businesses are going to survive. The jobs are reducing day by day and small business are eaten by chain corporations.

People dont want to buys from small business, even though we give good services and understand the needs, they go with national wide chain stores to get small discounts and unsatisfactory work or stale goods.

I have been working at the same company for around three years, and I feel completely stuck.

My salary is low, there has been no increment for a long time, and my salary was delayed by around 2.5 months. The company is going through cost-cutting and layoffs, and several clients have left, making me worried about my job security.

After almost two years of working as an employee, TDS suddenly started getting deducted without notice. My email follow-ups were ignored or dismissed, and six months later, I found out I was being treated as a consultant, yet TDS was still deducted under Section 194C. The company also avoids addressing salary and tax-related issues properly over email.

I want to leave, but I cannot afford to resign without another offer. I am applying for jobs and improving my skills, but nothing seems to be working out.

I am a 30 year old woman and my financial situation makes me constantly anxious. On top of everything, there is family pressure to get married, and I feel overwhelmed trying to figure out my career and financial stability while dealing with these expectations.

I just want a stable job, financial independence, and some peace of mind.

Has anyone experienced something similar? How did you get out of this situation while protecting your financial security?

​I just started a new job at a chip manufacturing factory. The entire job consists of one thing: picking up bags of chips and packing them into cardboard boxes, from 8 AM to 4 PM. 48 hours a week of absolute repetition.

​It has only been two days, and it feels like psychological torture. My brain is completely starved of any stimulation. To make things worse, management has a strict no headphones policy, so I am trapped in total silence with the deafening hum of the machinery and my own thoughts driving me insane.

​People keep telling me, "You'll get used to it," but honestly, the thought of getting "used" to this feels like accepting slow mental death.

​How do people survive this kind of mindless, repetitive labor without losing their minds? Any advice for getting through the first month or two while keeping my sanity intact?