Would you quit your job?

[Darcy03231]

Absolutely not. I would find another job first.

 

[sbell111]

I wouldn't even wait for a year's savings.

I don't believe in being miserable just to support a family. It was awful growing up having a dad who HATED his job so much. He was cranky and detested leaving the house. I'd never do that to my family. He was always unhappy and made us all unhappy too. He was great on vacation, though.

I'm glad my dad now retired from that crappy place and now works where he is very happy.

I even asked him why he did it. Basically, he said people didn't change jobs back then and he felt trapped, as if he would NEVER be employed elsewhere. It never even entered his head to try and find another job and he said he kicks himself now just thinking about it.

Here's a counterpoint:

I hate my job. I mean, I really, really hate my job. Why it's time to go home, I race out of here and rush home.

I love my home and my family. Working in that job that I hate allows me to support them. I never take my work home, so my time outside of work isn't affected by work (other than that brief bummer feeling I get on Sunday afternoon when I realize that I have to work on Monday).

One day, I will find a new job and leave this one. Until then, here I am.

 

[bumbershoot]

Lots of good points have been posted. Not all in agreement with each other, but still good.

Life insurance is a really good point; is there insurance outside of work?

COBRA is not reduced for voluntarily leaving your job, so the family has FULL cobra payments for a whole year? What about the deductibles once the insurance plan year starts over?

Yes employers like it when you're employed (which is stupid and pointless, but no one says hiring managers have to make sense I guess), but hating a job eats at your soul and can destroy family harmony faster than almost anything... Even when my husband had a 2 hour (each way, taking the bus or driving his car) commute, he could not leave his hated job behind. And he spent his commute in the morning dreading it. So his job was with him 24/7 and it was so harmful to him. I was so glad when a new company called him to apply for something...

But if there IS some way to decompress from the job and it's not already to the point where you're just about to bring in a boombox blasting Take This Job And Shove It (not the country version, but the rap version from the Office Space soundtrack) while clearing out your desk...I'd work on finding a new job first.

 

[metime]

I don't think anyone is saying stay in the job forever as much as find a way out by looking for another job instead of just quiting and then looking for another job.

 

[alexandria674]

hmm, as much as I would be tempted to, I could not leave my job if I am the sole earner for my family. I would still look for another job while having my despised job.

 

[princess momma]

No, not if I was the only income.

I did quit working in May but my husband is still working and he carries the health insurance. The stress was killing me and I really needed a break. I actually thought it would be much better than it is - not working. We've had to tighten our belts a bit and that is a whole different kind of stress. I am in a field where I could probably be working within a few weeks if I really wanted or needed to.

 

[cats7494]

Absolutely not! I have been in your position and did not quit. Fortunately I did find a new job that I love (after 2 years because I was pretty picky).

You need to just suck it up and stick it out until you find a new job. It is not worth risking your family!

 

[ZachnElli]

Nope, not in this economy. I can personally tell you the job market out there is not good. Don't enter it unless you have to! Look while you have a job, wait for a good opportunity.

 

[MrsPete]

No way! A year goes by very quickly, and you have no guarantee that you'll find another job within that timeframe, especially given the state of the economy and especially since you're tied to your current home.

If things worked out well and you DID find another job, you'd be low man on the totum pole, AND you'd have depleted at least a portion of your savings. Even if you were working again, you'd be in a precarious position.

I think we've all had a job that we've hated, and it may seem that nothing could be worse . . . but you're much better off searching for a job while you're still employed.

 

[MrsPete]

I don't believe in being miserable just to support a family. It was awful growing up having a dad who HATED his job so much. He was cranky and detested leaving the house. I'd never do that to my family. He was always unhappy and made us all unhappy too. He was great on vacation, though.

Just to present an alternate point of view: My dad was unemployed for much of my childhood, and that didn't exactly bring joy and happiness into the family dynamic.

 

[mumom95]

In this economy NO, NO, and NO.

I'll second this!!

 

[MrsPete]

I hate my job. I mean, I really, really hate my job . . . I love my home and my family. Working in that job that I hate allows me to support them.

Being an adult isn't always fun. I'd can't think of any job I'd hate more than I'd hate not being able to take care of my kids.

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

Both my husband and I have done it before. Ours jobs were miserable and DH was constantly sick from stress.

However, in this economy I would NOT do it if I were the sole earner.

 

[Kim1964]

Thanks for all the responses. The majority of you are saying what I already knew, but I wanted some outside validation. For the record, it's not me, but someone I care about who is struggling and I was just trying to decide if my advice should be to quit or to just look really aggressively for a new job while staying employed.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Thanks for all the responses. The majority of you are saying what I already knew, but I wanted some outside validation. For the record, it's not me, but someone I care about who is struggling and I was just trying to decide if my advice should be to quit or to just look really aggressively for a new job while staying employed.

Oh yea...must look while employed.

 

[Buckalew11]

My advice would be to find something before leaving. Maybe not the dream job but something decent. I don't believe in being miserable in a job but I'm not ever going to advise leaving a job to look for one. DH left his job in May. He was miserable and they were planning to cut his job by Sept. anyway. He took a cut in pay to go to another job but he likes it and is much happier now. He's also in nursing school now also.

As a kid, my dad was postmaster and miserable. We lived in NJ and he came home one night and said, "I think we should move south and buy a motel."

And we did. That summer we drove to KY, NC, SC, GA, and TN looking at motels that were for sale. Found one, bought it and 6 months later we moved from NJ to TN. The man was a different man. Much happier. Huge risk. And crazy thing to do. It was totally out of character but when you are miserable at work, sometimes you just take big risks to get out of bad situations.

Good luck to whoever this is.

 

[disney1990]

If you absolutely hated your job and you had one year's worth of money in the bank (enough to cover your usual monthly bills and the cost of paying COBRA for health insurance), would you do it? You are the sole support of a family of 4 and you don't want to relocate, so it may take a long time to find a job. Do you feel that one year's expense money is enough for you to be comfortable quitting your job?

Your house and cars are paid off.

Absolutely not. I would not quit until I had another job. I was laid off on February 13th -- just over 6 months ago. I have been on so many job interviews and sent out so many resumes. And still no job.

A friend of mine, her daughter hated her job as a teacher in Baltimore City. She decided to quit at the end of the school year. She is still looking for another job. She has a Master's Degree and is a National Certified Teacher.

The job market out there S**** and I wouldn't quit my job without another one.

Sorry.

 

[Mickeyistheman]

I say this with much Dis'ness love.....


DO NOT QUIT YOUR JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got laid off in November and I am STILL looking and while I can totally understand hating a job but I would take hating a job right now then worrying how I am going to keep my home or eat today.

The job markets out there are really really tough and it gets very depressing out here trust me.

 

[wdwfan16]

If you absolutely hated your job and you had one year's worth of money in the bank (enough to cover your usual monthly bills and the cost of paying COBRA for health insurance), would you do it? You are the sole support of a family of 4 and you don't want to relocate, so it may take a long time to find a job. Do you feel that one year's expense money is enough for you to be comfortable quitting your job?

Your house and cars are paid off.

I would never quit my job and put my families future in danger. Start looking for a new job and then quit.

You have enough for your normal bills. What would you do if an unexpected bill occurred and that 1 year fund only would last for 4 months?

 

[Pigeon]

Nope. It can take much longer than you might expect to find a new job, especially in this economy. You also might get hit with some big unexpected expense. No way would I want to blow through all the savings. I'd hang on until I found a new job.