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Why do so many people seem to dislike their jobs.

  • 21-11-2016 6:39pm
    #1
    Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Discounting issue like working for horrible people other than that why do so many people seem to dislike or even hate their jobs that's my though of the day anyway:P, another funny one is reading ( on boards ) about an individuals who want to change career in to a job that some other individual (on boards) wants to get out of!!!


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Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,633 ✭✭✭✭punisher5112


    mariaalice wrote: »
    Discounting issue like working for horrible people other than that why do so many people seem to dislike or even hate their jobs that's my though of the day anyway:P, another funny one is reading ( on boards ) about an individuals who want to change career in to a job that some other individual (on boards) wants to get out of!!!


    Horses for courses.

    Dealing with the public is one of the hardest jobs one will ever hace.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,860 ✭✭✭stimpson


    Because most jobs are shite


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,448 ✭✭✭batistuta9


    Most people aren't good enough to do what they'd really like to would be the main reason I think.

    Who really wants to work anyway? It's a need not a desire.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭pauliebdub


    Also pressure to earn a good salary to provide for their families can lead to people being trapped in a stable and secure yet soul destroying job.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 735 ✭✭✭milehip


    Most jobs are boring and repetitive toil in which the worker feels undervalued and dispensable. That and **** money while the man creams it in on it back of your labour.


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  • Subscribers Posts: 32,864 ✭✭✭✭5starpool


    stimpson wrote: »
    Because most jobs are shite

    For sure. There are probably jobs I wouldn't mind doing too much, but the pay cut to do so wouldn't be a viable option and that would bring different pressures.

    Most people probably hate (or dislike somewhat) their jobs because they autopilot through life without really considering what they might like and enjoy doing while they are young enough to do so.

    I'm still holding out for the big lotto win at this point, but I feel that not doing the lotto might be a slight wrinkle in that plan.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,455 ✭✭✭maudgonner


    There's an old saying: 'You don't quit your job, you quit your manager'.

    I think that's true for a lot of people (and has been true for me in the past). The work itself isn't always the main reason for being miserable in a job, it's often your manager or the way the company/team/project is run that frustrates the life out of you.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 31,152 ✭✭✭✭KERSPLAT!


    I was promoted in September which means a lot less contact with the public, I assume that helps but in general, I love my job :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 31,152 ✭✭✭✭KERSPLAT!


    pauliebdub wrote: »
    Also pressure to earn a good salary to provide for their families can lead to people being trapped in a stable and secure yet soul destroying job.

    Meh, this pushes me to work harder to get that promotion, to earn more and provide for myself and family. But I do see your point.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 31,152 ✭✭✭✭KERSPLAT!


    maudgonner wrote: »
    There's an old saying: 'You don't quit your job, you quit your manager'.

    I think that's true for a lot of people (and has been true for me in the past). The work itself isn't always the main reason for being miserable in a job, it's often your manager or the way the company/team/project is run that frustrates the life out of you.

    A good manager/colleagues can make a good job great too


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 31,152 ✭✭✭✭KERSPLAT!


    Spam spam spam


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,275 ✭✭✭Your Face


    Because they're incompetent.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 766 ✭✭✭ger vallely


    I work in a pre school and I love my job. It's not a crèche so not dealing with babies (I wouldn't have the patience!) but with three and a half to four and a half year olds. It's great and even though some days can be repetitive the children always bring their own thing to the day. I never dread going in. I can't picture what it would be like now to be stuck in a job for money reasons. It must be soul destroying. Having to stay so as to pay bills and support a family. I hope I continue to feel the same way until I finally finish .


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,495 ✭✭✭✭eviltwin


    I actually enjoy my job, it's the bureaucracy and inertia from management that I can't stand.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,570 ✭✭✭Ulysses Gaze


    mariaalice wrote: »
    Discounting issue like working for horrible people other than that why do so many people seem to dislike or even hate their jobs that's my though of the day anyway:P, another funny one is reading ( on boards ) about an individuals who want to change career in to a job that some other individual (on boards) wants to get out of!!!

    I'll just talk about office jobs and from my observations. Just a few here.

    1) Some people are overqualified to do the current job they are in. So many people have degrees and Masters but a hell of a lot of office jobs out there could be done by a school leaver with an ECDL and a few months training. This means their skills are not being utilised to their full potential.

    2) People "fall" into careers/jobs. When younger, people can sometimes end up in a job that they never saw as a career, get comfortable, and before they know it 10 years has gone by and they are now, so they believe, stuck on a career path they never intended. In a field they have grown to despise.

    3) Companies, particularly Irish ones and even some multi-nationals, won't pay for training so people get stuck in a rut. They are then expected to shell out thousands themselves to upskill - this can be difficult if you have a young family.

    I am not exonerating individual responsibility here at all. It is up to the individual whether or not they want to stay in a job they ****ing hate or take a risk and try something new. Easy if you are single with no responsibilities...less so if you have a family.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 299 ✭✭Vowel Movement


    Ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,546 ✭✭✭✭The_Kew_Tour


    Love my job. For a change now

    EVENFLOW



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 31,152 ✭✭✭✭KERSPLAT!


    Ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.

    Yeah?

    Not anymore.



    Today is now the best day of your life after watching that. You're welcome.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,960 ✭✭✭Dr Crayfish


    I have a good salary and job security but I have zero sense of purpose from my job, and if I didn't ever go back there I wouldn't miss anything about it. Combined with having no kids (not that I want any) approaching 40 it's kind of hard sometimes as you wonder what the f**k you're on the planet for! I understand a job like mine would be great if you were supporting a family etc but I kind of envy people who go to work every day facing challenges they really enjoy. In saying that I appreciate the good life this job affords me.
    I wonder how many people are actually satisfied with their work, probably a very small percentage of folk.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 405 ✭✭HS3


    I love the work I do. But not the people I work for. They want more money, which means working us harder. Tis not very pleasant :D I always look at it like ants, we're the workers lining their pockets and making their lives easier.

    I've only met one person in my whole life that was born to do the job they do. My son's teacher. I have never met a teacher like her before. Her interest in her job and caring for her pupils is so very sweet. I imagine she loves going to work. Though it could be a front and she has a bottle of vodka under the desk and meets the principal round the back for a quickie at break time :D


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,570 ✭✭✭Ulysses Gaze


    I have a good salary and job security but I have zero sense of purpose from my job, and if I didn't ever go back there I wouldn't miss anything about it. Combined with having no kids (not that I want any) approaching 40 it's kind of hard sometimes as you wonder what the f**k you're on the planet for! I understand a job like mine would be great if you were supporting a family etc but I kind of envy people who go to work every day facing challenges they really enjoy. In saying that I appreciate the good life this job affords me.
    I wonder how many people are actually satisfied with their work, probably a very small percentage of folk.

    http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/productivity-at-work-2027281-Apr2015/

    16% of Irish workers are engaged at work, 64% not engaged and 20% so pissed off they are actively disengaged.

    As the article states:
    In other words, 64% of employees lack motivation and are less likely to invest discretionary effort in the company’s objectives and 20% are unhappy and unproductive at work which means they are liable to spread a negative attitude to their colleagues.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 952 ✭✭✭s4uv3


    I used to like my job. But it's one that is what it is, and there are no promotion or payrise prospects, it's a single level job.
    Ten years in and I'm so so bored, it's a long time since I met a new challenge or faced a new problem.
    Only thing keeping me there is the fact that I'm prerty good at it after all that time, and I wouldn't earn the same if I changed careers to something new.
    I need to make a big scary leap of faith into the unknown for the sheer hell of it :)


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,960 ✭✭✭Dr Crayfish


    I actually have promotion prospects, but I've actively avoided them because it will just mean more responsibilities for the same type of work that doesn't interest me in the slightest. I'd get a few grand put on my salary but I don't really need the money tbh.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,570 ✭✭✭Ulysses Gaze


    s4uv3 wrote: »
    I used to like my job. But it's one that is what it is, and there are no promotion or payrise prospects, it's a single level job.
    Ten years in and I'm so so bored, it's a long time since I met a new challenge or faced a new problem.
    Only thing keeping me there is the fact that I'm prerty good at it after all that time, and I wouldn't earn the same if I changed careers to something new.
    I need to make a big scary leap of faith into the unknown for the sheer hell of it :)

    Same here. The career I am in now has probably 5, maybe 10 years, before it is completely obsolete.

    This book is a great read:

    https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Robots-Technology-Threat-Jobless/dp/0465097537


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 145 ✭✭Spudgun


    i work in retail


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 337 ✭✭Oodoov


    Took a huge pay cut to take up the job im in now. Yeah i'll have feck all saved or any pension to speak of besides the state pension when i retire but im time rich now and my job involves zero stress. I spend loads of time doing the things i love like mountain walking, riding my motorbike and spending time with my kids. Most important im happy.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 94,272 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Michael James: Did you find a job?

    Victor Skakapopulis: Yeah, I got something at the striptease. I help the girls dress and undress.

    Michael James: Nice job.

    Victor Skakapopulis: Twenty francs a week.

    Michael James: Not very much.

    Victor Skakapopulis: It's all I can afford.


    - Woody Allen



    Such is the state of the world that if there was a job that people enjoyed there would be an attempt to monetised so that people would have to pay to do it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,039 ✭✭✭✭retro:electro


    Getting up early is the real killer. My job would be grand if it was from 12-1 Wednesday-Fri


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭dd972


    People only really like their jobs if it's something they get intrinsic pleasure from, the likes of Lionel Messi or Kanye West for example, what they do is what they are, I've always wanted to be a Train Driver but haven't had any luck in getting it but know for certain I'd want to get up at 04.30 on a rainy Tuesday in February to do it for similar reasons.

    There is however, a type of specimen whom I call 'the worko' who wants to be part of the soap opera and all it's attendant B.S in an office/call centre/factory etc, these people are as happy and relaxed in these places as they would be in a pub or at home with their families, being 'at work in a place of work' doesn't seem to affect or alter their personalities in any way, their faces fit and they get on well at work even if their not promoted.

    They also wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they didn't have a job.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 346 ✭✭Ayuntamiento


    I used to hate working back when I had no choice financially but to work.
    Now I'm in a position where I could afford not to work if I wanted and I couldn't imagine quitting.
    Maybe that's just my contrary nature but I do think that having no choice in the matter puts people in the wrong frame of mind.

    I wouldn't say I actually like my current job but I have plans to go back to university and retrain within the next few years so I can put up with it.
    The next job will be the dream one!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,434 ✭✭✭Robsweezie


    I can't speak for everyone but perhaps work is viewed as a means to a (week) end.

    If you were to ask jacinta what she'd rather be doing, I'm guessing she'd want to be going on holidays and enjoying more of her leisure time than working her hole off at the deli counter in dunnes. Work to live.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,655 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    When I started in my last job I loved it. Most of my team did. I was promoted to it from another position and i worked my ass off to prove I could do it. 4 years later and I hated it. Everyone in the team hated it. We were depressed and dreaded work. Managers took on more work for us to do. We were given no training. None at all. In the beginning that was part of the attraction. You needed to be a self starter. 4 years later our responsibilities had at least quadrupled and we were never trained up for anything. We were overwhelmed.

    Add in a management that dangled a promotion in front of us (only an extra 5k a year but a snazzier title) that we could never achieve and that was the final straw. They actually changed the job description for the promotion after I was there a year. They added in that a degree in anything was necessary. So I got a degree, as did two others in the team, and they changed the description. So I got a masters too. Still nothing. They said that certain experience was needed but they refused to allow us to get the experience (even though it was in our job description) because there was too much other work to do.

    In the end I left.

    For a lot of people, if you're in a job where you have no chance of promotion or moving on in anyway, then you'll grow to hate it. I knew people in my previous company who worked in the call centre section. They were on just over 30k a year because they had been there for years. They were turned down for every promotion in the company. They got no guidance, training or mentorship so they would probably always be call centre agents. They couldn't leave because that would be a cut in wages and they'd be lucky to get 25 anywhere else. So they were stuck and they hated it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29 airportlackie


    I think it's because people all have a feeling that they could do better than the job there doing


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,224 ✭✭✭mcgiggles


    I think some of it comes from deciding at 18 what you want to do for the rest of your life (as in college course - which gets you the job) If I had to go back now, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do now what I did then. Hell I'm 31 and I STILL don't know what I "want" to do for the rest of my life.
    Last year I was in a permanent job that I was completely miserable in, left it for a pay cut and a 3 month contract and really enjoyed my job then. Was kept there for 8 months and the headcount was cut and I was moved to a different dept.. not loving it so much now but I have a wedding to pay for next year so can't rock the boat just yet. Have ideas of what I would enjoy doing (complete 180 from what I'm doing) but it takes money and time both of which I haven't got in excess right now.. after the wedding is done and paid for, I'll reassess :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,516 ✭✭✭BrokenArrows


    mariaalice wrote: »
    Discounting issue like working for horrible people other than that why do so many people seem to dislike or even hate their jobs that's my though of the day anyway:P, another funny one is reading ( on boards ) about an individuals who want to change career in to a job that some other individual (on boards) wants to get out of!!!

    Doesn't matter what the job is. If you have to do it every day then you will begin to hate it.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,239 ✭✭✭Jimbob1977


    It's a combination of factors for most people. Common themes would be:

    o Unpaid overtime. 37 hours is really 45-50 hours.

    o Wages that are eaten by childcare and living expenses

    o The good team members are covering for the lazy team members. Management won't address the bad workers.

    o You are 'public-facing' and get abused all day long

    o You know that you are better or more qualified than your peers and manager, but you are always passed over for promotion.

    o Cliques. Some people are very friendly with management and are permitted to coast.

    o Monotony

    o Bullying


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 531 ✭✭✭midnight city


    Its the hours for me, 9 to 5 every day of the week and only 2 days off. One of those days most places are closed up. Must we work 5 days a week, must we work 8 hours a day. Most jobs out there are a repetition of the same things too. Whats to like about it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 785 ✭✭✭team_actimel


    Its the hours for me, 9 to 5 every day of the week and only 2 days off. One of those days most places are closed up. Must we work 5 days a week, must we work 8 hours a day. Most jobs out there are a repetition of the same things too. Whats to like about it.

    I think more companies should be giving employees flexibility to their hours. Unless you're in a customer service job and having to be on the phone/email all the time, I don't see why most employers insist on 9-5.


  • Posts: 25,611 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    People expect too much, that's about it. The odds of finding some nice little niche that you enjoy, that brings "fulfillment", leaves time for everything else while also paying enough are pretty slim.
    I'm in a just-over minimum wage job and some progression would be nice. I can't complain too much though, long hours, monotonous and all the rest but I don't dread it because I got very lucky in that everyone else in the place is also sound. That's enough luck in my book. :P


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,516 ✭✭✭BrokenArrows


    I think more companies should be giving employees flexibility to their hours. Unless you're in a customer service job and having to be on the phone/email all the time, I don't see why most employers insist on 9-5.

    While i agree with some flexibility depending on your job, in reality people need to interact with other employees to get the job done.

    Say for example i had the flexibility to put in a 40 hour week however i wanted, so i decided to work from 3-11pm every day. But the rest of the staff decided to work from 7am-3pm. We would never be in the office at the same time and if i needed to ask anything i would need to rely on email.

    Thats an extreme example but flexible working hours does impact performance.

    But i would agree with limited flexible starting time +- 1 hour from 9am. So you could start anytime between 8-10


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 531 ✭✭✭midnight city


    We should be aiming for a 30 hour working week as standard. The only thing that would make that difficult is affording to provide a roof over your head. But should that really be so expensive anyway. I'm sure society could find a solution to that.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,676 ✭✭✭✭kowloon


    Cheer up people, there's always the sweet release of death to look forward to.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,676 ✭✭✭✭kowloon


    We should be aiming for a 30 hour working week as standard. The only thing that would make that difficult is affording to provide a roof over your head. But should that really be so expensive anyway. I'm sure society could find a solution to that.

    It's expensive to train and deal with more employees when you could squeeze maximum hours out of a few.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,006 ✭✭✭EICVD


    Because life is **** & there is no such thing as happiness!......


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Your a very cheery lot!! I like my job it is possible to be contented with your job.


  • Posts: 11,614 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    That reminds me I have to fill in my timesheet.


  • Posts: 11,614 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    mariaalice wrote: »
    Your a very cheery lot!! I like my job it is possible to be contented with your job.

    Thinly veiled I'm smug about loving my job.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,585 ✭✭✭ligerdub


    Its the hours for me, 9 to 5 every day of the week and only 2 days off. One of those days most places are closed up. Must we work 5 days a week, must we work 8 hours a day. Most jobs out there are a repetition of the same things too. Whats to like about it.

    Very good point. The last company I worked for has recently decided to change their policy. They used to have a flexitime arrangement anyway, they still do, but they have decided to dispense with the idea of a core hours concept (you had to be in by say 10, and you couldn't leave before a certain time in the late afternoon).

    Essentially they can work whatever hours they want so long as their clock balance is at least: [standard hours - 10 hours] at each month end, standard hours per week of 37.5. Seems very good to me.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,000 ✭✭✭fizzypish


    My parents didn't like their jobs but they ground out the years for my (and their own) benefit. Different time and they didn't have a choice. Nowadays we do but I do believe at some point you got to just do it regardless of liking it. Life situation will probably dictate this. Personally, I've no intention of returning to college (hated the 4 years) and I'm not sure if I like my job. Been doing it for 4 years at this stage. Put down some ****ty days. Very rarely roll out or in with a smile on my face. Maybe I'm just a miserable **** though.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


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