There’s a lot of issues that I have encountered during my time as a goldsmith (jewelry maker). One thing that made me pull the trigger on quitting was when a guy with no experience in my field walked in the shop was making $14/hr starting out. I started at $7.50/hr in 2013, which I was ok with because I was an apprentice just starting out. It took me 8 years to make it to $15/hr. My 7th year I was making $12/hr and I had made that wage for 3 years in a row. I asked my boss for $13.75/hr and he said no until my shop manager convinced him to. Which is why I was salty about this other guy starting at $14 and I was having to pick up the slack because he didn’t know how to do the job. I never received overtime because my boss marked me as exempt. I worked around 60 hours a week on average, during December I would work 80-90 hrs a week. I made minimum wage for 7 years in a row, they would only increase my pay because the state minimum wage was going up. I also found out this guy was receiving overtime which means after 40 hrs he was getting $21/hr. His paychecks were way bigger than mine during December. They capped his hours at 40 all year except December, so me and the other guys had to work very late most of the time to pick up the work and finish it. This made me realize that I was in a dead end job that had no room to make it to a living wage. I’m studying to become an electrician now and I’m so happy that I quit. Would you have quit if you were me?