I work as an insurance agent. Like most companies, we're short-staffed, so the workload is immense and it's not realistic for us to keep up with the 500-600 clients that have been assigned to each of us.
I generally adore my manager. She's backed me up in several situations, and we get along really well.
At least once a month I've had a one-on-one talk with my manager explaining that I'm struggling and not able to keep up with this workload. She agrees and in our last talk said, “all we can do is triage at this point, just deal with the urgent requests and do the rest when you can.”
Yesterday she asked why I still have so many emails (my inbox usually has a lot, but none are more than three weeks old). I told her I was only able to work three hours of over time on the weekend. She was irritated by that and said I have to get caught up. The expectation now is that I work as late as necessary to clear my desk.
I know shit rolls downhill, and I'm sure she's getting pressure from above, but I'm not about to sacrifice all of my time for a job.
I've got an opportunity with another company that pays better, has a workload 1/3 of what I'm doing now, and a multitude of other perks and incentives. I was going to hold off because I didn't want to bail on my boss, but after yesterday, I'm done.
Moral of the story… Do what's best for you. Don't think a “friendship” with your boss is going to protect you from the inevitable corporate bullshit.