After working at a consulting firm for 2.5 years, with no raise, added responsibilities and continuously “chasing the carrot” I finally took y’all’s advice and started looking.
Carrot never came. New job did.
While this sub is anti-work, it’s a thing that we all have to do in some capacity to live and it can feel so shitty being in a cyclical, horrible relationship with an employer. While the theme is anti-work, I feel like a lot of us are just in a “anti-my current employer who has fucked me over time and time again”.
But you CAN leave. You CAN find a new gig. You CAN make more money. YOU CAN GET OUT OF THE HELL YOU’RE LIVING IN AND FIND SOMEWHERE THAT AT LEAST MAKES YOU NOT STRESS ALL THE DAMN TIME.
There are a lot of times during a job hunt that feel helpless (I was ghosted THRICE after completing final interviews) but please keep going if you think it will help. You will find your out.
Thanks for the advice to leave, the pay raise was crazy, and more than anything my current employer ever entertained. But the best takeaway was simply “you can leave”
It might take a while, but you CAN leave and find, at least temporary, happiness.