So, I’ve been working at my current job for over 10 years. It’s a physical labor job, and prior managers have straight up admitted they’ve abused me (workload-wise) before. Also, over the past couple years, everything has just been turning into a crap-show. Of a less than 7 man team, nearly every day you have people leaving early (and not just minutes but hours), purposely taking a full shift for a 3 hour job because they know there will not be any consequences, people blatantly not doing parts of their jobs and leaving them for other people, and management that not only won’t say a work to anyone about anything work related but actively refuse to give any disciplinary action to anyone because everything ends up getting done. And the reason it gets done: because I end up getting stuck doing everything. Let me preface, I turned down the promotion to management precisely because I know that I’d end up having to do everything myself and would get zero support from any of my managers (including them not doing any actual managing as well as not being allowed to discipline actual consistent issues that need addressing); I’m not management. But since they know I can do it, I ended up getting stuck managing the work, doing my own work, doing the work of people who consistently leave early, running meetings to address pressing issues workers are causing, and fixing mistakes people consistently make because, and to quote one worker, “I like fucking people over, it’s funny to me”. Everyone from all shifts who have been there for more than even a few months straight up tell me the place would fall apart without me, and a good portion saying if I left they’d start job searching.
But now, I finally have a new opportunity. Pays about the same, but better and fewer hours and no physical labor. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel good to see the panic and people starting to job search when I put in my 2 weeks, but now, job security is starting to scare me. The new place has been around for 40+ years but is currently getting bought out. While there’s no real talks of closing, I’m starting to worry, should I stick with the secure job and hope things go back to they way they used to be soon (we’re starting to hire more people so it is possible), or take the risk and go with the company being bought out? Sorry for the rant, but I’m just kind of torn now, this job is the best option I can find with no physical labor, but I’m so used to the current job it’s like a second nature.