Hello all,
This is kind of embarrassing to admit. I've been working at this job for just under a year now, and have gone from being the most junior hire to being the 2nd or 3rd most senior person there. It's a specialized food service kind of role, and I'm heavily involved in production–I probably help make about 75% of all the product that we sell.
I was reasonably satisfied at first, and have even gotten a handful of raises in the last 11 months, gradually going from $16.50 to $19 per hour as my role expanded in scale. However, the owner's never-good-enough attitude and the total lack of training (followed by criticism for my jury-rigged approach) has soured me on it. Overtime is common and expected, as is some degree of working for free, and the 'company culture' is bad enough that turnover is extremely high. We've had at least 6 or 7 people be hired and then fired since I've started working there.
The good news is, I found something better! I'll be making more money per hour and fewer total hours, leading to a slight increase in total monthly take-home and more time off. The new job is less specialized and seems less stressful, the owner has promised zero need for overtime and other employees I talked to independently have confirmed this, as well as consistently excellent tips. I interviewed, it went well, and I'm going to start training on Friday.
I can't wait to work fewer hours and just feel less stressed and overwhelmed all the time, and like I'm two seconds away from being criticized for something I didn't even know about. I've come into work for at least an hour or two on every one of my days off for at least three weeks, to work on side projects the owner wanted done, and I'm feeling so burnt out. Despite this…I feel bad. I've become such a key part of the business at my current work place, me leaving will be a major stumbling block and will cause some real problems.
I've reminded myself that if the owner could replace me with someone doing all the work for half the price, of course he would. He holds political views I find reprehensible (anti-vaxxer, flat-earther, etc.) and I've complained about how he treats me regularly. Yet somehow, I still feel bad because I know how hard it's going to be to replace me and how much trouble I'll be causing him by leaving.
How do I get over this feeling and remove any hesitations about resigning? Thanks to all members of this subreddit for consistently great content and help recognizing the nature of work.
tl;dr Leaving a job with long hours, crappy boss and okay pay for one with better hours, better pay and better boss. Feeling guilty/hesitant about it despite knowing it's the right choice. Why is this and how do I fix it?