I only have so many years working under my belt, and have only had so many different kinds of jobs. So I know my own impression is somewhat limited.
But what surprised me as I began to have more work experience, was just how disposable I was in workplaces where the actual job was pretty low-stress. What I consider low stress kinds of jobs aren't jobs that are devoid of any sort of challenge or effort, but jobs that are set up in functional work environments where you can reasonably expect to have the tools and the training needed to deal with any conflicts or problems, and that conflicts or problems don't come up too often in the first place. I've worked in environments that were for example, uncomfortable in the sense that they were very hot or cold environments, or required a lot of physical work, but they weren't so “stressful” per se because you knew what to expect from work, and you didn't live in fear of making a mistake.
And what I've found is that my ability to do the job and have impeccable attendance just doesn't count for a lot. It really isn't enough. These places will go through the loss of missed hours, and repeated training from high turnover, because they are seeking an exclusive batch of people who they personally like enough to actually be friends with.
It is essentially like a friendship club where people hang out and get paid everyday.
Again, it's not like these are cush jobs that necessarily pay well. They just aren't environments…and I'm sure most of you have experienced this…where there is a constant lack of supplies, or personnel, or there is a mismatch in expectations from the store and corporate, or there is an impossible task like hocking a certain number of credit cards, or doing customer service and people pleasing when your company has genuinely fucked over its customers.
These are just places that give you 40 hours for minimum wage or a dollar more and the job isn't hell.
The job I've landed on right now? I deliberately stopped chasing jobs that were lower stress. I now do a job that a lot of people don't want to put up with. And I'm not really doing it for the money as much as I am doing it just for job security. I also think you're treated better by management and coworkers. Supposedly, if you work you're trading labor for money, you shouldn't feel like someone is giving you charity. But I can tell now there are certain jobs where they expect you to to act as if you are receiving charity instead of working, and they expect you to…I know how how to put this so well…but talk more than you want to? Reveal more about yourself than you would like to? It's hard to give a concrete example, but I think it's something within the realm of compromising your own boundaries, and letting yourself be objectified somewhat.
It's a suck job marketplace out there.