Hey all, never posted here before but been a long-time lurker.
I just wanted to rant because I've had A Day (felt angry, might delete later).
For the record, I don't hate my job. I'm pretty lucky actually, working from home 4 days a week and only needing to go to the office once a week. But I cannot for the life of me navigate this “work culture” mindset, and I've been in the industry for years.
“We *have* to go to the office because it's important to see each other and to maintain work culture” is a big one I've been hearing lately. No it's not, my team and I talk over MS Teams all day. I don't have a client-facing role, there is zero reason why I need to be in the office. If others want to go to the office to interact, that's fine! Go! What about those of us who thrive having our own space? Not all of us like being forced to commute and socialise.
But most recently I'm being hounded to create “goals” for work. And for the life of me all I want to submit is: my goal is to do my work and get paid. End of story. Navigating the bullshit language of an agency is tiring me out. My job is not my identity. I'm glad when payday rolls around, and I'm fortunate to even have a job when the world is the way it is, but I don't have lofty goals. Again, some people might like this and it's fine – but it should be optional. I'm trying to get work done for clients who have paid thousands, potentially hundreds of thousands, for work. They don't give a shit about my goals either!
Apologies for the pretty aimless rant, but I just can't today. If you're in a similar position, I'd love to hear how/if you've been able to get by this.