Let me just start out by saying that in theory, I love my job. I work with a highly vulnerable population that needs services anywhere from 20-60 hours a week, and seeing the progress they make thanks to my hard work is immensely satisfying. The problem is the company, not the work, but I'm really left with very few options.
Despite working at this company for 5 months, I just barely had enough money to pay of my credit card debt two weeks ago. The pay isn't great (especially for the type of work I do), but it is certainly the best I can do living in a rural area and not having any skills that can be done remotely. I also get free healthcare which I can't do without really.
Problem is is that I'm so rural, I'm driving at least an hour there and an hour back every day. I usually have to go to two to three towns across my state and come home so the typical day of driving is more like 3-5 hours, most of which is unpaid. Being in the healthcare industry means that they make us go out in hazardous conditions and there have honestly been some close calls. I work 6-7 days a week as well, with some days only being 3 hours long, which is not worth my commute.
The toxic atmosphere is really weighing me down. We get vaguely threatening emails every week, have terribly optimized schedules that make me provide worse services and my clients unhappy, and are pushed to the point where someone is quitting every two weeks because they can't take the stress anymore. I've had two panic attacks in the past week, and I don't really get panic attacks anymore.
It doesn't help that I essentially have five bosses either. Ive got 9 clients managed by four different people, and tomorrow I work four hours with my hardest client while being supervised by my least favorite boss. I'm dreading it so much and haven't been able to sleep, which is why I'm writing this. The demands of this client and boss combined are pushing me over the edge.
Being in a rural area, if I want the good pay I have to go far. This company has the best benefits and pay in this sector but I still don't have enough to get my own place in this renting market. My only option really is to secure a place closer to a really big city and transition jobs, which is a really farfetched thing to think about when you only have 1.5k in the bank and spend about half your paycheck before you even get it. Working 40 hours over 7 days, plus about 20 hours of driving, just doesn't give you a whole lot of time to think about apartments when all you want to do is sleep.
Not really looking for advice here, I'm just a 23 year old dumbass who needs to rant. Really just want 8 five hour days with a schedule that doesn't change almost daily. It's also insane that I make $26/hour when this company is pulling in upwards of 2 million dollars a year per client, and I have 9. Sure I'm not the only one who works with them, but I certainly work with each one for about 20-50% of their billable hours. Really I just want to be respected and appropriately compensated, that's all.