I did freelance work for several years and made pretty good money doing it. Then, a year ago, I decided to accept a normal full-time job, because I wanted the benefits (primarily health insurance).
Since then, I found that the benefits actually suck and the health insurance doesn't cover anything anyway.
The final straw was when I asked for raise, since I was approaching my 1-year anniversary. I was told that they “don't give raises based on cost of living” and that they only do 2% a year.
What BS. 2% a year doesn't even keep up with normal inflation, much less what we're seeing now. So every year that an employee stays with the company, they're effectively taking a pay cut. The longer someone works there, the less money they make.
The whole time I worked there, I kept hearing about how the turnover rate was high and they just didn't understand why. You'd think this would be obvious…
And it isn't like they're doing poorly financially. Even with recent dips, their stock price is higher than when I was hired.
So, long story short, I put in my two weeks' notice and am returning to freelance work.