Are corporate jobs no longer the goal? A Gen Z user online said that after watching countless movies as a teen, where the lead worked in a modern corporate office in city centres, she too got caught up—“brainwashed”—into the idea of a future working in an office downtown for a big company.
However, now, she said, she admits that she was “fooled” by the idea of working in a corporation.
She further wrote in r/recruitinghell, “The brainwashing was so strong that I chose my adult profession based on where I would work. I didn’t want to work in an obscure hospital; I wanted a modern glass office building.”
“Now I’ve realised I was tricked. If I had known the reality, I would have never chosen a corporate path,” she added.
She noted corporate jobs are actually “very tough” jobs, filled with constant deadlines, no work-life balance, soulless layoffs, and performance reviews. Unlike before, when working at a company like Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok was the dream, she said, now people only associate corporations with a “constant grind.”
Now, she’s seriously thinking of leaving her corporate career and moving into a government job or being her own boss, working for ordinary people. Becoming a hairdresser has even become an attractive option, she said.
According to her, while she witnessed people over 40 leaving corporate because they were exhausted and felt soulless, she never saw hairdressers quit because they felt empty inside. “It’s mostly corporate workers who lose their mental health, balance, and soul after years in the system,” she said.
Asking those who are on the same path, she asked, “Do you feel the same? That you were tricked into believing a corporate job was a dream, but it turned out to be a nightmare? Do you see the same pattern that fewer and fewer people want to work in corporations?”
She also asked if, soon, fewer people would choose corporate careers like finance or IT because of the lack of work-life balance and the constant threat of layoffs amid cost-cutting.
Most commenters said they’ve felt the same, but one said that “it’s not just Gen Z,” adding that a corporate job once meant career advancement, excellent benefits, and a level of social status, but now those things have disappeared.
In fact, the commenter added that a job in corporate used to come with a pension, but it has also not been around for a long time now.
Meanwhile, layoffs, which used to be extremely rare, are happening every now and then, and unlimited paid time off doesn’t pay a dime anymore.
“As crazy as this may sound, I wish we still lived in the days when you could walk into a factory and get a well-paying, unionised job that paid you enough to support yourself, your family and retire comfortably. Yeah, it would be boring and yeah, the work itself would probably suck, but there would be upsides to not having to navigate the corporate rat race or go into debt for a college degree”, another commenter said.
A third commenter added, “So much of that would make life livable for millions again. It’s outrageous how many people are wasting months and years of their lives, desperate to find work that can cover even basic bills. I can’t believe how fast my parents and people of their age were able to get jobs and keep them and count on the income for the foreseeable future.”
In other news, some fresh graduates in Singapore have been opting to start a business as it has become a less risky option than waiting to be hired amid economic uncertainty and fewer job opportunities. /TISG
Read also: Two-thirds of Gen Z plan to switch jobs but struggle to stand out in a competitive market
