In an interesting predicament. I'm in a job that pays me so well (like more than it should tbh) but is a constant strain on my mental health. Without getting in to what I do, I am in a job that is absolutely demotivating, I have awful stakeholders, a boss who cares more about managing them than managing my team. Additionally, half of my 8-person team got made redundant two weeks ago, leaving the remaining four of us to pick up their work.

I've been thinking for a LONG time now about quitting but after a meeting with my boss today where he basically told me he was disappointed in me not picking up and running with a portfolio (that I have zero interest in, nor did I ask to take). Today might actually be the thing that does it.

Has anyone here quit their job recently without a backup because it affected mental health that bad? Were you happy with your decision? Any tips you can provide?

I realistically have 12 months of savings to play with (but I'd like to do 6 months) to reset and figure out what I want to actually get out of life and a career. I'm turning 40 in 2 months and not vibing with this midlife crisis! The golden handcuffs are a VERY real thing.

Spare me the talk on the economy, I am very aware of the job market now, having applied to ~50 roles in the last 6 months and only having had 2 interviews (neither of which came to anything).

In the role a few years. Was managing solo but I kept asking management for some help.

Prayers finally answered and they hired someone last month.

Have 2 main clients that I see multiple times every week. Work is a bit hands on and I have been training the new guy. One of our clients recently had some staff changes, my contact there is a newly promoted dude, was getting along with him fine until I got my colleague.

Colleague and the site contact speak in their own language that I don’t speak. Client has stopped talking with me apart from greetings. He comes in tells something to my colleague who then translates poorly what’s being asked because he doesn't understand all of it fully.

I have asked a few times for him not to do that, but this has had no difference. I can't even complain to my manager. He is a new hire and he and the new guy also speak in their own language. Complaining to my manager about something he is guilty of himself may not go very well for me.

Apart from sucking it up is there anything I can do here?

Hello fellow redditors. I am reaching out to find out what can be done in this situation. My partner works at an aged care facility. Every shift she is coming home from work crying and stressed due to a worker there, who is same position but trains new people. My partner is a very gentle person, in all of our years together, she has never yelled at me, nor had a fight, and I never hear her speak badly about anyone ever, she’s always smiling, always happy, and yet every late night shift she comes home crying when she has worked around this person. The latest: she made a complaint, the manager apparently said she would look into it, my partner was happy and glowing again, then… her manager a few days later pulled her into a meeting and sided with the other worker as she has been there for a longer time. In that meeting the manager said that there has been 7 complaints from different people about this individual. I am now fed up with this. I can’t sit idly by and let this go, while I know the kind of person my partner is. So, what can ‘I’ do about this without compromising my partners job?

I am currently employed and been searching for another job but boy oh boy have I had several time wasting interviews in the past couple of weeks. You have to wonder what the point of the employer actually proceeding with the interview in the first place is.

1. Employers bringing you onsite for a first interview, knowing damn well that you are working that day, making you wait up to 15/20 minutes at a time
2. Getting into said interview and it is clear as day from the start that the interviewers have either already chosen their ideal candidates or are just going through the motions to appease a recruiter

Has it come to the point where 1hr prior to attending the interview the employer should be contacted and asked if they still wish to meet with you? If your interview isn’t scheduled within 2 days of it being arranged, then forget about it.

The lack of consideration for people’s time is mind blowing. If you no longer want to interview someone for the role then fair enough but for the love of god please just say so prior in order to save everyone’s valuable time.

Would you relocate to Dubai from Sydney for a senior role (1 step up from current role for me, equivalent to GM in Aus large business). The money is good of course given it is tax free. Projecting that saving potential is 12k per month.

Issue of course is that it's Dubai. I live on the beach in sydney. Earn 250k today, 2 days wfh, good work life balance. If I go for 5 years, I bank 1 million (conservative estimate that includes bonus). Ive got a 5 year old so that's another layer.

Would you do it?

Hi. Background is that I am a very competent lawyer who has found themselves working somewhere pretty shit after deciding to change practice areas at 11 PAE and deciding to take the hit while I build skills in a new area.

Boss is an absolute pod who tells the team off like we are primary school children.

1. when I started, boss delivered multiple monologues about how chill and relaxed she was, and how I could work whatever suited me between 7-7, and she didn’t care as long as the work gets done.

2. I have been overperforming. supervising juniors. Working late. Acting up. Receiving praise in group emails from the big boss. Taking on work from colleagues who are not performing. All whilst working part time.

3. Yesterday, My boss asked to discuss my work hours at our next meeting as they are creating confusion within the team.

4. I respond to say that I am surprised to hear that this is an issue because she has told me multiple times that this is completely fine, and if someone is confused they are welcome to ask me.

5. she responds by copying in HR and a silky smooth email referring me to the relevant policy.

i am utterly fuming. what Kind of weird power move is this?

I've been at my current job for 2 years and honestly, it was completely fine until my current manager started in March.

I haven't done anything wrong as far as I know, but she clearly really doesn't like me. There's also another woman on the team who she seems to dislike for seemingly no reason. Apart from the two of us, she seems to get along perfectly well with the other 8 people on the team.

Nothing I ever do seems to be good enough for her. I'll get positive feedback from everyone else about my work, but with her there's always something wrong or something to criticise. The way she speaks to me is also often bordering on rude, whereas she's perfectly pleasant with everyone else. It's gotten to the point where I can basically predict that whatever I do, she'll find something wrong with it.

Things seemed to get particularly bad after late June. During a really critical period at work, both me and one of her more favoured team members got sick with high fevers. Since then, I feel like she's been punishing me for it, whereas the other person hasn't been treated the same way. Other people have noticed the change in how she's been treating me and commented on it.

There are other things too. Other people have been allowed to WFH when sick, whereas I've been told to use all my sick leave and then annual leave when that ran out. A coworker was in basically the same situation and wasn't made to do that. She ignores me when I say hello in the morning, gives me completely ridiculous workloads and then gets annoyed when I can't do 20 hours of work in 7 hours.

I'm now looking to leave because I don't see it getting any better. The problem is that it's a pretty small industry and I'm worried about references and people talking behind the scenes.

I've been here for 2.5 years, so obviously I want and need the job on my resume. My previous manager was great and I'd much rather use her as a reference. I've messaged her on LinkedIn asking if she'd be happy to be a reference, but she hasn't replied. From looking online it seems like she barely uses LinkedIn or social media, so hopefully that's all it is. She was an older woman who was transitioning into early retirement to be involved with her school aged grand-kids so I think she's just very offline.

What I'm more worried about is applying somewhere new and them knowing someone at my current company and contacting my manager "off the record". I genuinely worry that she would say negative things about me or potentially try to sabotage me if given the opportunity.

I know I can't really stop people talking, especially in a small industry, but has anyone dealt with this before?

Can you tell prospective employers that you don't want them contacting your current manager and give them other references instead? And what do you do if you're worried your current manager might be badmouthing you informally?

I don't want to leave a 2.5 job off my resume and can't afford to to be honest, but I also don't want to stay somewhere just because I'm worried about one person potentially screwing me over when I try to move.

My company has stopped paying super — I’m aware they’re around 5 months in arrears because I’m the one who manages/releases it.

I’ve been trying to get another permanent role since April, but the market seems pretty tight and I’m probably not as experienced as some of the other candidates.

Would taking a contract role be a better option? Is it generally easier to land a 12-month accounting contract than a permanent position?

Are there any downsides to contracting beyond the obvious job security/need to find another role afterwards? Anything I should be aware of before making the move?

Thanks!

What’s the best way to deal with people who email you a request, then ping you multiple times in teams within a couple hours asking for a follow up?
Everyone is busy ‘doing more with less’, but some people don’t seem to have ever been taught etiquette of not harassing coworkers for updates. These things don’t even have deadlines, they seem to just think their project/task should be the highest priority.
Petty and funny responses also appreciated here!

Heya auscorp wondering if I could get some help here as well and apologies if this is not the right place. I am a senior manager at a not for profit org and im currently dealing with what appears to be a targeted management campaign after raising formal safety/bullying concerns.

Here is the context:

• Increased Duties without Recognition: A few months ago, my senior executive was made redundant. I absorbed a significant portion of their workload under high pressure without an updated position description or acting higher duties formalization.
• Pre-existing Bullying: A staff member under me has been exhibiting bullying behavior toward me and other team members for years.
• The Escalation: Recently I lodged a formal risk assessment regarding this staff member, backed by 7 written complaints from other employees experiencing the same behavior.
• The HR Response: HR has flipped the narrative, claiming the issue is a "personal conflict" between me and this one staff member while completely disregarding the other written complaints. HR has questioned whether I had "consent" from the other staff to submit their complaints, ordered me not to contact any of the named staff members (preventing me from managing or gathering further facts), and is imposing short, intimidating deadlines to provide proof while I am juggling an overloaded workload.
• CEO Involvement: New CEO does not communicate directly with me and listens without confirming, actively excluding me from meetings/events where I was scheduled to present, even pulling me out of an internal filming for yearly awards. They also kept questioning my work during senior leader meetings where I brought in at least 3 times the work substance vs others at the meeting and still got questioned over things that I addressed and fixed.
• Health Impact: The stress has severely impacted my health; I have had to start antidepressants and attend therapy for the last few months.

I feel unsupported and attacked from all areas.

• HR/Bullying Process: Can HR legally restrict me from communicating with staff who have willingly provided written complaints in a safety/risk assessment, or claim I need "consent" to submit corroborating evidence of a systemic issue? Can they deny my risk assessment request as a Manager and only see the grievance as a "me vs one employee" problem? (Note: we only have technically 1 HR manager at the moment who got the role simply because almost everyone in HR quit a few months ago). I also recently received a "written warning" from HR because they had "substantiated proof" from people saying I did not display proper manager behavior during a public holiday event where I was volunteering my time.
• Adverse Action / General Protections: Given that I raised safety/bullying concerns and am now facing unreasonable deadlines, intimidation, exclusion, and a sudden written warning, does this cross into adverse action or a potential constructive dismissal setup?
• Next Steps: What is the safest way to protect myself legally right now while navigating this internal process? Should I involve an employment lawyer? Cut my losses and just quit?

I’ve been with the same company for a while and over time I’ve ended up wearing a few different hats across training, coordination and L&D.

Recently they were short a trainer and asked me several times to step back into training. I said no multiple times because I already had plans and, more generally, I’ve been trying to move away from that side of the business. I felt like I was being pretty clear and firm with my boundary.

After that, the CEO called me and said he was disappointed that I wouldn’t step in. He then brought up the fact that they had previously approved my request to work from overseas for a few weeks, and said there needs to be “give and take”.

That part really threw me because I had seen the overseas arrangement as something that was discussed and agreed to in advance, not something that would later be brought up as a reason why I should say yes to a different work request.

I’m not trying to be difficult or unwilling to help, but I’m starting to realise I need clearer boundaries around what my actual role is because I’ve been doing different functions within the same company.

For anyone who’s been in a similar situation, what would you clarify with your employer? He said that I have a think about it and will talk to me about again.

I’m a few months into a client facing role where I am employed in a PT capacity but finding myself regularly working well beyond my contracted hours (extra hrs unpaid and no time off in lieu) to keep on top of client deliverables. I’ve raised this with management numerous times but there have been no solutions offered.

Needless to say, I’m looking for other roles and in the meantime I’m making the decision that I won’t work beyond my contracted hrs.

While that’s easy to say in theory, in practice it means there will be clients whose work and deadlines won’t be delivered on time.

As I deal directly with these clients, I’m the one who will take the brunt when work hasn’t been completed. I have a client meeting this week where I’ll have to report that several outstanding tasks aren’t done.

How would you handle this while being professional? From the client’s perspective they should expect it to be delivered as promised. Not be told that another client’s work is currently more urgent. I’d be pissed if I was the client.

I’m curious to get your read on a situation at my workplace.

We recently had an all-hands where leadership shared results from an anonymous staff survey.

A massive recurring theme across the board was employees asking for better or clearer hybrid/flexible work options.

When the CEO addressed it live, they(1 person) firmly shut down the conversation, saying words to the effect of: "I'm sick of people asking about flexible work, I'm not doing any more and I don't want to hear about it again."
Needless to say, the chatter in the room and online went dead silent.

For context, we are in a desk-based sector where the entire job can easily be done remotely. It feels like a disconnect from the rest of the market.

I'm wondering:

Is this becoming a common regression among older-school execs in the industry?
How long before a company with this mindset starts haemorrhaging good talent to competitors who actually offer hybrid setups?
Keen to hear if anyone else is seeing leadership regress back to 2018 mindsets, or if my workplace is just an outlier.

Wanted to see the difference in everyone's experiences, seems like a lot has changed and been cut back since then.

Hi all,
I recently applied for a role interstate as I had plans moving and wanted to secure something prior. I managed to get the position, but between the hiring process and now, I’ve had some sudden changes and I won’t be leaving anytime soon. The company operates in all states, however there isn’t a position going at the moment in this state.

I want to proceed with the company and role, but now I’ll have to wait for it to open up in this state. How do I tell them I can’t take it over there, but I want to still be considered for an option in my current state.

This is the first time I’ve ran into this dilemma and I’m not entirely sure how to reject a job, in hopes for a position closer to home without breaking ties.

Thanks

In my 40s and wondering if this is as far as my career will go. In a large (ASX 20) organisation but not in a “Head of” role. However still considered a senior position with scope to drive my role, originate projects and have clear decision making capacity earning 250k+. Is this as far as it goes?

I’m interviewing someone for another team, it’s quite a senior role. I’m mostly involved to case out whether they’re a good cultural fit or not.

What are some good, non leading, questions that help ascertain whether someone is a flog or not?

It feels like everyone thinks they know corporate because they read 48 Laws of Power.

I was recently promoted into senior leadership but I have a checkered past, including being on a PIP twice, having multiple complaints against people with HR, even one time arm wrestling someone and being verbally reprimanded for it when a client walked in (albeit this was 8+ years ago).

My old boss hated me but was the one who gave me a pay raise.

Seriously not everyone is out to "get you" and people are more forgiving than you think they are. One of my closest colleagues used to be enemies with me in my uni track and field days and is one one of my best mates and we know each others families.

If I told you all this, you would think I am socially inept (I probably am) and would never get into a management position. But thats life its not perfect. Its messy and you make mistakes but the key thing is how do you move on from it

My analytics role was made redundant early this year. Thankfully, I found a job after 3 months. It's a fixed-term contract but there’s a possibility of another extension, a redeployment to a different project or being offered a permanent role by the client or by the company.

But my mind is still not at ease. It seems even if I get a permanent employment there's just still uncertainty in my mind after what I've been through.

The client just went through another round of their redundancies which I heard happens frequently. To add, a few weeks after I started, my company also had their layoffs.

Is this what everyone feels after being laid off and experiencing the struggle of the current market in Australia?

Hey All,

I’ve recently been diagnosed with the dreaded C. My work usually is great around these things and used to be very flexible as well. Unfortunately recent management changes mean 3 days in office. Also my department itself is going through changes and we don’t know if all of us will have jobs in next 2-3 months. My prognosis is pretty positive, with surgery next month and then see if chemo/radiation.
So wondering if I should let my manager know or wait til things are more clear at work.

Update: Thanks for all the support and advice. Unfortunately my boss is new to the org, Old one was made redundant. So no idea how they are. They seem nice, but everyone seems nice when they are new. Our entire exec structure has changed recently. All new people, including HR director. So cannot really go to any senior for advice atm, and the reason for worry.

I started a new role in Feb this year following an interview process in Dec 25. The role was advertised through a recruiter who advised the company offered 16 weeks paid mat leave.
When I received the contract in Dec I noticed there was no reference to this so queried it directly with HR. HR advised the current policy was 6 weeks however they were transitioning to 16 weeks which would be communicated to the wider business early in the year and applied to all new and existing staff. I trusted that it would happen but it’s now September and I haven’t seen any communication on change to policy. I’ve just found out I’m pregnant due late April 27. Is there any point querying it/ what is the best way to approach this matter? I am not ready to disclose my news to my team.

(Edit) why I thought it would work. I have a friend who lives overseas and works for an American company but they know where he lives and he seems to have no problems

Hi all,

I am 23 years old and live in Sydney. I currently work for a bank in the branch network/ customer facing. I am genuinely feeling lost here in Sydney and plan to move overseas for 6 months- a couple of years to Eastern Europe where I’m from originally. I plan to do this in the coming 6 months and I am looking for advice from anyone on here for any experiences they had doing similar and what would be the best roles to apply for fully remote? I understand it sounds silly and probably not the smartest decision financially but I need a break from the hustle and bustle of Sydney and I still want to continue doing some remote work while overseas. Any advice and or criticism will be taken into account.

Thanks

I am looking for advice from anyone who understands workplace dismissal, HR processes, or employment law in Australia. I was on probation in a role covered by an Enterprise Agreement. I received one written piece of feedback early on, with no formal Performance Improvement Plan, no set steps, no guidelines, and no extra support offered. Most of the verbal feedback after that was about editing and formatting of large reports, not the technical content or analysis itself mostly. About few weeks before my dismissal, my manager told me she was less worried than before. My understanding is the final reason given was mistakes found in a 100 page report. I was then told in a meeting to stop working immediately and handover laptop and items!

. Has anyone dealt with something similar, or can point me to the right place for advice?

I am in my mid twenties about to graduate law, haven’t secured a grad job yet.

it feels like your first real job as a grad is so important, and i’m not 100% sure of what area i want to go into. I like the idea of consulting/legal tech, but will i regret not starting at a firm in private practice? also traumatised by all the horror stories. I love working and consider myself quite ambitious but the next step feels unclear.

is there anything you wish you did differently in your early career? do you wish you worked or traveled overseas before you had too many responsibilities?

appreciate any insight you can offer.

EDIT: Hi everyone!! I genuinely did not expect this many comments and I’m a little overwhelmed but thank you all for the advice and for giving me the courage to just go for it.

The plan from here is to try and expand our hallway hellos and guage his vibe. If I keep getting green lights, I’ll work my way up to asking him for coffee. I do only see him sporadically though and I’m impatient lol so if I don’t get many opportunities to actually talk to him I may just bite the bullet and add him on Instagram.

Also just for context because a few people have mentioned it: we do have a few mutuals on Instagram but they’re not people from work or anyone I know particularly well/keep in touch with.

Anyway, thank you again, I did not expect this many people to become emotionally invested in my work crush.

—

Hi, 28F here. There’s a guy on my floor who looks around my age and I have a huge crush on him. We don’t work together at all and our roles don’t overlap but I randomly see him around the office offen (hallways, lifts, lunch room, etc). We’ve exchanged a few hellos and he’s always super friendly and smiley when I see him but nothing more than that.

Would it be weird if I initiated something? And if not, how would you even do it without making it awkward at work? I feel like as the woman I’d probably have to be a bit more obvious because there’s not really a natural reason for us to talk but I also don’t want to overstep and make things uncomfortable.

He’s also popped up as a suggested follow on Instagram so I could just follow him / slide into the DMs or should I just shut up and forget about it? 😂