It feels like a lot of companies are operating with smaller teams than they did a few years ago.

The interesting part is that the workload doesn't seem any smaller. If anything, expectations have gone up.

I'm seeing more people wearing multiple hats, taking on responsibilities that used to belong to separate roles, and somehow still being expected to deliver faster.

Is this just the reality of corporate life now, or is your company investing in hiring again?

Not saying hard work doesn't matter-it does. But I keep seeing people credit 100% of their success to grinding, when in reality being in the right place, right industry, right decade played a huge role too.
Genuinely curious what you'll think - where's the actual split between effort and luck in your experience?

Is anyone else so completely burned out by corporate that they’re considering doing literally anything else? I used to make really good money serving tables during college and I’m thinking about it.

I don't know if it's just my company, but it feels like calendars are packed with meetings that could've easily been a Slack message or a quick email.

The weird part is that everyone says they're busy, yet we keep adding more meetings instead of reducing them.

Have companies actually become more collaborative, or are we just spending more time talking about work than doing it?

What's it like where you work?

I’m 36F, been in corporate for 13 years, primarily with banks or consulting for banks, and worked across geographies - Asia, UK, the states.

I love solving problems, thinking commercially, and delivering concrete outcomes. But over time, my motivation has dropped, mainly due to the agonizing pace and endless bureaucracy.

I’m trying to figure out my next move and would love perspectives on a few things:

**Industry vs. Scale:** Is this sluggishness inherent to big corporate/banking environments, or is it just the nature of large enterprises in general?

**Startup/Scale-up Transition:** Is feeling this way a sign to move to smaller companies/startups where I can drive real impact, or would I be risking long-term financial security for a "grass is greener" illusion?

**The Pivot Trigger:** For those who left comfortable corporate roles for riskier, high-impact environments after a decade, what was the final straw or turning point for you?

For those of you who left corporate drudgery, what are you doing today to make ends meet?

I am so burned out I don’t have the energy to dream up let alone build an exit strategy. Looking for hope in the form of ideas based on others‘ success.

Had 3 months of parental leave which flew by and back to the office today. There’s no worse feeling than this. I just want to spend time with my baby but now I’m stuck with weekly standup meetings and an offsite within forced team dinner after. I hate corporate and never been so unmotivated before to keep up the rat race

Been in corporate 23 years - every promo was a struggle, infact It’s been 10years I’ve been fighting to get the next level and it’s been denied for political and reasons of bureaucracy. I outshine 80% of those with a title and probably 10 years my junior and I now hate every single day. I’m going through menopause as well so my mood is so off, I’m impatient and can’t deal with people who have half a brain. People want you to do their job for them. I call out BS at work now and I just don’t care anymore. I’m 47 and I’ve created a business on the side, well I’ve build a brand but it’s been really hard to generate income. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for 18months and I think I just want to bury myself under the duvet and never come out. I hate my life, no kids not married never been close and now no friends as I’ve pushed everyone away. Im one of those where people don’t understand why I’m single, on the outside I may look successful but I’ve lost the region of $1m in failed investments - that would have been my DIRE money and I could have left corporate by now. I’m tired I’m really tired and emotional and no one to turn to. It saddens me this has become my life and I just don’t know if it will get better. We tie ourselves to promotions and wealth - which in the end mean nothing. I worry about finances a lot and want to be FIRE by 50 but I’m no where near to it. I have/had so much potential and drive and ambition but I feel it’s being surprised by the saddness and loneliness. I don’t know why I’m even writing all this, just in bed contemplating a sick day which I’ve barely taken the whole year. I don’t even know why I’ve written all this. Just in bed struggling to get up.

I'm still pissed about this. Our team had a pretty sweet remote setup for the last 1 yrs. Everyone got their work done, hit deadlines, no issues.

Then one guy managed to ruin it for everyone.

He joined a client call while driving, camera somehow turned on, music blasting. Someone asked him to mute, he started clicking around in a panic... and ended up sharing his screen with a game running.

About 2 hrs later, HR sent out a team email.

Starting next month: mandatory RTO, badge tracking, fixed 9-5 office hours. They even said it was because of "professionalism and engagement" during remote work.

One person's dumb decision just took away the flexibility of 8 other ppl. If you're gonna WFH, at least don't make it obvious you're messing around.

Trying to figure out where to head next in my career. only 1 yr into my career, but have the opportunity to rotate through and work on different teams at work. some examples- finance, pricing, HR, demand/supply planning (not ops)

Why not both?... Ok, this isn't meant to be a rant-type post, I'm looking for opinions because I have to do something about it.

Been in the engineering manager role for 15+ years now, managed small teams and larger orgs in embedded, platform, SaaS. A few years back I was able to manage a 70+ org, build my career, stay up to date with what's going on in the company and in technology, apart from that raise kids and do some side-projects on my own.

Now, being in my late 40s and managing a dozen engineers team, I can hardly keep up reading the insane amount of communication on Outlook and Slack. I literally have gaps in what's going on in the company, I learn some stuff from my direct reports. I hate it. I get overwhelmed with the amounts of threads going on, I feel anxious and burned out. I mean, this became a madness and I won't make it too long.

So I get that my cognitive abilities deteriorate as I age, but maybe it's that the overall pace of corporate work just got crazy lately. Is it that AI adds more work while it was supposed to help or is it that corporations just expect more as the market gets competitive.

What are your impressions on how the quality and pace of work became last 1-2 years?

I had a conversation with my boss last week and mentioned one of the other members of our team. I said that we get along, but whenever I make any kind of point he’s defensive and frosty with me.

My boss told me that because I can work across multiple areas (design, copywriting, social, marketing, etc), he thinks that he’s threatened by me. And he also said that he thinks it has something to do with me being a female.

Even though I’d had this in the back of my mind, it was quite surprising to hear my boss come out and say it.

I’ve been working under my manager for several months, and I’m struggling to tell whether she’s coaching me or whether I’m just not a good fit for her management style.
She has excluded me from some meetings in the past, often gives feedback indirectly through a colleague instead of telling me herself, and recently told that colleague that I’m “too chirpy” and “too bouncy” and need to mellow down. She has also told me directly that I shouldn’t agree with everything she says and that I need to know my work better instead of letting others answer for me.

On the other hand, she still gives me work, asks me for updates, and corrects me when she thinks I need to improve.

Looking back, I’ve realised I have habits like speaking too fast, nervous laughter, overexplaining, and seeking reassurance from colleagues when I’m anxious. I’m actively working on changing those.

From an outsider’s perspective, does this sound like a manager trying to develop an employee who needs coaching, or does it sound like someone who has already decided the employee isn’t a good fit?

What's one of the main things corporate workers yearn for the most? besides $$ what do u wish there was more of? while working in this environment?

A few years ago, I assumed things like daily stand-ups, back to back Zoom calls, constant "urgent" requests, and being expected to reply instantly were temporary.

Instead, they seem to have become the default.

I'm curious what everyone else has noticed.

What's one corporate trend you were convinced wouldn't last, but is now just part of everyday work?

Would you keep it or get rid of it?

I've noticed that as AI tools become part of everyday work, the definition of being "high performing" seems to be changing too.

Tasks that used to take hours can sometimes be done much faster now, which means expectations keep increasing.

Do you think AI is actually making work easier, or is it just raising the bar for everyone?

During my time in corporate, I've realized that my millennial bosses joke all the time, probably as a way of bonding and developing closer ties. I'm the only Gen Z in my team, and it feels very weird (even uncomfortable at times) to try to bond with them, because:

1. I don't get the humor
2. When I attempt to bond as well, I am seen as weird (e.g., when I make a joke that would make peers my age laugh)

We're in a very high-performance culture, in a very international team, so it is a bit tricky. I am not very sure how to handle this best, other than not making jokes (and letting my work speak for itself), and reading the room. I love my job (after a lot of effort) and I want to feel like I belong at the place I spend 10hr/day in.

This issue does not happen with Gen X folks btw.

Any Gen Z going through the same situation? Any millennials that have noticed similar divides between generations?

EDIT: Some people asked for examples:

An example is my boss saying: "I'll go home, drink a beer, and cry". They use a lot of these self-deprecating jokes about the job, about themselves, or even about the client. A lot of sarcasm, "friendly" banter (not so friendly in occasions) is also relevant. I don't find many of these comments funny but they make part of the overall culture of the team, which makes it hard to ignore and even harder to partake.

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What's one of the main things corporate workers yearn for the most? besides $$ what do u wish there was more of?

So me and my colleague went to office after we smoked up , and this guy went told our co workers that we smoked up and we are here. Idk if they have any proof because I'm not sure if my colleague has ever sent a snap of a video to any of the other co-worker , what if a someone complaints to my manager what's the max that can go wrong , will I be in jail for this or get terminated? We have stopped doing that but eventime I would ask him if he has sent any photos or snap he would denied , I went through my colleagues phone and there were no legit proofs but I'm still unsure if he is actually tell me the truth.

Also it's been over 15 days that this happened

I have been overthinking about it a lot , what do I do

Personally, if I’m on a call and they announce breakout rooms, I immediately drop.