I recently asked the lovely members of my VA Handbookers Facebook group to share their worst experience of working in a traditional office environment. Although it was many years ago now, I clearly remember how much I hated working in an office, but I was still shocked by the replies. Here are just a few of them.
“I’m overworked, and it’s hard to take annual leave as there’s no office cover. Sunday night sleeplessness, anxiety and stress about the upcoming week. I think the straw that broke the camel’s back is recently being contacted when on bereavement leave wanting to know when I’m returning due to no office cover two days after my Dad passed and having to take holiday for his funeral. It has made me more determined to get out as soon as I can. Life is so precious, and I count the days down to the weekend, wishing time away. It shouldn’t be that way.”
“A toxic manager who told me I was overreacting to his bullying, lack of support, and general misogyny. The commute was pretty horrendous too.”
“My memory is watching the morale go down steadily over the years while expecting more out of workers and not giving enough compensation. The last straw was having my hours reduced at Christmas, having them stay reduced for 3 months (my absolute busiest time of year), and still expecting me to get all the work done in a timely manner – then roasting me on my review because it wasn’t. I knew it would happen again the next year and the year after that. I handed in my notice and 7 years later, here I am.” 🌟
“Toxic environment full of nasty people, underhandedness, backstabbing and no one happy for each other! A totally negative space… I worked in it for 15 years and didn’t realise how bad it was until I was made redundant and felt like 100 tons were lifted from my shoulders. My current job has politics and bitching, too, and I’m just so over it.”
“Bullying and toxic people, but also commuting… traffic, late trains. Having to sit in an office while other people were out living in the fresh air. I’d never go back to working in an office now.”
“The general toxicity of the office environment. I once had a middle manager on such a power trip, and they decided my name had too many syllables and shortened it to one just so they could seem big and powerful. I also had a fee-earner who used me as a scapegoat for every single thing that went wrong, even if it was a delay from the other side. This, along with the commute, shattered my mental health and anxiety. Being made redundant 4 times by the age of 28 didn’t help my confidence.”
“The fight to get school holidays and Christmas off is crazy – so far I’ve not managed to get any. I was even told a few weeks ago I couldn’t attend my child’s nursery graduation because they “didn’t want to work my evening shift”. I also regularly have to cover their shifts, which means I am working 6 days a week despite only being part-time while juggling childcare.”
“The traffic jam, the office drama and toxic coworkers.”
“The office politics and fake small talk at the coffee machine from people who would slag you off behind your back. I also hated the presenteeism and constant fighting to be appreciated. Now I’m self-employed, I’m speaking to people all the time who actively want to work with me and getting more validation than I ever had from 15+ years of climbing the corporate ladder.”
“I worked in HR retail and felt like I sold my soul daily. Poor ethics, and you only got on in the role if your face fit (mine didn’t). Plus, I was bullied by a senior team member.”
“For me, it was when I told a superior I needed to leave early from a teambuilding event to pick my kids up from school, and he responded with “This is the priority”. I left, picked up my kids, and wrote a notice of resignation. Nobody will ever tell me what my priorities are again.”
“The weakness of the company’s culture and dated management style caused me to become so isolated that my mental health deteriorated. This gave me the push to become self-employed. I have gained more confidence, professional enrichment and development in 6 months than I did in 4.5 years there, so it’s not all bad.” 😊
Notice the word “toxic” over and over again.
I don’t know if any of these stories sound familiar, but I can honestly say that every single job I had after leaving school sucked.
It didn’t usually start out like that, though. At first, I was full of excitement and optimism, but after a while, I realised it was all about money and not about people… again.
Plus, I often didn’t get a pay rise for years, some of my coworkers were awful, and most of my managers had no people skills or competence.
Ironically, I was always worried I would be made redundant and not get to live the nightmare anymore.
Unrewarding, underappreciated, unsatisfying, demoralising, overworked and underpaid are words I would use to sum up my experience of traditional employment.
It would be great if office culture changed for the better, but we’re fooling ourselves if we think that’s going to happen soon.
For most people, work is a 40-year slog. Then, at the end, when you’re totally worn out, they give you a small allowance (that you can barely survive on) for giving up the best part of your life to help someone else get rich.
But there is another way.
It’s definitely hard work and tough going at times, but when you run your own business, all of your hard work is for you.
You get to call the shots.
When you work for yourself, you learn more than you could ever imagine, your confidence soars, you discover what you’re capable of, and you feel as if you’re truly living instead of just existing.
The sense of achievement is indescribable.
If this is something you’d like to do, I have loads of resources to help you achieve your dream of freelance freedom.
And, if you would like someone to show you what to do and hold your hand through the entire setup process, I have a course that does just that.
It’s called the DIY VA course, but you’re not actually left to do it yourself.
You complete the lessons alongside your job, so you’re not losing anything. You get to see if you like freelancing, and I hold your hand throughout the entire setup process. You can even pay in instalments.
Well over a thousand people have completed this course – many of whom now run agencies – so I know it’s good.
Whatever you decide to do is up to you, but life really is too short to spend most of it wishing you were doing something else.
If you want something to change, you gotta change it, doll.
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