I can tell you what would have happened to me if I didn't quit my 25 year career with National Semiconductor 20 years ago.
I would have slaved over product analysis issues, new product introduction when the product is already behind schedule as it was dumped in my lap, bullshit meetings, excellent reviews with shitty raises, stressful and challenging late nights with 60hr workweeks, concern and worry about the next layoff for 3 more years. My old engineering group did get laid off about 3 years after I left. I most likely would have been among them, other decent internal jobs were very scarce. Those ex-coworkers have spent the last 15+ years commuting 1.75hrs-2hrs each way to companies in Massachusetts for similar work/pay.
I was desperate for a way out, I saw what was coming and created a solution that could carry me through my end days. My future "career" was bright and my future there was not.
I definitely made the right choice.
Yes. I understand that completely, I was looking to leave a job like that as well.
True, I'm probably preaching to the chior. Most everyone in corporate bleeding edge tech was looking for a lucrative way out back in those days. That probably hasn't changed at all. I thank my lucky stars that I pulled it off, didn't go weak kneed and stay for 3 more years. I could be commuting to MA or working at Home Depot.
I stayed at a place far too long and predicted a mass quitting event was on the horizon and looked for a way out. They were moving toward "making the company employee owned", you would have more ownership depending on how long you had been there.
Then they split every product off into their own companies so you would only have ownership in the "original" company that was not worth a fucking dime to anyone. Don't kill yourself working for someone because you "might" get a payout and pay attention to what they are doing behind closed doors. I made sure everyone else knew what was going on too.
The boss was an abusive piece of shit but I and mostly everyone else put up with it because it paid better than what you could get in most of the town I was in.
I finally had enough and said fuck it. Ill go back to part time work and have 2 jobs rather than deal with this shit until I can find something else and get an out. (This was also senior level tech work, not moving boxes around a warehouse).
That boss ranted to the entire office the day after I quit that if they could find a way to ruin me and make me unemployable in town they would do it in a heartbeat. Too bad every place I worked with in town and everyone that knew me hated that boss/company and a lot of their business disappeared after me and several other people quit over ~3 months.
I will never put up with bullshit like that again. You want to try to rip my head off and yell at me for doing my job that you have no fucking clue about and put me down in front of my coworkers? You can find a new employee effective immediately. Ill figure shit out for myself but you can fuck off.
I might sound bitter still and maybe to a very small amount I am. Mostly because I let myself stay there so long. Otherwise, I have moved on. Things have been better. Still. Fuck that place and that POS boss.
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