When I first started thinking about this article, things were good. Businesses were doing well, the stock market was happy, and employees were experiencing the diminishing necessity of spending hours commuting to work. Remote work had become a reality and, with it, the need to work themselves to death evaporated. For companies that did not keep up with their employees鈥� discovery that there truly is such a thing as work-life balance, that rest isn鈥檛 earned but necessary, that micromanagement is dead – long live productivity – well, those companies lost their employees to competitors who treat people better.
And then, to oversimplify, employers started forcing employees so , COVID was still globally surging in waves (yes, it still is), and there was that little tiff in Europe where Russia invaded Ukraine (and, with it, many countries enacted sanctions against Russia). With all that and more, economies across the world began to falter. Now we鈥檙e teetering on the brink of a recession (at the time of this writing, that is; the needle may have moved by publishing time).
So what鈥檚 different now than during the height of the Great Resignation? How do you know if it鈥檚 time to find something better? How do you find what you want rather than 鈥渏ust another鈥� sysadmin job?
How Does A Recession Impact Me?
Let鈥檚 address the most pertinent question first: you may well be wondering how a recession impacts you. I am not here to give financial advice鈥ou should have a financial advisor for that. From a work perspective, I can say that many companies are engaging in freezes or layoffs. Both are scary propositions, of course. If is your jam, you can track layoffs at major companies over at . It may be time to leave your current job. But it might make sense to stick with it while the economy shakes out鈥f the job is still good and your mental health isn鈥檛 being adversely impacted by the company.
Most importantly, if you鈥檙e stuck in an untenable situation, I strongly recommend seeking out a mental health professional to deal with the stress that comes with this turn of events. Y鈥檃ll, there is a LOT happening in the world right now. Take care of yourselves.
Stuck?
I see a lot of stress in the IT community. It seems like folks are stuck. Or maybe they鈥檙e participating in 鈥渕y users are worse than your users鈥�; enjoying the angst that comes with being in IT (some folks thrive on pressure, amirite?). The toughest part about the angst is controlling the frustration and anger.
A lot of the stress and anger are seen in the complaints about employers, bosses, and users. Users yell about terrible IT support. Bosses demand more from us IT folx. Employers don鈥檛 compensate as if their employees are valued (free pizza, free snacks, and beer don鈥檛 pay the rent; also, these things keep us tethered to the desk, not the company). And IT support feels this way about users (if this is how you feel on a daily basis, you may be stuck in a bad job or a bad company):
Ohmigosh peepuhl – we have got to treat each other better, k?
With all this pressure to do more with less and for less, it is no wonder that people are leaving their jobs in droves. We鈥檝e had a lot of time to work from home, where we don鈥檛 have to worry about the formalities or restrictions of office life. Given the right employer, WFH/WFA has shown us that employees are more productive, more satisfied with their work, and happier than working from the office.
Ask For What You Need
Still, even with WFA, too many of us IT Admins are unhappy with work. I say 鈥渦s鈥� because, at my core, I am still an IT Admin. During the last 4 years of my time as a sysadmin/consultant/MSP, I was unhappy; grossly and depressingly unhappy.
Yes, there were a couple of clients who loved me, who I enjoyed hanging around. But for the most part, the work itself became drudgery; a day-in-day-out-answer-the-same-question-20-times type of drudgery combined with way too many instances of 鈥渨hy did that cost $x when you only spent YY time鈥�. So much so that I found myself staving off situational depression, biting off peoples鈥� heads for ridiculously non-important transgressions, and taking out my unhappiness on those closest to me. Yeesh, I was a hot mess.
Looking for a job was no better. I submitted a lot of resumes online but never could get past the ATS. With a resume as full as mine, it was easy to see that I was 鈥渙verqualified鈥� (read: too old) for any of the jobs I was applying for.
The most valuable thing I did was continue to build and . Within that network, I asked for what I needed. I sent it out 鈥渢o the universe鈥� that I really needed to be done with day-to-day IT work. And 鈥渢he universe鈥� heard me. A great opportunity was offered to me and, well, I am happy.
I鈥檓 out of Admin work, but I am always connected to the community. I mean, seriously, I will always be @alwaysdns. Some IT will never leave me. I still enjoy geeking out now and again but today I feel more balanced, less stressed. I guess what I鈥檓 trying to say is that if you鈥檙e unhappy with the work you鈥檙e doing, you can change jobs. Or, you can change careers to something you will find more satisfying, more in line with the kind of life you want to live.
Waiting For The Right Job
While many companies are laying off staff during this economic crisis, IT Admins are still in demand and companies are still searching for good IT Admins with good work ethic. And in spite of there being layoffs, the jobs numbers are still good. Payrolls have increased and unemployment is holding steady according to the latest job reports. We鈥檒l have to watch carefully over the summer to see how the numbers go if we do experience a recession.
Employers are finally seeing that real pay and real benefits are what we want – a coffee bar, unlimited snacks, and a gym membership isn鈥檛 going to make up for garbage pay. After-hours bar hangouts aren鈥檛 what employees want – they want to go home to their families, knowing that they鈥檝e been fairly compensated for their work. Employees want to be NOT working during non-work hours. They want WFA (because nobody enjoys commuting). They want reasonable PTO, covered health insurance, a 401k, and parental leave. And employees don鈥檛 want to shill for their company on social media if that鈥檚 not part of their job description.
The cool thing is, all of that is becoming increasingly possible. Companies have been shown their options and the Great Resignation showed the world that there is a shift to employees demanding respect, appreciation, and proper compensation for their work. The ball is in the employee鈥檚 court and it鈥檚 up to employers to retain them. The tables are turning.
Job applicants are interviewing companies as much as companies are interviewing applicants. Worker bees are done settling; done begging for a job. Folks understand their own value to a company and are demanding to be taken seriously.
This shift is represented in this displaying 350+ professionals’ top reason they did not pursue a recent job opportunity:
Are you declining job offers? Have you taken extended time off to shake out the cobwebs? Is your company forcing you back to the office? Have you recently been laid off? Have you voluntarily resigned? Are you looking for or have you recently taken a new position? Share your best advice for overworked, overstressed colleagues in the
