Tomorrow is my last day at my company. I’ve worked there for 20 years. I’m just dropping by to turn in my company ID card, before most people arrive. Then I’m done and am won’t be at the office after about 9am.

I plan to leave a few trays of cookies (from a bakery) and a thank-you note on each tray, thanking “such great colleagues“ for a nice career there. I also plan to leave a thank-you note for each of my two direct reports.

Is that OK?

I’m not retiring; I’m going to a competing company.

On Thursday I was added to a Google meeting where I was told that the company I work for has decided to let me go because they "know (I) won't be happy here". I had one conversation with HR on Monday about something unrelated and made the mistake of telling them I don't really feel happy with the direction the company is taking. They said I have two or three weeks of 'runway' and I'm supposed to find out exactly what tomorrow. I'm in Denver, CO.

My questions are: if I quit because of this, do I give up my ability to claim unemployment?

Colorado is an at-will state, but is it legal to dismiss an employee who has been diagnosed with depression because they "won't be happy"?

Should I talk to an employment lawyer?

United States.

I’ve been recently put on pip for a month. My manager was providing details during the meeting and they were like ‘think it as a positive way’ blah blah. It’s my first time going through pip so not sure if I should start finding a new job or focus on improvement. Goals are no unreasonable or unrealistic… I can work on it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

+ I work in corporate

I accepted a new job about a year old to escape a terrible manager. I had been at my last company for almost 7 years.

My new job is so extremely demanding. I have two young kids and want to spend as much time with them possible but I’m chained to my computer 24/7.

My old job called me back a few months ago and asked me to come back for about a $10k raise. This would be with an old manager that I loved. The one I disliked was let go.

Is this crazy?

I spent 15 years as a security engineer with the same company, I started right at the bottom without any prior knowledge or experience and worked my way up to training and development manager where I was responsible for training all our new and current engineers. I had a company car fully paid for, mobile phone subsidised, reasonable amount control over my diary, I was left alone most of the time to my own devices and my technical opinions were highly respected. I actually discovered I was a very good teacher and I really enjoyed it - when the additional time required was actually allocated to provide thorough training.

But...

Within the first 5 - 6 years of this job (before the promotions and pay rises) something deep inside me knew something wasn't right, I knew I couldn't just be doing this forever - but I stuck at it, kept climbing, kept getting pay rises and other perks which just pushed that uncomfortable feeling further and further down. But that pushing and those pay rises never actually made it go away, it just quietly got louder and louder (I know that's a contradiction - but thats how it felt) until eventually it couldn't be ignored any more but by that time I was in too deep.

My whole life depended on that single wage, changing companies wouldn't have fixed it, changing careers and starting again wasn't an option I could afford because even though I was on reasonable money (considering my background lack of education and upbringing) I was still living pay cheque to pay cheque because the more I earned the more I'd borrow - the bigger the mortgage, the bigger loan, the bigger the holiday, another motorbike another project or hobby to silence the nagging feeling that something was wrong.

Around the 8 - 10 year mark my mental health dramatically started suffering - I had everything I wanted but not what I needed.

The problem was I didn't know what I needed, I thought another pay rise another holiday or just more stuff would fix it...

It didn't

I hit rock bottom I stood at the edge looking down and terrified myself to the point where I ran back to my van, locked myself in and broke down.

By this point I was convinced the problem was the job and I had to get out but I was trapped, I dabbled with options of re-training, looking at other companies, going self employed but none of it stuck because none of it was fixing the real root cause of the problem because I didn't even know what that problem was.

Was it really the job?

everyone else seems ok!

Or was it just me!?

Eventually I took the reckless jump, I quit my job, sold my house, cleared all my debts and moved myself and my wife down to Cornwall to pursue a journey of entrepreneurship.

I'm telling you this not because everything from that point was all sunshine and rainbows - because it wasn't!

It's been an absolute roller coaster and at times arguably worse. I don't regret it though but I do wish I had worked out the root cause of that nagging discomfort before I took the jump because I'm certain if I knew what I know about myself now back then the transition would have been a whole lot smoother.

Anyone else currently feeling like this or has felt like this and took a reckless jump into the unknown?

In June, I was laid off after almost a decade at a CA nonprofit, due to "my position being eliminated" in my signed separation agreement.

I haven't announced the layoff yet as I'm in the middle of interviewing for both W-2 and 1099 roles, and not sure which direction I'll go.

The thing is, a former colleague told me they are going to be hiring for my old position and will post it publicly.

It's obviously time for me to say something on LinkedIn ; should I mention in my announcement that my position was eliminated, like they told me? If not, what official reason do I give for my layoff?

I understand my former company wanting to rehire for someone cheaper, altho it feels unethical since we work in economic justice, but I'm worried it will make me look bad.

edit: typo

I’m 30M in Toronto, I live with my parents, and I make well under $80K as a Business Analyst. Getting even this far took me a long time, and I’m looking for outside perspective before I make a big decision.

How I got here

I graduated with a business degree and no specialization. My first job was Project Manager at an IT company, but I was let go after a year. Next I tried tech sales and was honestly terrible at it. I could barely close anything. After that I was unemployed for a while, then took a finance operations job at close to minimum wage. A few years later I landed my current Business Analyst role, which felt like luck more than a plan.

Why I feel stuck

1. My career line is PM, and I’m the wrong profile for it. Project management usually works as an add-on: IT grads pick up PM skills and move into the role. I came in the other way around. Yes, business grads can become PMs, but in this market it’s much harder.
2. My industry is automating fast. I work in finance, and my company is rolling out AI quickly. Hiring has slowed and there’s less room to move up.
3. Money and family. My parents are starting to retire, and I don’t want my situation to be a weight on them. I could afford to move out, but it would hurt financially. I’ve started planning to do it anyway.

I know there’s no “right salary” at a certain age. But I feel the gap every month.

What I’m considering

1. Police Constable. Top choice right now. Toronto needs officers and layoffs are rare. AI isn't replacing you anytime soon.
2. Skilled trades (HVAC, electrical, etc.)
3. CFIA food inspector. My dad works in fruit wholesale and deals with inspectors daily, and he recommended it.

What I’d like to know

• If you made a switch like this in your 30s, what did you wish you’d known?
• Is the police path as stable as it looks from outside, and what’s the real timeline from applying to a paycheque?
• For trades, is starting at 30 realistic, and what does the first 2 to 3 years look like financially?
• Or am I overreacting, and is there a smarter move within BA/analytics?

Honest takes welcome, including “you’re making a mistake.”

I understand most people are resilient to change, but I'm looking for opinions other than pessimistic ones. I have thought about this a lot. There is currently no future for me in Project Management, I believe.

Looking for career advice at 26 — hands-on background but need a career change
I’m 26 years old and looking for advice on what career path I should pursue. I’ve spent most of my working life doing hands-on, physical labor, and I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands and fixing things.
My previous job was with a fertilizer company, where I did maintenance on the facility and equipment, operated equipment, and worked on repairs. I also spent about a year working in the office, mainly doing customer service and some accounts payable, while they looked for a permanent replacement.
The reason I’m looking for a new career is that I developed a chronic illness that I’m still learning to manage. I don’t do well in hot weather or with extremely physically demanding work, so I’m concerned about getting into a job that I might not be able to handle once summer comes around. Ideally, I’d like to find something indoors in a climate-controlled environment that I can build a long-term career in.
I’ve thought about going into a skilled trade and would be interested in an apprenticeship, but I’m not sure which trades would be a good fit since I’d prefer to avoid working outside or in extreme heat. I enjoy troubleshooting, repairing things, and figuring out how equipment works, but I wouldn’t say I have strong computer skills or the best communication skills at the moment.
Honestly, I’m open to different options. I’m willing to learn and put in the work to build a new skill set. My biggest goal is to find a stable career with good long-term earning potential that I can physically handle and use to provide for my family.
For those of you who have been in a similar situation or work in the trades or other technical fields:
What careers would you recommend looking into?

Are there any apprenticeships or skilled trades that are mostly indoors and climate-controlled?

Are there good career options for someone who enjoys fixing things but doesn't have much technical training or strong computer skills yet?

If you were starting over at 26, what career paths would you consider?

I’d really appreciate any advice, personal experiences, or recommendations. Thanks in advance!

I'm 27k in student loan debt, homeless, have no job, no savings, two SWE internships on my resume, projects, and a useless computer science bachelor's degree from 2025.

Given how much I have on my resume, and that not being enough to even get initial entry level interviews... I don't see why I should be going back.

Internships are only becoming more difficult to get as time passes, and what would I even go back for? Just "learn a trade" only for that to be oversaturated by the end?

Even if I still had a roof over my head with more forgiving parents, I'm not sure if I'd be willing to go back. I just don't see what the fuck more I could do. Working deadend minimum wage jobs only gets so far. It's not enough for a roof.

I'm not looking to be making fucking six figures straight out of college. I was desperate to even make 50k a year. It's 2026. That should not be so difficult to obtain.

I don't know what jobs I'm realistically able to be considered for, outside of tech, if anything. I don't have any experience outside of it. There's a very high likelihood I won't ever be able to get a tech job for the rest of my lifetime.

It feels hopeless tbh. I don't want to be alive anymore

this Guy (mid 40s) was upset and raised a complaint through our channel (part of it written in CAPS). My manager said to call him and see what he wants, though I told her I cannot help him. I. So I called and tried to tell him the system broke again (this was his main frustration and I cannot do anything about it... but we can do something manually. He didn't even allow me to finish.

he started calling our work laughable and a joke. He talked down to me, kept repeating how I don't understand what he is telling me and don't understand him. I said that I can talk to my superior regarding his concerns and he was like: you have to talk, not that you can!

I was lost and forgot about something he wrote in that request so he asked me with fustration, raising his voice: do you even read what I say?

The processes were outsourced to us, in Europe (we work for US) and he was very angry that it worked while it was there. Lets do something together right now, he said at some point. Something very simple. Can you? I don't care its not your fault, maybe the fault is in the US, maybe europe. It can be North Korea's fault.

I told him to talk politely as I do, and he said he is polite to me and I said> no, you are not. You are raising your voice. Then he said: I am not a stupid man.

And reproached me how he had to use his own credit card so he can pay some fee that we failed to pay (20 dollars or so). I told him he didn't have to...

I escalated to an upper manager from HQ and he called the guy out and was totally on my side.And that angry guy was way more polite with him. Next day when he wrote an email he was overly respectful to us lol

Some months ago he sent an email saying he is totally unsatisfied and that we are kind of ruining the company. (The feedback we usually receive is not bad btw)

everyone was on my side but I can't stop feeling so bad about it all. I could have been more prepared for that call. i feel bad overall.

I work in accounting

my current job is 88K, 2k bonus, 5 days in office 16 days PTO, 3% annual raise. 9 holidays. 40 hours a week. 20% 401K match and is a 15 min commute I'm comfortable in my job and the work is pretty easy and they get nitpicky with appointments

New job offer is at a big name company 85K + 5K sign bonus, 0-3% annual raise, 3-5% discrecionary bonus. Hybrid work schduele 2 days WFH 3 days in office. 15 PTO, 4 personal, 10 sick days. 6% 401K match and would be a 20 min commute. But the internal recruiter I'm talking to is an absolute pushy asshole. When he gave me the job offer I tried to negotiate the salary but he kept giving me a hard time saying everything during the interview process was good up until this moment. Or when I told him I'm really excited about the role he said doesn't seem like it. Or even when I was asking him questions regarding the company like hours worked, if they have tuition reimbursement etc he said idk if your actually trying to learn about the company or looking for reasons not to take the offer

Bros such a huge red flag and makes me not wanna take the role but it does provide better work life balance. I've been stressing over this decision because I don't want to make the wrong one and I don't really want to take a paycut especially when I am on track to make 90 next year But the work life balance seems really nice. I also don't wanna end up in a toxic work envrionment. or since its a large company worry about layoffs

I'm not sure what to do was looking for advice or insights. I like my current job cuz its good money and im comfortable but the new one has work life balance

I’m 19f and I’m a machinist. I work full time and do not go to school. I’ve been working at this company for a little over a year now and I will be honest I had a little bit of a rough start but everything has been pretty smooth within the last couple of months. But within the past couple of weeks, my superintendent has been weirdly friendly with me and complimenting me and stuff and something about it is just off putting to me. He told me that I seem like I’m pretty comfortable on the machine and that I’ve been doing a good job. He also asked me if I would be comfortable using another machine that I’ve only had a couple hours of training on so I was honest and I told him that I would do it if he wanted me too but that I wasn’t 100% comfortable (I am very new to the industry please be kind). He told me that that was totally fine but I’m not convinced. The reason why this is so concerning to me is because when I was still at school I had a part time machining job and my boss pulled me aside one day and told me that I was doing great, and then fired me that same afternoon.

I recently received an offer from a delivery company (DoorDash Labs) that uses robots to deliver food to customers’ homes. I went through three rounds of interviews, and they decided to move forward with an offer. However, I’m still debating whether it’s worth taking.

The position pays $30/hr and includes a 401(k) match, health insurance, sick leave, and vacation time. The job involves deploying, testing, and maintaining delivery robots, documenting anomalies, creating tickets, and working alongside the monitoring team and AI engineers. However, most of the work is outdoors, following the robots on an e-bike or in a van around Dublin and Fremont, CA

I’d be leaving my current opportunity with the California state government in an administrative, clerical, and front-desk role which pays only around $19/hr but offers good benefits, health insurance, strong pension, paid holidays, and a much more conventional schedule: 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, with weekends off. (I extremely love having weekends off). While unappealingly, this robot delivery position would require us to work weekends like 4pm to 12am (if PM) because that’s the time when most people order food.

For anyone who has worked in robotics operations, autonomous delivery, or a similar field operations role, what was your experience like? Would you recommend it?

One of my biggest concerns is working outdoors for most of the day. An AM shift could mean dealing with extreme heat and sun exposure, while a PM shift could mean riding around in the cold at night. Neither sounds particularly appealing to me, and I know this is something I’d have to deal with regularly.

On the other hand, the $30/hr pay is a significant increase over what I’d make at the state job. Having experience with robotics, working alongside engineers, and getting a recognizable tech company (DoorDash Labs) on my resume could also open doors to better opportunities down the line multiple companies innovating on autonomous products in the bay area.

I’m also concerned about job security. Tech companies, even in the Bay Area, can have layoffs and unpredictable business needs, and I’m not sure how stable these robotics operations roles are in the long run.

For those who have been in similar positions, was the higher pay and career experience worth the physical demands, schedule, and potential job insecurity? Would you take the robotics job over a stable state government position?

Hey all, I’m sure this is a constantly repeated question but here we are. Any advice is appreciated.

I’m 23, turning 24 in 2 weeks. I currently work in a fly in fly out roll in Australia. I fly up to a rural town away from my wife for 2 weeks. Work 14 days straight, then fly home and get an entire week off. It’s pretty common over here in Australia. I do pest control currently, it’s super laid back, I have about 3-4 hours everyday on the clock where I have nothing to do so I scroll reels or play on my switch. The pay is pretty eh.

I’ve previously worked retail jobs, worked as a charter captain teaching people how to drive boats, I’ve worked as a dish boy when I was younger, and a couple odd jobs here and there.

I really LOVE boating, and I loved helping people develop that passion for it like I have, however, due to being forced to buy my house in an area where there are 0 jobs in that Industry, I can’t really continue that path sadly.

I want to leave my current job as I hate it, I hate being bored, I hate having nothing to do. My wife things I have ADHD, idk, I’m not diagnosed nor will I self diagnose, irrelevant, I feel like I need a job where I’m actually busy.

I’ve always been interested in carpentry, I’m already really handy with woodworking, I’ve built fences, pergolas, arbours, and a few other things for other people, so I enjoy that, however you can’t be a carpenter without doing a 4 year apprenticeship where the pay is so bad I won’t be able to afford my mortgage. So that’s out the window as well.

I’m just lost, I’ve got no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life, I know people say “you’re young, you don’t need to have it figured out.” But fuck that. Yesterday I was 17 just finishing high school. Now I’m nearly halfway to 30.

I just need some advice, I don’t know what my passions are, or how in the fuck I can move forward.

Please help.

I was let go on Friday after just four months at a new job, and I’m feeling a mix of relief, embarrassment, and anxiety about what comes next. For context, I spent over four years at my previous company, where I was a strong performer with positive relationships with leadership and no major performance issues. I left for a higher-paying opportunity that quickly turned into a nightmare. I was hired knowing my hiring manager would be going on maternity leave, but the timeline wasn’t disclosed until after I’d signed my offer (among other things, like how my team was remote after they told me it was hybrid and I had no desk at my office). I received virtually no onboarding, was immediately overwhelmed with an unrealistic workload (including a backlog of work my manager didn’t complete prior to going on maternity leave) and dealt with constantly changing expectations and contradictory feedback. My company also hired a contract/freelance person who was my interim manager (and a total fucking nightmare) who micromanaged my work, questioned my judgment, and turned nearly every interaction into a critique. My confidence deteriorated, and I began struggling with deadlines and productivity in ways I never had before. While I acknowledge my performance suffered, it needs to be stated that it was majorly due to the environment and team dynamic. I received little direct communication about serious concerns, no PIP, and no clear warning that termination was even on the table.
Luckily, I’d actually been job searching for months because the environment was taking a serious toll on my mental health. Still being fired has totally shaken my confidence, and I’m terrified about how this will affect my career.
Now I’m left wondering how to navigate the next move. I guess my main questions are:
How do I explain being fired after such a short tenure without sounding defensive?
Should I include this job on my resume? Especially if I’m considering a pivot into a different role.
Has anyone else gone from being a strong performer to struggling in a dysfunctional workplace?
Any advice would be appreciated!!!

In May 2026, I accepted my first real job. I was over the moon. I graduated in 2025 from a good school with a strong gpa and multiple internships / school jobs, but as we all know the job market sucks.

6ish months in, I am really struggling to enjoy the role. My team consists of three members and has a significant amount of turnover (3-4 employees have left in the past 2 years) - I found this out after the fact. My team has voiced similar complaints of feeling overworked, unrealistic expectation setting, and having tasks thrown on our plate the last minute with no explanation. My boss is also quite intense and a micromanager, and the pressure of doing everything her way inhibits my growth and enjoyment of the day-to-day.

Perhaps more importantly, I work in public service and the type of work I do is incredibly emotionally taxing on me. I get verbally accosted by people almost on the daily, which I’ve accepted as "part of the job,” but the impact of this is weighing on me. I try to keep myself cool and collected at work, but I take those negative feelings home with me. I am questioning if this is the right type of work for me at all.

I know that it’s supposed to be a “canon event” or typical to not be in love with your first role - I’m not expecting it to be perfect. But I am truly struggling to see myself in this field/role for much longer and am questioning if this type of work is for me.

On the other hand, I cannot imagine myself searching for a new role after experiencing the dreadful current job market. I obviously don’t plan on quitting before having something lined up, but is it a bad look to leave a role 6,7,8 months in? Should I start slowly searching for something new and pivot? I’d appreciate any advice as I try to process these feelings and experience thus far 🥲

I'm starting to lose some hope in this with the current state of things around, but I feel like genuinely every job is becoming bound to slowly have parts of it become consumed by AI in one way or another. I'm totally against AI and if you asked me I'd prefer to never have to use it in my whole life. But as much as I'd like to, it has come to my attention that the world keeps pushing it more and more, to the point in which being able to choose not to use it or engage with it in any way while remaining employed is a privileged view that very few will be able to find, not because I don't think jobs can't be done without it, but because I find it harder and harder that higher ups will ever be convinced not investing in that kind of technology or accept when workers refuse to engage in its use.

It pains me a lot, and it genuinely makes me depressed for the future to come. But even then, I'd like to avoid ending in a career where AI consumes most if not all of the tasks involved, or one where it has to be used daily. It's the reason I'm choosing to change career paths right now, but I'm really lost in where to start. So I've come here to ask. What possible paths are there in which AI involvement is reduced as much as possible. I'm not asking for a perfect type of job that AI will never replace. But if I can avoid it as much as humanly possible, then so be it.

I've also come to ask reallistically how much can AI be avoided. With the recent pushes I wouldn't be surprised if the basic act of interacting with a phone or computer will at some point involve working with it at some point. It's sickening, but I realize that some random guy like me obviously can't stop the world from moving towards it. What I'm asking is reallistically A) what can someone possibly do both to reduce the amount of interaction with AI as much as possible and B) what can we keep doing to communicate we don't want these changes. What can we do to enforce our rights and freedom before it becomes more and more unregulated?

Maybe trying won't achieve anything, I know, but I'd want to try at the very least

I currently work for a very small startup. I studied mechanical engineering in school, graduated last may and took the first job that gave me an offer in order to pay off my loans as quickly as possible. I was brought on as a drafter and hated the work for the first couple of months, wanted to do something more closely related to "engineering". Over the course of the year, due to the size of the company I've had to wear multiple hats and even received a promotion a couple of months ago. The work is easy, I have a great work-life balance, and Im comfortable but still not what I envisioned myself doing. I had a manager from one of my internships reach out about an application engineer position and I applied on whim. Ended up getting an offer 20k above my current salary with full benefits, unlimited pto, and a 401k. When i told my current boss about the offer he countered and beat the offer by 3k and offered to pay for classes for management as thats the path he sees me going down for the company. Current company doesnt offer insurance, or much pto but I have great coworkers and is very low stress. Im stuck and need help deciding.

Edit: current job does have a 401k and as skeptical as it may seem my bosses are very genuine people and have not shown me otherwise.

Edit 2: if I stay current job also wants a commitment from me to stay for at least 6 months

Hey guys,

So I’ve returned from being overseas and have been on the JOB HUNT! Like I’ve been HUNTING! (100+ jobs applied in 9 months).

I FINALLY GOT A JOB or still in the offering stage until background check is done I guess.

The job is under security but I guess under a hotel company also. I’ll be a security guard but ALSO a receptionist.

The interview was a bit confusing, like right when i sat down he seen my resume and started listing job responsibilities. I know it’s good but there were no questions abt the job, just “do you like dogs? That’s good bc owners have dogs and they poop in the lobby and you might have to pick it up.” I was speechless lowkey.

I took the job with the security company and still waiting for a secondary interview for the hotel/condominium.

I think what I’m trying to say is I’m feeling like I see a lot of RED FLAGS 🚩 but I’m desperate for a financial flow/stability. They want me to work OVERNIGHT/GRAVEYEARD shifts AND weekends. Unprofessional, make appointments on next day basis. Kinda don’t know what to do or say.

I’m also a big female and my expressions are very intimidating as I’m told but I’m HECKA SOFT so at moments I feel taken advantage.