I just had my 10 year review for the company I work for yesterday. My actual anniversary isn’t until the 12th or 21st.
After leaving the review I was feeling kinda good about it This is the longest I’ve ever stayed at one company. They treat me well enough to not have a reason to leave plus longevity is a statistical rarity in my industry.
And then out of nowhere it hit me that half my career and almost half my adult life (I’m currently 42) has been spent at this company and for no reason my thoughts just started spiraling.
What’s the point? Was it right to stay this long? Ect.
To be fair I’ve been fighting burnout with the industry for a few years I’ve been working really hard on excepting that this is my life and trying to make peace with it.
I think another thing going through my mind is that last weekend we had a coworker pass away. He was beloved by all and a long time employee (somewhere around 25-30 years). If you looked up professional trucker in the dictionary his picture would be there. When I was at the shop yes everyone was sad and mopey about it but, it was also business as usual at the same time. His passing was just another hurdle in the daily complications of trucking.
Idk where I was going with this but thanks for reading anyway
22 comments
Here’s an original copy of /u/Living-Ad5291’s post (if available):
I just had my 10 year review for the company I work for yesterday. My actual anniversary isn’t until the 12th or 21st.
After leaving the review I was feeling kinda good about it This is the longest I’ve ever stayed at one company. They treat me well enough to not have a reason to leave plus longevity is a statistical rarity in my industry.
And then out of nowhere it hit me that half my career and almost half my adult life (I’m currently 42) has been spent at this company and for no reason my thoughts just started spiraling.
What’s the point? Was it right to stay this long? Ect.
To be fair I’ve been fighting burnout with the industry for a few years I’ve been working really hard on excepting that this is my life and trying to make peace with it.
I think another thing going through my mind is that last weekend we had a coworker pass away. He was beloved by all and a long time employee (somewhere around 25-30 years). If you looked up professional trucker in the dictionary his picture would be there. When I was at the shop yes everyone was sad and mopey about it but, it was also business as usual at the same time. His passing was just another hurdle in the daily complications of trucking.
Idk where I was going with this but thanks for reading anyway
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Have you thought of looking for other opportunities?
Staying for that long at that age group is near impossible. Good work in finding a great company!!
Sup man. I’m mid level career guy so and have hopped around a few so nowhere near close to 10 years anywhere but I used to work corporate and would get emails when someone passed away at the company. Not sure if it was literally at work or just off the clock but it was pretty depressing to know their passing was reduced to a mass email almost as a fixture for the monotony and pointlessness of our lives. Whether it’s right or wrong is up to you and where your money goes, but I think it’s funny how we “work” our lives away with all these unanswered questions and unmet desires only to be ripped from reality one day. There’s people now living their fullest every day unconfined by their job, but I’d say most are like us where we question every moment and whether it’s how we should be living right now. As Marcus Aurelius would say, we must work. I think it’s important to prioritize life though too. So in short yes I’m depressed lol.
If it helps, and I’m not saying you’re wrong. But marking an unemployment anniversary is sadder.
Nothing wrong or right with a decade somewhere. Make the most of what and where you are. You’ll be some places a minute or decades. You have to have a job, at least that one sounds stable and pretty happy.
Measuring yourself by uncontrollable factors will always have you come up short. If you want to be remembered find and do something so positively profound people will have to remember you. Know any companies from 1650? Nope. So understand your job enables you to do the things you want and connect with who you want. If that’s not enough start a search for something new, just don’t quit till you find it.
Congrats on a decade, it is a huge chunk of time to focus on anything personally or professionally. Don’t feel obligated to stay if you decide 40 year old you doesn’t enjoy what 30 year old you did. That doesn’t change 30 year old success and measurement of happy. It just means today’s a new day.
10 years at a job is a perfect time to find another job. Established in your field, demonstrated stability, and you have the perfect truthful answer for “why did you leave your last job?”, “because I spent ten years there and felt I needed a new opportunity if I was going to keep growing and interest in my chosen field of expertise”
One big reason I have always, well mostly always, have worked for myself all of my adult life is, I grew up in a lower middle class household with only one working parent. My father was a local truck driver. He didn’t make much and was with the same company for almost 30 years. When he retired, you know what they gave him? $600 and a nice little clock. That broke my heart. My father passed more than 20 years ago but we still have the clock
I felt the same way after my 10 years. But like I’ve been at the company since 25.
And it was just like, damn, I’ve known these guys for longer than my wife, and I don’t even *like* some of them.
Like, in total, we probably spend more time with our coworker than our families and friends right? It’s just so weird. And when we get home we’re just tired. Most of the time we spend with our families is spent in a tired state.
But yeah, I guess that’s just how it is.
13 years in September.
Years 1 to 3: good, building experience.
Years 3 to 7: absolute dogshit. Terrible boss. Trying to apply for any other permanent job in my field, realizing I didn’t have enough experience.
Year 7: out of the blue, boss leaves. Promotion.
Year 7 to 11: good, building experience.
Year 11 to 13: shit. Taken advantage of. Too much work. Too little pay. Not enough experience to get a job with the same pay elsewhere.
Working FIFO in oil and gas in the Australian desert I wasn’t keeping track. One day the manager walked in and presented me with a 10 year pen and made a speech. I took my 10 year long service leave and left (happily) soon after
Not particularly.
I’m sure that if I passed away that my coworkers would be upset but that the business would go on, kind of like you described. At the same time, though, I recognize that work is just one part of my life with a very specific purpose. It’s there to provide me with money, and it also gives me some structure and fulfillment along the way.
My life outside work is what really matters and I’d be much more concerned if my friends and family just carried on like business as usual after my passing.
I’m 38 and I’m having my 19 year work anniversary this year. It’s abnormal, but nothing to spiral over. But to be fair, I’m not stagnant and I’ve held about a dozen different positions in my company, and aren’t stopping anytime soon. I’ve also stayed because of the job security and benefits. Golden handcuffs, so to speak.
My dad has had the same office for 30 years now. However, he has been in the same building since 1994 which has now been 4 different companies.
My brother was with a company for 15 years before he moved to the next. There are teachers who stay at one school for their whole career. A job is a job and the grass isn’t necessarily greener elsewhere. I think if you do leave at some point, it will be well respected how long and dedicated you were to this company. Man, feel great about that! If you’re still enjoying yourself and your time there, why leave? You could be risking so much, unless you knew you were walking into something much better for yourself.
However, I definitely understand where you are coming from though. There’s a feeling of why you never ventured out and what not, and maybe some “what could have been” questions. But, the next job will present itself when it’s time and you are ready.
I’m 47 and the longest I ever stayed in one job was 11 1/2 years; shortest was 2 1/2. My father spent 40 years at the same company (graduation to retirement); I was on job #2 before having kids. I’m a year into job #5 now.
The only positive thing a work anniversary really ever really meant to me was getting a little more vacation time. But my current job has unlimited PTO (and means it), and my previous one started me with 4 weeks and then converted to unlimited.
That 10 year mark…meh. They told me to go to a photographer of my choosing (they were paying) to get a nice headshot so they could make a plaque with my ugly mug on it and some platitudes about dedication or whatever. Why do I want a photo of myself to hang on my own wall? There might have been a formal presentation of it or recognition at the holiday party or something, I honestly don’t recall (then again, it was over 10 years ago at this point).
If you’re burning out in the industry, you shouldn’t accept that “this is your life”. Feeling burned out for the next 20 years is not healthy. Maybe it’s time to try something new to get you feeling better.
I could have written this myself. Just hit 10yr and similar age as you.
I am 39, and this June I will complete my 10th year at the same company. Last year, boss and his partners decided to merge their businesses with huge new investment, so we went from a small, few people company to one with more than 200 employees.
Last week, a new HR gave me flowers to congratulate me for my *very first* year at the company… I was like, fck that…
When i was 29, i thought it was too late to start over and get in new fields, because everywhere already were occupied with younger trainees or juniors. Now at 39 i am think, i was very wrong and stupid at that time.
I just left a career after 22 years. I’m starting in a lateral field but completely new skill sets. It’s exciting at times, but also very nerve racking. I think I have a post on here somewhere attesting to my issues. Please ensure you’re artless making yourself and your family your priority in life and not work and good luck.
I’m same age. I’ve done 6 years with 2 different companies and shorter 1-3 year stints with others.
My 2 cents is I stayed too long in those 2 companies: both under paid me and we’re actually a bit toxic. BUT: if that’s not the case then there’s nothing wrong staying. Starting in a new company takes work and effort and stress. It may be better, or it may be far, far worse. I left my first 6+ year company and joined a place that was a clusterfuck. Left that place after a year. The next time I ended a long term employment I went to an awesome place – only reason I left them is because I started my own businesses: they are my biggest client to this day.
Trucking is TOUGH! My parents who separated before I was born randomly ended up in the trucking industry 20+ years later at different ends of the country. Dad was a Owner-Operator after he did his contractual obligation of the year with Schneider trucking, and then my mom ended up working in the office for a company based in northeastern Oklahoma that has a blue fleet and the name starts w/an ‘M’.
My dad got wealthy off of it and never saw me or my siblings and retired early to Central America to live the classic expat beach existence and sell real estate and my mom is doing better then she ever has before but is almost 70 and a retirement date for her is probably not in the cards.
If you’re a long-haul OTR guy with no strong family back at home I would assume that’s the safest route for a certain ‘loner’ type mindset but if you crave a classic day to day family then at your age I would go hard on the miles for the next year and live like you have a $100 a week to survive on and get out w/a hefty savings account and start another business at whatever home base you want to locate at to pursue a different lifestyle.
Just know that a large portion of this country knows you guys are the literal backbone of what keeps this country running and you’re appreciated.
I just had my 26th anniversary with my company. They gave me a pin. It was for my 25th but it got out too late
I’m closing in on 20. It’s been a nice place to leave behind at 5pm sharp and I didn’t have to worry about healthcare.
Could’ve been better, could’ve been much, *much* worse.
I’m 36 and this fall will be 20yrs at the same company. Lots of growth / advancement opportunity through out the years.
Social media skews perception of the real world for the average person. I personally don’t understand the glamorization of job hopping.
If you are being mistreated or truly hate it, sure go ahead and leave but leaving for the sake of not growing roots seems odd.
I’m proud of my progression over the years. I’m looking forward to hitting 20 years.