Hacker News Reader

Comment by AnIdiotOnTheNet | Hacker News Reader

Oh my yes.

To be fair, it isn't the job's fault. My manager is very reasonable, the company's policies are pretty reasonable, I get decent benefits (but definitely not great). My commute sucks, but it isn't ridiculous by the completely ridiculous standards of the US.

I think I've just reached a point in my life where I can't stand working in technology any more. I've been looking at job ads in IT for a while now and every single one of them fills me with dread. Sadly I have no other marketable skills. I'm starting to think the only way out is to quit and just live life how I want until my savings run out and then just kill myself.

View on HN

> I've been looking at job ads in IT for a while now and every single one of them fills me with dread.

Same here, except the occasional one that looks moderately bearable that I’d never in my life qualify for.

I tend to filter my searches to my criteria do I dont see many interesting jobs that I would be unqualified for (my location, my level or one up, etc)

I'm planning on checking out early as well, I'm smoking half a pack a day now. By freak chance, I got fired the day before the U.S. first locked down, and waited a month so, figuring there would be a covid box to check for unemployment. It's been a wild year for me, riding the wave of the absurd, things keep coming my way. I don't hate myself anymore.

I hope you won’t take your own life. If you’re genuinely thinking about this, please find a therapist to talk to. There are lots of reasons you might feel this way, and there are many ways to treat it.

"I've been looking at job ads in IT for a while now and every single one of them fills me with dread."

I feel the same.

"Sadly I have no other marketable skills. I'm starting to think the only way out is to quit and just live life how I want until my savings run out and then just kill myself."

Maybe try unskilled work instead of killing yourself. Maybe try a very frugal/primitive lifestyle that will make your saving last until natural death.

> the only way out is to quit and just live life how I want

Could you expand on how you want to live your life? I am curious. Sometimes, it's possible to get closer to the life you want to live without being so drastic as that.

I really just want my time back. My commute is too long, my workday is too long. There are a limited number of "things I want to do" that I can squeeze into the time I'm left with after the "things I have to do" that aren't work are done. As I said, I've been looking for alternative work so I can have more time and it is dreadful and depressing. If you know something I can make an even remotely livable amount doing for less than 50hrs a week commitment (including commute) and provides some level of healthcare such that I won't starve to death if I break a leg, then let me fucking know.

Get a job at Walmart part time, go on Medicaid and SNAP. You can break a leg and not starve.

My guess is the standard of living you want is higher than the job you have can provide on 40 hr per week. Managing lifestyle is the most controllable part of the equation

Looks like a low-level Walmart employee makes maybe as much as $12/hr in my area. Let's say I work 25hrs a week and never take any time off, so that's $1300/mo before taxes. Average apartment rent in my area is $1341/mo according to RentCafe, but 30% of rents are below that so lets say I go with one that's only $700/mo, leaving me $500/mo. That's for food, utilities, and oh yeah, the taxes I didn't take out at the beginning of this calculation.

So yes, I could theoretically just barely scrape by until some unforeseen incident leads to job loss, then I'm fucked.

> My guess is the standard of living you want is higher than the job you have can provide on 40 hr per week. Managing lifestyle is the most controllable part of the equation

I'd like to maintain a standard of living not too much below what I have. My salary easily covers my lifestyle even with savings, Roth IRA, 401k, and mortgage. I could probably maintain my current lifestyle on less than half of my salary if only it were in any way possible to simply get half the money for half the time. Sadly the world doesn't work like that.

But your point is taken that I really shouldn't have said "even remotely livable".

I agree. I think my only issue was with the starving from a broken leg and liveable amount stuff. Companies are always trying to squeeze more hours or extra responsibility out of workers.

Have you considered becoming a truck driver? That's precisely what I would do if I left tech.

I hate driving and am not very good at it regardless.

Perhaps you could become a farmer on WWOOF and travel around the world.

Maybe work retail in a domain you are knowledgeable in? I loved being able to help people with their projects when I worked at Lowe's. The pay did suck though.

That seems like an industry at high risk of automation though. Looks like the conversion to self-driving trucks might get started as early as 2024[1].

[1]: https://cheddar.com/media/trucks-to-be-self-driving-by-says-...

Probably another decade until it makes a real impact though. There will be a gental ramp up as part of the testing and transition. It won't be until the courts have ironed out the legal aspects that it will be in full scale adoption, which will take years.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com