Dude its amazing a lot of us are feeling the same thing in a similar timeframe. Got let go in December of last year. Severance will run out in two months. But ive learned just how much we’re just like animals who need to be able to eat, nap, be outside, and work for ourselves and our survival needs. But somehow the world got psychotic to allow jobs that add no real value to nature. Somehow were all doing jobs we hate when we could just farm, hunt, chill and sleep in nature.

I know its not a romanticized utopia in a simpler life but at least when you work in a society like that it’s actually worth something.

It's coming for me too soon and I'm not financially prepared, but at the same time it will be a relief. This job is eating me alive.

Corporations are like casinos: The house always wins. The absolute best they can be is morally neutral.

Companies that aren't publicly traded are a total gamble: could be great to work for, could be worse than a corporation. Can change rapidly.

Best chances are probably with a union or non-profit, though I've heard the occasional horror story about non-profits so they may be like private companies, but I also imagine they attract more decent people. Might be similar for state jobs but probably depends on the state too.

Sorry you’re going through that. I’m ~ a decade into a civil engineering career (more water and ecosystem restoration), and so much of the early career is spent eating shit. I’ve never been good at that so I’ve bounced around a bit, and am now at a place that seems different culturally (median age is <35; claims to be employee owned and flat hierarchy), but time will tell.

I’ve kind of always hated engineering but it retains me somehow - I guess building and fixing stuff is fun if it’s not too clearly tied to a corporate death drive. But it’s all funded by some tainted bullshit at the end of the day (war industry, transportation industry, land development industry, ag industry, etc) and there’s a dearth of anything resembling ethics since one’s success seems to be correlated to a lack thereof. Idk at this point I’m just trying to shoehorn theory into training junior engineers so a) they’re less miserable than I was in their position b) they’ll be less cucked than their counterparts c) they’ll realize what leverage is possible with collective organizing d) they’ll realize how to apply their own skills with others to build a better future

But yeah. Shit sucks. Chin up, and good on you for not sacrificing yourself for the sake of a job. A better future is out there

I had a high school maths teacher that started teaching the same year I started high school. He seemed... bad at explaining maths in a digestable way and also not the best at handling kids, so we wondered why he was even a teacher. A year or so in, I overheard a different teacher talking to him once joke "oh, if [other maths teacher] gives you crap for the way you teach again, start displaying your PhD at your desk in the office".

Now, even then, I knew that a man with a PhD in maths teaching at a public high school was completely ridiculous. Turns out he used to be an actuary in the corporate world, and gave that up after it basically destroyed him. Getting that six figure job out a huge strain on his marriage, social life and mental health, apparently way worse than doing a doctorate and actuary accreditation exams. He had a nervous breakdown at work a few years in, quit his job and he and his wife moved to a small city/large town to start fresh.

The stress of teaching teenagers in a public school isn't insignificant, but it was exponentially better than what he was doing before. Human lives are numbers on a spreadsheet, which is soul crushing by itself, and then the culture on top of that was just too much.

Now, this man was in fact dogshit at teaching maths to teenagers (apparently being in the top percentage of maths geniuses in the country doesn't automatically make you good at explaining maths), but that's a different story.

Congratulations and I'm sorry and if you're in amriKKKa file for Unemployment immediately because you only have a limited window of time to get paid unemployment and that money rightfully belongs to you

The amount of productivity and efficiency ruined by corporate culture is wild.

No wonder 99% of companies make absolute dogshit products and services, they waste all that time and talent on weird social posturing. Fire the one guy who can do his fucking job and keep the fart sniffers who act like they're still in some highschool clique. It's embarrassing and costing everyone tons in wasted potential. Giving power to the most worthless scumbags whose only talent is sabotaging each other. Good luck getting that horse to finish a race when it's legs are tripping each other.

There's still chances to do some good, especially in civil. I'm on the Electrical/MEP side and I'm often tired of being around the elitist conservative personalities that are attracted to engineering. Hopefully you can land a spot in a public sector role where you're less likely to be a whim to some profit seeker. I highly recommend sticking in the field enough years to get a PE license before bailing. The license will be worth the effort.

Hey - rough go. Engineering (esp. civil) can be extremely toxic, especially for juniors. I got to spend my first 6-12 months (EE) being sent out doing field service with a man I viscerally wanted to kill. He was such a piece of shit (oddly enough, flat out great at the job), I'd need like a full 24 hr to decompress and not be a fucking asshole to everyone I saw, after a week with the guy. It was fucking horrible.

I know a talented, respected, and DOPE civil engineer, have known her well for...20 years?

She works and lives in Canada, but started in the US. Primarily into bridges lol, but has transitioned to work in somewhat more remote areas on various things (e.g. Canadian Rockies).

Take a breather. I bet that was fucking awful and I'm glad you got out of it.

I've seen you around here enough, though, that I'd 100% be game to put y'all in touch and do what I can to streamline anything whatsoever for ya. DM me if ya wanna take that option at some point, it's open and at your leisure.

You seem already clear on this, but it wasn't you. If you can stick with engineering for a bit and get good at it despite all that, it gets better, because you get legitimately valuable to companies and get to dictate more of your own requirements (a little). But nothing is worth crossing that invisible line, whatever and wherever it may be for each of us.

You did well. Cheers.

Tuesday is my last day at my current gig. I have nothing lined up after. I'm leaving in really good terms and with plenty of notice. Still, I am really looking forward to it.

That feeling when your shit is in the box and you drive away from a place for the last time... That's such a good feeling

congrats i guess. i went through something similar last year, except instead of being fired i voluntarily quit before they fired me after finding out i actually wasn't doing the work due to burnout, so i'd at least have references. part of that was because they were bigoted as shit, and while they weren't like hostile or anything, it was clear they more deeply scrutinized anyone who wasn't male, cishet, conservative, and white (or at least "culturally" white, idk how to explain). so i get what you mean about being driven nuts about feeling like you constantly have to gauge their feeling and such.

I got laid off quite unceremoniously a while back. It was very odd, but I was to the point where I was weighing how much longer I really needed to work there. So it's been sort of a relief to not be there anymore. I'm going to have to find another way to get money, but I no longer feel compelled to maintain a connection to that toxic situation. Good luck and take a breath of humanity if you can before forcing yourself back into another labor relation.

You can go pick up the check.

https://youtu.be/5zz1Cfnh5Zw