As you get older, the monotony of life and work can change you in ways you didn’t expect.

So, what would you do if the longer you stayed in the corporate world, the more it felt like a political battlefield instead of a job? Would you force yourself to play the game better? Or would you feel drained trying to stay genuine in an environment that rewards manipulation?

In the following story, one employee reflects on these exact feelings and doesn’t like how things are going. Here’s what he has to say.

The quiet erosion of the corporate world

I’ve always considered myself a smart person. Not gifted, but above average.

I’ve lived on my own since I was 18, studied and worked abroad for over four years, and I’ve usually felt I had a solid grasp of what was going on around me.

Yet the more time I spend in the corporate world, the more lost I feel.

It doesn’t seem to matter that I’ve been working for eight years now. I still find myself surprised, blindsided, and disoriented at work. I genuinely don’t understand how people survive in that environment.

He thinks of the corporate world as a political battlefield.

People become soulless.

From what I’ve seen, it’s the manipulators and narcissists who succeed. The ones who lie, weaponize information, and have no issue backstabbing others to climb the ladder are usually the ones who make it to the top.

The office feels like a political battlefield: deals made behind closed doors, favors exchanged purely out of interest.

If you don’t participate, you’re nobody. And if you refuse to play the game, you become nobody. They squeeze as much out of you as they can, overworking you until you’re completely drained.

The whole thing makes him feel less human.

Being “friendly” (and not genuinely friendly, but that fake, polished, smiling version) will get you further than actually being good at your job.

It feels like a real-life Game of Thrones.

Being part of it makes me feel hollow. I find myself analyzing every interaction, trying to spot the schemes people are pulling, and with that, I grow more distrustful every day.

I feel less human, less genuine. I don’t know how people do this for forty years. I don’t know how they don’t end up as a shell of who they once were.

He could never imagine doing half the stuff he sees people doing.

For me, it’s exhausting. And every single time I uncover a new move (someone screwing someone else over, or maneuvering their way into a promotion), it still shocks me. I never get used to it.

Most of the time, I don’t see it coming. And it’s not because I’m not smart. It’s a lack of imagination. I can’t imagine myself doing those things, so I don’t recognize the signs.

The corporate world we live in is deeply depressing. And not knowing how not to be part of it and still make a living is even more depressing.

Wow! From the sound of it, he may need to find a new career.

Let’s see what advice the fine folks over at Reddit have to offer.

This person seems to feel the same way.

Here’s someone who tried changing careers.

Yet another person who agrees.

For this reader, they found a new hustle and feel better.

He needs a change in his life.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.