“I was looking for a job, and then I found a job, and heaven knows I’m miserable now.” These relatable lyrics from The Smiths came to mind while I read this man’s rant after he worked in tech for a few months.

It’s a sentiment a lot of people share but feel bad talking about, because you should be glad you have a job. Right?

But what happens when you want a job, you get it, and then it’s not what you expected?

In this case, he’s considering quitting the whole field of tech altogether. This is how discouraged he is.

Do you think he should quit and go after a big life change?

Read the full rant below.

I think I’d rather be poor than work in tech anymore

Sounds dumb, I know; the me from a year ago would have smacked me upside the head for thinking of anything but getting a job.

It’s been barely 8 ​months into my first full time job now, and I hate it.

I work in big tech (not the usual suspects), specifically in cutting edge​ AI data center​ tech.

The pay is very comfortable, and the work itself is intellectually stimulating, but it’s also super hard and intense, it’s often long hours, even 60-hour weeks.

He doesn’t feel good working there anymore because of one thing.

But most importantly, it’s what it is in service of that is making me rethink all ​my​ life decisions​. Not the tech itself, but the capitalist trend of using it as an excuse to profit.

I’m also starting to think I don’t want to work at all. I feel sad that I’m​ jaded and tired of it all ​so early in my adult life.

I went into tech as I was passionate about computers, but now I’m unsure of everything and doubting myself.

I’ve lost a lot of my passion for the field.

I took this job as it was the only offer I had at the time and I was in a hard place, but I don’t think other companies are much better in tech.

It’s about his values now.

The lack of ethics and morality of it all have a big part to play, especially in this current AI data center​ race, but also all the workplace stuff in general just numbs me to the bone: meetings, reports, data, managing expectations, managing up, blah blah blah.

Everyday I wake up and have to force myself​ not to ​think about it​.

It’s not fun or fulfilling.

Yes it pays great, yes I should be grateful for such an opportunity right out of grad school, yes it’s a blessed life I lead​ compared to the average human or even the average first-world citizen.

Yes I know people would kill to be in my spot, but it’s just so draining and mostly pointless, and I despise the whole trend towards devaluation of human labor​.

All my colleagues seem to be soulless sycophants who embrace the use of AI without regard for the long term consequences or the ethics of this technology and its effects on the labor market or the wastefulness of it all.

But then again that seems to be a trend in the tech industry in general.

He feels shocked because of a particular aspect of the situation.

Most close their eyes to the consequences of their work, or are indifferent to it, or even come up with ruthless justifications that echo top-level management drivel on efficiency and whatnot.

What baffles me the most is that these are smart people, people who work on this tech themselves, so they know what’s real and what’s fake, and yet they all just lie down and roll over in the face of slavish workplace culture.

The ones who do want to speak up are easily identified, I’m naturally ​drawn to them​: they’ve grown​ ​jaded, try to shoot down bad ​ideas as much as they can and generally are checked out at work​, waiting to retire.

He sees things like an observer.

Resembles ​society, of course; those of us who care enough throw up our hands in resignation ​when​ efforts to guide people down the right path are in vain, and we simply wait for it all to come crashing down.

After talking to a lot of people, seeing a lot of online discussion past and present, it seems this is the norm just about everywhere in tech.

So​ I just ​don’t want to work in tech anymore, and increasingly, to work at all. I just want to not enable abhorrent work and just live how I want to.

I was never in this for the money.

He has one privilege a lot of people don’t have.

I’m very blessed in that I have a great loving supportive family, and they have always supported me financially.

In fact if I didn’t have that safety net, I think I’d grow more miserable as I would feel trapped. So I’m thinking of quitting soon.

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Not right away, maybe even not this year, but I don’t want to waste what short time I have on this planet in service of something I disagree with.

I don’t think I’d be good at other livelihoods, and I do know that there’s things like non-profits or public sector areas that are always in dearth of tech professionals, so if I’m gonna work I’m gonna aim to work for a good cause.

Rant over.

What did Reddit think?

Someone shares an experience.

A reader shares their thoughts.

Someone shares their POV.

Another reader chimes in.

Something to consider.

He sounds aimless, to be honest. Just because you have a job, it doesn’t mean it has to be your whole life. Also, he fundamentally disagrees with the whole thing, so this is making him miserable, and it’s understandable why. Doing something you disagree with can feel like a prison.

Should he quit tech or pivot?

This question only he can really answer for himself.