I left my tech job due to burnout before all the layoffs started — and now I'm looking for a new role in a hyper-competitive market
- The tech industry is grappling with uncertainty and layoffs — which can be unnerving to jobseekers.
- One of them, who quit her job in August due to burnout, is now looking for work.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a former tech worker who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her career. Insider has verified her identity and employment.
I'll start by saying this: Burnout is real.
I'd been working at a large technology company for about a year-and-½. I loved my job and I was highly dedicated to it.
But around the middle of last year, I hit a wall. I'd sit on the couch with my partner at the end of each workday and not be able to carry on a conversation. I'd get on the phone with my sister, who needed advice from me about her job search, and I didn't have the emotional bandwidth to help. My friends would invite me for drinks, and I'd blow them off. My job loomed so large that I didn't have energy left over for anything else.
So, I asked myself: Is this what I want for my life? I'm nearly 30. Do I really want to give up so much for my job? I decided to quit in August.
The cost of living in California is high, so I took on some contract work, but mostly, I took time for myself. I reconnected with my partner, finally finished the manuscript for my novel, which my best friend described as "thinly veiled autobiographical fiction," and I started teaching dancing again, which I've always been passionate about.
At the end of last December, I started browsing the job market. I wasn't officially a candidate — very few companies hire around the holidays — but I wanted to put out feelers and see what was out there. My time off gave me clarity about what I wanted to do next: I wanted my role to have a positive impact on real people. That might be in tech again, but it also might be in healthcare, or in some other industry. I'd planned to start looking for a new job in earnest around the second week of the new year.
Little did I know what January was going to look like for the tech industry. Day after day, I'd read about all the companies doing layoffs, including my former employer. It was like watching dominoes fall. And they're still falling. It's been anxiety-inducing.
My experience as a job seeker has, so far, been mixed. At this point, I've applied to nearly 100 jobs. Most of the time, I get the standard rejection email because, for whatever reason, the algorithmic gatekeepers didn't pick up my résumé's key words.
I've had six separate companies invite me for interviews, and I've gone through two or three rounds with each one. Nothing has panned out for a few reasons: either the role wasn't what I was looking for, they couldn't pay me what I wanted — I already get the sense that I'm going to have to adjust my salary expectations, or the company had pulled the opening because of internal stuff going on.
Now, it seems both employers and employees are in a state of confusion and anxiety. No one knows where the economy is going, so everyone is operating with a lot of question marks. The market feels hyper-competitive, but it also seems like there are constantly new jobs popping up.
I have moments of feeling frustrated, stressed, and discouraged. I'll say to my partner, "I can't take another rejection!" But I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and that includes me hitting a burn-out point in my job. I wouldn't have rediscovered my love of dance, wouldn't have realized I wasn't present in my relationships, and wouldn't have written my book.
I have no regrets about quitting my job; I'm in a much better place mentally overall. I'm trying to keep moving forward.