Not a dev, but in healthcare. Burnout is everywhere. “Physician wellness is key for a happy physician” but in the decade of practicing medicine, I’ve learned that this phrase is nothing but words out of people’s mouths when you are interviewing. No one cares more about your wellbeing or mental health than you. Like you said, corps will try to squeeze every last penny out of you.
Key to burnout to me, in my opinion, is follow your gut. My first job out of training was in primary care at one of the many clinics of a local health corp (advertised as a local small town nonprofit hospital) but CEO ran it like a for-profit, going so far that he stated in one meeting that he plans to run the hospital and primary clinics like “Chick-fil-A”. Healthcare isn’t a combo meal and has to be tailored to the individual. That solidified my plans to leave once my contract and noncompete was up. They kept increasing my patient numbers despite me telling them I want to do more quality work and not quantity like others in the surrounding clinics. Those complaints landed on deaf ears. I left after feeling burnout for 2 years. I was stuck legally/contractually. Worst acid reflux I ever had that led to ulcers in the end. I entered this field to help people and not see patients as dollar signs. After I left, I was told by the CEO and his Admin buddies that I wasn’t worthwhile to hold on to because I didn’t see 25-30 patients a day. I was a “loss leader in primary care”. My goals since grad school were to provide quality work and spending my time with said patients when they needed it most. Their goals were pure volume and more money and not so much in the actual health care.
I jumped from job to job 3 times until I found my place with a company that semi/mostly-aligns with most of my goals. I’m in hospital medicine now with a side gig of concierge medicine. It’s not perfect but my mental health is exponentially better since I moved on. No amount of money or possibility of accumulating generational wealth is worth it in my opinion like some of the comments about being in a FAANG job. Being able to live a comfortable lifestyle and have time for my wife and two kids is what I care about most and with my current job I’m able to do quality work and still have an amazing amount of time with my family compared to the previous jobs.
Sorry this is a bit of a rant. TLDR
We all burn out at some point. Up to you to take care of yourself and find you niche so you live happy and comfortably. No perfect job out there but keep searching until you find one that doesn’t cause you stomach ulcers and aligns with what your goals are as a dev. Life is truly short.
Key to burnout to me, in my opinion, is follow your gut. My first job out of training was in primary care at one of the many clinics of a local health corp (advertised as a local small town nonprofit hospital) but CEO ran it like a for-profit, going so far that he stated in one meeting that he plans to run the hospital and primary clinics like “Chick-fil-A”. Healthcare isn’t a combo meal and has to be tailored to the individual. That solidified my plans to leave once my contract and noncompete was up. They kept increasing my patient numbers despite me telling them I want to do more quality work and not quantity like others in the surrounding clinics. Those complaints landed on deaf ears. I left after feeling burnout for 2 years. I was stuck legally/contractually. Worst acid reflux I ever had that led to ulcers in the end. I entered this field to help people and not see patients as dollar signs. After I left, I was told by the CEO and his Admin buddies that I wasn’t worthwhile to hold on to because I didn’t see 25-30 patients a day. I was a “loss leader in primary care”. My goals since grad school were to provide quality work and spending my time with said patients when they needed it most. Their goals were pure volume and more money and not so much in the actual health care.
I jumped from job to job 3 times until I found my place with a company that semi/mostly-aligns with most of my goals. I’m in hospital medicine now with a side gig of concierge medicine. It’s not perfect but my mental health is exponentially better since I moved on. No amount of money or possibility of accumulating generational wealth is worth it in my opinion like some of the comments about being in a FAANG job. Being able to live a comfortable lifestyle and have time for my wife and two kids is what I care about most and with my current job I’m able to do quality work and still have an amazing amount of time with my family compared to the previous jobs.
Sorry this is a bit of a rant. TLDR We all burn out at some point. Up to you to take care of yourself and find you niche so you live happy and comfortably. No perfect job out there but keep searching until you find one that doesn’t cause you stomach ulcers and aligns with what your goals are as a dev. Life is truly short.