A week or two ago my company announced that it would be shipping a whole bunch of us, (probably 100+ people), out of DC and into the suburbs of VA. The drive will add about thirty to forty minutes to just about everyone’s commute.
Some people up and quit on the spot. Going in search of greener pastures, or at least a pasture that’s still in DC. The rest of the people packed up their boxes and set out for the burbs. What I’ve found is that just about everyone I work with is absolutely miserable. I think I have known this for the last three or four years. My coworkers have been miserable for days, months, or years depending on how long they’ve been working for my company. But they were willing to bear the misery since they were comfortable in their jobs and only had to commute thirty minutes or so to work each day. But the idea of having to drive twice as long to a job that will now make them twice as miserable is a little more than most of them can bear.
So… What do you do? Your in a job you don’t like. But pays well. With amazing benefits. All of the coworkers you’ve come to know and love are jumping ship one by one. Do you try to find a new job outside of the company? Do you try to find a job inside the company that will let you stay in DC? Do you try commuting out to the burbs?
Each of my coworkers seems to have a different solution to this problem. As for me, I’m not yet healthy enough to look for work elsewhere. (I had surgery six months ago.) So I’m forced to stick it out. For loyalty sake I might have stuck it out anyway.