When It’s Them, Not You: Seven Reasons Why Good Jobs Turn Bad

When It’s Them, Not You: Seven Reasons Why Good Jobs Turn Bad

How Misdiagnosed Misery Derails Careers

We’ve all heard the refrain: “I hate my job.” But what if the job itself isn’t the real problem?

According to a very recent Gallup poll, only 18% of U.S. employees say they are very satisfied with their jobs, the lowest level ever recorded. That’s not just alarming, it’s historic

When it comes to career transitions, we often misdiagnose dissatisfaction. The role might be fine. The pay might be fair. The team might even be decent. And yet, employees can still feel stuck, drained, or disengaged.

Tight job markets tend to lead to even higher levels of stress when employers know that the supply of prospects exceeds the demand for talent and workers feel increasingly stuck. It should be no surprise then that disengagement is rising, and the cost is staggering.

The good news is that companies have a lot to gain by creating a robust work environment. Employees who are not engaged or who are actively disengaged cost the world $7.8 trillion in lost productivity in 2022, equal to 11% of global GDP. 

Over the course of my 25+ year stint as a career coach, I have worked with thousands of miserably employed professionals. Most have never taken the time to sort out the good and bad in the job from the plusses and minuses in the workplace itself.

Those who fail to do this are at great risk of accidentally jumping their careers from the pan to the fire.

Before deciding to throw a career away, here are the seven reasons that may drive career misery even when the job itself may be fine:

1.    Management That Undermines Autonomy

Even high performers lose steam when they’re second-guessed, kept in the dark, or managed by fear. Micromanagement and vague feedback loops erode trust. Great places to work understand that employees need varying degrees of direction and support for each aspect of their roles. It is literally impossible to grow when success is only measured by how well we take direction task-by-task.

Most professionals need and want to know how they are doing against expectations. Recognition for doing the job well and coaching to address areas for improvement are critical to developing critical thinking and optimizing performance. Yet many employers and bosses don’t always step up here.  

Indeed, the Gallup poll cited above shows that only 23% of employees strongly agree they received meaningful feedback in the past week. Weekly recognition boosts employees’ perceived “on the job” value from 37% to 98%, yet most teams miss the mark.

2.    Role Ambiguity That Breeds Chaos

When responsibilities are vague, scope creep takes over. Employees end up doing invisible work, absorbing stress, and missing recognition. A 2022 Gallup poll showed that 50% of US workers reported feeling stressed at their jobs on a daily basis, 41% were worried, 22% were sad, and 18% were angry.

Most mature professionals understand that sometimes legitimate changes in business conditions can lead to workers being stretched too thin for a period of time until the employer can adjust.

But my tip of the cap here goes to those employers who use the phrase “comfortable with ambiguity” as shorthand for “keep guessing about what I expect and do everything in sight in the hopes that you will get it right.”

Overwork and employees’ inability to integrate work and home are the major reasons why 43% of U.S. workers report feeling burned out right now. To make matters worse, 47% of workers say they wouldn’t feel comfortable telling their boss they’re burned out.

3.    Culture That Feels Performative

A “cool” culture can still feel alienating. Forced socializing, hollow DEI efforts, or toxic positivity create dissonance between values and reality. Understand that many employers listed in the “best places to work” are the ones who most aggressively “encourage” employees to give strong reviews.

Some employers will focus their review generation energies on a single site like Indeed, Glassdoor (owned by Indeed), Comparably, etc. It is therefore important to check company culture across the spectrum of sites to get a true read.

Be on the lookout for clusters of reviews being posted in a narrow window of time or those that have generic wording that could be generated through automation of some sort.

Whether the cause is dishonesty or incompetence, the result is the same: 32% of employees feel a sense of dread heading to work, while only 30% feel a strong sense of mission, down from 38% pre-pandemic.

And when culture clashes with unclear roles and weak leadership, the result isn’t just burnout, it’s erosion.

4.    Workflow That Sabotages Efficiency

It’s not the work, it’s the system. Clunky tools, redundant meetings, and unclear handoffs create friction that drains energy.

Agendalink reports that since 2020, the average worker has seen a 192% increase in meetings and calls, 71% of which employees see as unproductive. In fact, most professionals report spending more time communicating about what they are doing vs. actually doing the work itself.

Gibraltar Solutions claims that the impact of systems inefficiencies and failures on workers can be significant, ranging from frustration and stress to decreased productivity and absenteeism. The site claims that 58% of employees queried reported that broken practices played a ‘significant role’ in their decision to seek new employment. 

5.    Isolation That Undermines Belonging

Remote work isn’t the enemy, disconnection is. Employees crave feedback, mentorship, and meaningful collaboration.

Work dynamics impacted by the Covid epidemic have forever changed both employers’ and workers’ definitions regarding how work can be done most effectively.

Five years ago, the vast majority of my clients favored onsite work. They valued the importance of face-to-face engagement with colleagues and clients and felt that they could focus a whole lot better if they were able to get away from playful kids and barking dogs.

When Covid hit, everything changed. Casual water cooler conversations turned into Slack exchanges while conference room powwows were relegated to Zoom. Temporary workstations were set up in living rooms and basements while Amazon sales for jerseys spiked and pants and skirts plummeted.

Suddenly, working professionals started to realize that a quick run to the dentist or a kid too sick to go to school didn’t mean they had to use PTO.

But workers adjusted remarkably well to that point where 40% of employees would consider quitting if forced to give up flexibility like remote or hybrid work. For 2024 and 2025 nearly all of my job seeker clients preferred a hybrid mix of onsite engagement and remote capability.

6.    Incentives That Reward Politics Over Impact

You’re doing the work. You’re hitting goals. But someone else who is louder, flashier, better at navigating internal optics gets the spotlight. Over time, this erodes trust and motivation.

When promotions, praise, or visibility hinge on relationships rather than results, employees start to disengage. It’s not just unfair, it’s exhausting. You begin to question whether effort matters, whether impact is even seen, and whether the system is built to reward contribution or charisma.

Statistics provided by HR Grapevine show that nearly 9 in 10 US employees have witnessed favoritism in their organization, and 25% say it happens “all the time.”

The specific behaviors flagged most often include giving special treatment to certain individuals (61%), distributing work assignments unfairly (44%), and selectively offering flexible hours or remote work arrangements (41%).

7.    No Path Forward

You’re not asking for a corner office. You just want to grow. But when development feels out of reach: no mentorship, no stretch assignments, no visibility into what’s next, frustration sets in. Career stagnation is the top reason employees quit, according to over a decade of retention data.

Here’s what the data from CFO.com says about why employees walk away:

•           46% of employees say their manager doesn’t know how to help them grow

•           59% say their company rarely or never helps them explore opportunities outside their current role

•           25% plan to leave within six months due to lack of career development support

•           74% of employees say learning and development is just as or more valuable than a promotion.

The survey cited by CFO.com also says that Gen Z employees think they get better career advice from ChatGPT than they do from their manager.

Summary: Don’t Keep Making the Same Mistake

My primary mission for taking on this number-oriented approach is to demonstrate that those of you who are miserably employed are not alone! My secondary motivator is to plead for you to use caution when making the decision to change jobs or career. Remember that if you’re feeling drained, it might not be the job, it might be the environment around it.

Start by asking:

•           Do/will I feel trusted and recognized?

•           Is, or will be, my role clearly defined or constantly expanding?

•           Does/will the culture align with my values or feel performative?

•           Do/will my tools and workflows help or hinder?

•           Do/will I feel connected or isolated?

•           Are/will promotions (be) based on impact or politics?

•           Is/will there be a path forward or just a holding pattern?

You don’t have to love your job. But you deserve clarity, autonomy, and a system that respects your energy. Because leaving without understanding what is broken makes it likely you’ll repeat the mistake.

If burnout, stagnation, or toxic culture are part of your daily vocabulary, let’s talk. I help professionals sort the job from the environment and make smarter career moves. I can be reached through LinkedIn or john@job-guy.com.