Memes

When I was working my way out of retail jobs I took a job at a callcenter making a pittance. It beat retail and came with actual responsibilities and expectations which I liked. A few months in some management type shared a random feelgood blogpost by someone who stated they've been working in a callcenter for 6 years. I remember commenting at the time "yikes why would you keep working in a callcenter for that long?" (I think at the time I hadn't even been an adult for 6 years)

3.5 years later I put in my notice from that job and started rocketing my career upward. I spent my last year working part time while I worked on an IT degree, and had become very relied upon at the callcenter. My old boss from there actually keeps asking me to let her get me a job on their IT team, but I know that I can get better pay and benefits elsewhere. But most importantly, I kept my initial horror at the idea of working in a callcenter for 6 years in the back of my mind and made sure to get out long before reaching that point myself.

In my current job I encounter people in similar positions. They're underqualified and living in small towns with limited employment options so they put up with pretty nasty working conditions in (for example) meat packing plants in order to take home the best pay and benefits they can. I heard one of the field employees I support mention that they haven't been home for over 6 months, and they said this to me whilst I was sitting in my cushy office job working from my own home while my toddler slept in the next room not 8 feet away.