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Expectations Quitting Time Change Fear

I have been working for this company for 12 years, and it was recently sold. The new owner was introduced at our year-end meeting, and I did not like what he said or the way he said it. His tone was condescending and even threatening. Some of my co-workers are already talking about leaving. How do you know when it is time to leave?



Unlike a holiday turkey, there is no corporate thermometer that pops out of your job to tell you when you are done. The decision to make a job change is an individual and personal one that is based on a combination of several factors including your level of frustration tolerance, the marketability of your skills, and much more.

However, the one factor that should not tell you that it is time to leave is a speech by the new owner. In fact, because there are often many unknowns associated with new ownership, it is quite normal for people who hear such a speech to interpret it negatively, no matter what is actually said. Unless the speech was totally outrageous, you do not have enough information yet to figure out if it is time to go.

However, with the passage of time, if you find that your primary sources of satisfaction on the job are no longer being met, and if you see that you are reacting to your work with increasing levels of distress, anguish, and pain, all in combination with a strong "pit of the stomach" feeling that this job is no longer right for you, perhaps you are done.




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