I am 27 and work as a marketing manager for a B2B SaaS company in Canada. I started off a junior and worked my way to manager level over the last two years. The company had many layoffs and my team went from 13 to 4, their responsibilities were abandoned or passed to me.
Recently, my manager, a senior director, left his role. He left me know ahead of time and asked the company to give me a retention bonus, which they did. He also told leadership to respect my time and not overload me with tasks. We are currently undergoing a review and consultation from an investor because they are concerned with our structure. Everything is up in the air and while there’s potentially a lucrative role in this for me, I have no stamina nor desire, especially as they want to outsource the work I actually enjoy/do well at and have me move into something I don’t care about.
Since my manager leaving two months ago, my work life is terrible. I am constantly under pressure to deliver results and no one has respected my time. I have worked 12 hour days for several weeks and given up weekends and weekend trips. I went into the office last week and had to sit on the stairs for a while to recompose myself because I feel overcome with emotion.
I’ve tried quiet quitting but time-consuming asks are piling up and people are getting frustrated because it’s affecting their performance.
I’m regarded as a high-performing worker, but my performance has rapidly declined because of my capacity. I have a solid track record at the company but now my performance is slipping. I wake up every day with a fear of tread and anxiety. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get through my to-do list. I’ve tried to push back and my capacity was deemed a low priority and that I should simply hire/outsource support. I don’t have time/energy to do that.
My old manager and I are in touch and he feels terrible about the mess I’m in. He said from day 1 he wants to poach me as he really wants me on his team, but it’ll take a few months to get an offer ready for me. He seems very eager but I’m also not trying to hope too much and have started to apply for jobs.
I have plenty of savings that could keep me going for years in theory, but I’m also saving to buy a house. I think my partner would be disappointed if I quit without.
That said, I do have around 5 weeks of banked vacation, so if I resign, I could resign with 5 weeks of vacation added on. I also freelance which brings in some cash for everything that isn’t rent
Unfortunately, I can’t take all vacation now as I’m the only one who can do the work and getting a replacement who knows the ins and outs of this isn’t easy, so I don’t even have any cover.
I’m getting teary, anxious and stressed from all of this. I just want time to unwind, pick up some hobbies and work at a job where I can prioritize fairly. I’ve started taking beta blockers to calm myself for meetings where I’m grilled.
Do you think I should leave? I know common sense says to stay, quiet quit and wait until you have another role but I’m not able to get out of these presentations, grilling sessions and tasks easily.