why I want to quit my big tech job (as a software engineer)

Why Kathryn Is Leaving Big Tech

Kathryn is leaving a big-tech software engineering job that was once her dream role. She had considered quitting since 2023 but waited in part because she needed to freeze her eggs.

What’s Drawing Her Away

Kathryn has found more meaning and a stronger sense of impact in creating content to help people. In contrast, the impact of her corporate work felt difficult to see, and she felt little ownership over it. She still enjoys technology, coding, and using AI, but no longer feels motivated by big-tech work or climbing the corporate ladder.

A Gradual Decision

Kathryn cautions against quitting as soon as a job feels dull. She spent years examining her feelings and trying different teams and work environments. She also explored moving into product management, but those options did not work out.

The Final Push

A manager on her last team made work especially difficult. Kathryn uses a carrot-eating analogy to explain the difference between supportive and dismissive management: a supportive manager explains the purpose of an unpleasant task and helps make it more manageable, while a dismissive manager brushes off an employee’s concerns.

She says her manager micromanaged, gaslit her, frequently changed his words, and shared too much information among team members.

Plans and Risks

Kathryn has saved enough to give herself two years to explore content creation and other opportunities. One project she is working on is the Weekend Club, a platform that uses AI to match people for small-group meals and help them expand their social circles.

She knows her channels do not yet earn enough to support her and that tech hiring is difficult. Still, staying in a job that made her feel she was wasting her life no longer seemed worth it. She may return to software engineering later, but for now she wants room to try, fail, and pursue work that motivates her.

Reflection

Kathryn recalls feeling so reluctant to stop editing videos and start work that she sometimes cried. She does not regret working at the company, which she describes as a good workplace with strong benefits and facilities; the mismatch was between the work and her interests.

She also says her energy and lifestyle are healthier now than when she was trying to balance a full-time job, YouTube, and many other activities in her twenties.

People, Places, and Projects

• People: Kathryn
• Place: Australia
• Organization: An unnamed big-tech company
• Project: Weekend Club