Money and prestige vs meaningful work?

Post date: 2020-11-21 19:07:13

Looking for stories from people who have left (outwardly) successful/prestigious corporate careers for a "smaller" but (potentially) more meaningful role? What did you think about when making the switch? What did you decide and how do you feel about it in retrospect?

In case it's not obvious from the question I find myself considering abandoning a fairly successful corporate role in my field for a role also in my field, but working on much smaller scale projects, for less pay (initially probably a 10-20% cut, with a lower lifetime earnings ceiling) with worse benefits. The upside would be (I think, but can't be completely sure) more meaningful work and a more positive work environment - but is that enough to make up for the trade offs? And if it's not, what are some ways I can reconcile myself with the slightly soulless and sometimes antagonistic nature of my corporate position instead? Looking for others who've experienced a similar decision and would like to know how it worked out for you.

The pandemic is also confusing my decision making - it's hard to know how much of my feelings are COVID fatigue vs actual issues with my job... I should probably also include that current corporate job has had lots of layoffs as a result of the pandemic, whereas the smaller potential company is the busiest they've ever been, so in purely business terms, the small company is on a more obviously positive trajectory.

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