Last Updated on January 26, 2024 by Daniel Boyce

If you’ve been stuck in a rut for too long, it might be time to take action. According to Pew Research, some of the most cited reasons for leaving a job are low pay, lack of opportunities, being exploited, and not feeling valued at work.

A lot of these reasons are very controllable by the leadership and culture put in place. And many employees feel helpless not knowing how to deal with an overbearing boss.

Leaving a job is hard, and knowing when you leave is even tougher. Many people go through a lot before ever even thinking about whether they should quit their job or not. We put together this list to help you know when to leave a job.

How Do I Know When to Leave a Job?

1. It’s a Toxic Workplace Culture

A recent study found that a toxic work environment can lead to increased stress levels, decreased productivity, and even depression. In fact, a toxic workplace can cause some people to seek out better working conditions.

While there are many reasons why someone might feel stressed at work, the most common reason cited was lack of control over their jobs. This included being unable to make decisions about what projects to take on, having little influence over their schedules, and being punished for mistakes.

This leads to a vicious cycle where the person feels less productive and therefore performs worse. And since they perform poorly, they become targets for criticism. Eventually, they start avoiding work altogether.

2. No Growth Opportunities

If you aren’t being provided opportunities for growth at your current company, then it is only natural to start looking outside of your current company for those opportunities.

It can be difficult for a company to promote its employees as fast as they are growing. But other times, companies fail to provide these opportunities. 

Particularly for those that are very driven in their career, we are always looking for areas of development and improvement to be able to continue to advance in our careers. Without this, we can feel stuck, plateaued, or hopeless for the future.

While I believe that growth opportunities should be laid out for employees to give them motivation for career growth, this isn’t always the case. Be sure to ask your leadership about these opportunities, and if they can’t provide them be prepared to look elsewhere.

3. Your Company Starts to Struggle

If you find yourself working at a company that isn’t growing, or it’s struggling financially, don’t assume that things won’t change. This could lead to layoffs, buyouts, or even a complete corporate overhaul.

If the company is finding ways to cut costs, your job might be next. Despite what your company says on its fancy career page when times are tough, they will likely cut jobs to cut costs.

Make sure to plan and prepare for the worst-case scenario. You want to make sure that you have enough money saved up to live off of while searching for a new opportunity.

4. Underutilizing Your Skillset

Being at a company and feeling like you can provide more can be a good feeling. Offering to help on different projects, becoming more of a technical leader, or expanding your current role on your own is a great sign you are ready to take the next step.

But if your company isn’t allowing you to fully utilize your skillset, or expand into areas that you want to grow, it could be a warning sign. Whether they are limiting you, are these types of opportunities for growth aren’t available, it could be time to explore other options.

Increased boredom and procrastination, and reduced confidence and motivation are signs of your boss underutilizing your skillset at work. 

This could be a sign of your boss testing you. Creating this limiting culture by having employees stay in a strictly defined role leads to higher employee turnover and more employee dissatisfaction.

5. Something Goes Against Your Ethics

73% of professionals take into account a company’s ethics when determining whether or not to work for them. This is becoming more and more of a bad or good sign before joining a company.

Ethical compromises happen every day in the workplace. Whether it’s due to pressure from customers, fear of losing a client, or just plain old greed, there are many reasons why people make decisions that compromise their morals.

But the problem isn’t limited to unethical behavior among individuals; companies often find themselves making ethical compromises too. Employees may feel pressured into doing things they know aren’t right simply because they want to keep their jobs.

Or, even worse, they might do something they know is wrong because they don’t want to lose a big contract or deal with negative publicity. In either case, the employee is effectively trading his or her integrity for money or power.

In addition to the immediate financial consequences, such actions can have long-lasting effects on a person’s reputation and ability to move up within a company.

And while some people may be able to overcome those issues, others won’t. So it’s important to recognize when you’re in a position where you need to step away from your principles—and realize that sometimes, the best thing to do is walk away.

6. When You Feel Like You Can No Longer Learn

A recent study published in Science found that people who are experts in one area tend to become less happy over time. In fact, it turns out that there’s a strong correlation between expertise and unhappiness.

Researchers asked participants about their expertise in different areas, such as sports, music, politics, science, art, etc., and how much they enjoyed those activities. They found that the more expertise someone had in a particular subject matter, the lower his or her level of overall happiness.

This effect held even among people who felt like they were “experts” in some areas. The researchers theorized that the reason why experts tended to be unhappy could stem from a lack of novelty.

The idea here is that experts in a certain topic might find themselves bored because they’re already well-versed in what they do. So, rather than seeking out new challenges, they stick with what they know.

So, next time you think you’re an expert, ask yourself whether you’re really enjoying what you’re doing — or if you just don’t want to admit that you’re getting stale.

7. When You’ve Lost Interest

If you’re spending most of your day doing tasks that aren’t necessary to keep the business running, chances are you’re not having fun. If you’re constantly busy, but none of your efforts seem to matter, you might be wasting your time.

The feeling of being productive isn’t always positive. Some days, you’ll feel energized and excited about your job, while on others you’ll feel like you’d rather be anywhere else.

This is especially true if you’re doing work that doesn’t interest you. If you’re constantly stressed out, frustrated, and unhappy, it could mean that you’re not enjoying yourself.

You might be able to find another task to complete, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re happy. Sometimes, you might be bored because you’re not finding enough value in your current position.

8. You Have a Very Difficult Boss

If you’re having trouble getting along with your supervisor, it might be because he or she isn’t doing his or her job properly. In fact, according to Gallup, nearly one out of every four employees report having had a negative experience with their boss.

And many of us find ourselves dealing with a difficult boss at some point in our career journey. This goes for coworkers also.

But, if you’ve been working with someone who seems to be consistently undermining your efforts, you might want to take a step back and evaluate whether your problems stem from something larger within your company culture.

9. There’s a cultural disconnect

Companies must figure out how to make themselves more attractive to talent in the face of such rapid change. Lots of companies are making a big push for diversity and inclusion changes in their culture.

This is showing to be more and more of a bigger factor for employees while looking for a new role. So companies are adjusting to attract better talent.

But if you are in a company that doesn’t embrace diversity and inclusion, and that’s very important to you, then it may be time to leave a job. This alignment of cultural identity and representation is important to most employees nowadays.

10. Other Job Opportunities Start to Show Up

When you feel unsatisfied with where you are in life, you start to notice opportunities around you more frequently. You might even find yourself thinking about different career paths or companies you want to work for. This is because you’re starting to recognize what else is out there.

It’s only normal when you are unhappy with your current employment situation to start looking around at other opportunities. It may start as nothing too serious. But it quickly can turn into something more serious if you find out what you have been missing.

For all the reasons you may have to leave a job, this can push you to start looking at other potential opportunities, talking to recruiters, or even asking around in your professional network.

Is It Time to Leave Your Job?

There are different reasons why someone might want to leave their job. Maybe they want career advancement; maybe they want to start a family; maybe they just don’t like the boss anymore.

Whatever the reason, there’s one thing we’ve seen over and over again: People don’t wait for a disaster to happen before making changes in their life.

This trend isn’t limited to the United States. In fact, we see similar patterns across countries around the world. But whatever path you choose, make sure you know exactly why you’re doing it.

If you’re quitting a job for financial reasons, you’ll likely find better options down the road. If you’re looking for a career change, you’ll might need to build up some experience before landing another position.

And if you’re simply sick of your current situation, you’ll need to decide whether you’re willing to stick around until something changes.