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#99 High salary, higher stress: The hidden cost of climbing the corporate ladder

  • Michaela Kettner
  • 6 days ago
  • 2 min read




If you are currently unemployed, you might think getting a job is what you need to make your life alright. However, there is something wrong in corporate companies – making having a job feeling anything else than “alright”:

  • Permanent contracts are offered first, while positions might get discontinued one year later, so the security you are looking for does not exist.

  • While the workload gets higher, companies cut costs and therefore positions, leaving more work distributed onto less employees which leads to higher pressure and stress levels.

  • While bad managers support such a system and ‘nourish’ the mental struggles of their people, good leaders eventually break under their own stress level after juggling the problems of their own people against slow or in-transparent decision-making of the higher management and weird company politics.


I have been there. And questioned at some point that the nice high salary I had as a manager and team lead compensates for my health going down in such a system. In this episode I share my very personal experience what I have observed happening with my own health while I was working as a manager – and how I saw my body changing after my lay-off.


It is time to question the system! I always wanted people to have a fulfilling career – but not for sacrificing their health for a job and suffering under bad leadership! If you want to see more about my next steps, let’s connect on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaela-kettner-6a67a993/ ) or Instagram (@michaela.kettner.fi)!



Keywords: Skillful self-presentation, successful career, fulfilling career, important for career, successful in my job, self-confidence, job search, unemployed, job seeker, corporate company, open positions, lay-offs, cost saving, management, leadership, Human Resources, burn-out, workload, mental health, work-life-balance, competitive salary, toxic workplace, career change


stress at work
A job with a high responsibility does not just bring a high salary. It also means high stress - to the extend that you sacrifice your own health for it.


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