When workers say they hate their jobs or that their bosses are abusive, people wonder: Why don't you quit?
It can happen at any company. Staffers may feel that their atmosphere is unpleasant or contentious. But many don't leave, and instead spend years being unhappy.
The reasons for staying include practical considerations like a good paycheck and benefits and experience that will look good on a résumé. But often there are emotional reasons that stop employees from mustering the energy to look for a new job.
"If you're depressed and down in general, and you're in a very negative place, it's very hard to launch a job search," says Belinda Plutz, owner of Career Mentors, a consultancy based in New York.
Many people cling to a bad situation out of fear that if they get a new job, it might not work out — much like the old saying, "better the devil you know than the devil you don't know," Plutz says. But she finds that people who have been laid off in the past often find it easier to make a move, believing they'll again land on their feet.
There may also be deep-seated psychological factors at work when an unhappy worker stays put.
"There's a bad feeling that may not be conscious, but it's there: 'I don't deserve better,' " says Nancy Kulish, a psychoanalyst and author of psychological books who practices in Birmingham, Mich.
In some cases, employees have had abusive or selfish parents who gave their children the unconscious belief that they must accept whatever poor treatment they receive, Kulish says.