She urged people not to sacrifice their happiness and well-being for their jobs, emphasizing that employers would not prioritize their employees' health.
Some lessons can only be learned through time and setbacks. Such was the case for a Pilates instructor from Canada who discovered something profound after making the decision to leave her job. Norah—who goes by @wellnessbynorah on TikTok—told people they should not compromise their happiness and health for their job, as their employers would not do the same for them.
She posted a video on TikTok, which has gone viral and garnered 840k likes and 1.5m views. She elaborated on how before she fell in love with Yoga, she had a regular corporate job. She did a stitch with a video, asking, "What's something you were not prepared for about the corporate world?"
Norah answered the question in her video, as she said that she was being undervalued at her workplace. "No matter how much work you do, you are always dispensable. Always." She revealed how she had put in all the effort in her previous job, but was not noticed or appreciated for her hard work. "I stood on my head for a company and went in early every morning, left late and worked weekends and when I decided to leave, they replaced me within three hours," she added.
She also said we should not put in all we have in one job as it will not be worth it eventually. "You are always dispensable and no job is worth your mental and physical health. Ever," she emphasized.
A paper published in 2021 states that "three-quarters of a million people are dying from ischaemic heart disease and stroke due to working long hours," as reported by BBC. According to research by Gallup, "Nearly one-fifth of U.S. workers (19%) rate their mental health as fair or poor, and these workers report about four times more unplanned absences due to poor mental health than do their counterparts who report good, very good or excellent mental health."
Whereas "Four out of 10 U.S. workers report that their job has an extremely negative (7%) or somewhat negative (33%) impact on their mental health, compared with three out of 10 who report an extremely positive (7%) or somewhat positive (23%) impact."
Not just statistics, but other people agreed with Norah as well. TikTok users are quick to share their opinions on the matter. @amybug1 commented, "Yup. This is the perfectly explained reason why people are 'quiet quitting.' It's not worth your health because the company doesn't care." @ceciliawilbanks wrote, "As a former corporate recruiter, yep. Sometimes it takes a couple of days, but yep. Always."
@KiyanahKaydiJohn expressed, "Yes, girl, this is so true and so disheartening, but it's good to learn and no longer work hard for people who don't care!" @SarahLindstorm shared, "The only place you are irreplaceable is in your own home. When I got that, it was a game changer." @WasgoingtobeOlivia81 commented, "Thank you for this! I've been at my job for 20 years. It's not worth it anymore. I applied for a new job just today!"
You can follow @wellnessbynorah on TikTok for similar illuminating content.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 7, 2023. It has since been updated.