16 Good Reasons for Leaving a Job in 2024

You’ve poured your whole heart into your job but lately feel like you’re not getting anything back from the hard work you’ve put in. While collecting a paycheck can be motivating for some, deep down you know you could find something better. You’re destined for greatness. So, if you’ve been toying with the idea of leaving a job for a new one, we’re going to share 16 good reasons for leaving a job in 2024.

16 Good Reasons for Leaving a Job in 2024

1. You feel unhappy

Believe it or not, but there are some amazing companies out there where you’ll feel a sense of peace at work. They’re often smaller in size (say: under 100 people) and they’re led by great leaders who appreciate you. If you feel unhappy at work or experience Sunday scaries every weekend, this could be a good reason for leaving your job. A big pay day twice a month but the dread of going into work five days a week just doesn’t cut it. You can find a great job where you laugh at work, feel motivated, and genuinely wake up excited to work on a team. Finding a company with cool people can take a few interviews to find, but it’s not an impossible task.

2. You’re not learning anymore

You don’t need a long list of reasons to leave a job, if you’re not growing that could be a good enough reason to resign from your current role. If you’ve explored every aspect of your role, channeled a ton of creative ideas, achieved big things, and now it seems like you’ve reached the peak and you feel kind of bored, it might be time to resign and move on to the next role. Now that you’re a master of your craft, it’s time to find the next challenge. Maybe you look for a more senior role at another company or pivot those mastery-level skills into another more popular field.

3. You’re being underpaid

Job hopping is one of the best ways to keep your salary growing. When you stay at the same company for too long, your salary doesn’t grow to match inflation. Most companies only give 3% pay raises, and sometimes, not even that. When you job hop every 2-3 years, you’ll get a bigger boost in salary. Plus, you’ll learn a bigger set of skills, tools, and industries to help you earn that higher paycheck. If you’re looking for your next role, you can even get a change in job title, which can help you earn more overall.

4. You’ve been overlooked for a promotion

It might be time to quit your job if you’ve been overlooked for a promotion. While some may encourage you to stay at a company when this happens, remember this: leaders with fixed mindsets believe that people can’t change. As a result, you could’ve improved your habits, performance, and work ethic, but if you have a fixed mindset leader, they won’t even notice it. When you’ve been passed up for a promotion, it’s possible that you did all the right things in the right way, but it still wasn’t enough. Sometimes, the best option is to resign from your job and gain that new job title at another company instead.

5. You’re in a toxic culture

Another reason for leaving a job is being exposed to a toxic culture. A bad workplace can lead to mental stress, elevated heart rates, and utter misery. Whether it’s a toxic boss or toxicity all around, oftentimes, your best attempts at kindness and compassion will be looked down upon. If the company you work at has a high turnover rate, competitive atmosphere, low morale, unethical behavior, and disrespectful communication, you’re better off finding a new job in a positive culture.

6. A new opportunity presents itself

Leaving a job doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. Sometimes, you get the opportunity of a lifetime to work on something really cool or interesting. Maybe a friend reaches out to you to work on their new, growing business. Or you get a small windfall and decide to take a year off to travel. A recruiter you’ve been connected to for years on LinkedIn might’ve reached out to you about your dream job, at your dream company. No matter how big or small the new opportunity is, sometimes, you just gotta take a risk to explore a new path.

7. You don’t get along with your boss

Having a boss that supports you doesn’t need to feel like a dream. There are so many great leaders out there who foster the growth and development of their direct reports, are lavish with recognition and appreciation, and are fun to work with. If you don’t get along with your boss or if you constantly have to adapt to a new boss every few months, it may be time to resign. Having a bad boss can set your career back and stunt your career growth (both by title and compensation). When it comes to your boss, you always want someone who’s in your corner.

8. Your colleagues are difficult to work with

Creating a positive atmosphere at work can be as simple as giving recognition and appreciation to your peers. If you asked the average employee if they feel appreciated at work, most would say they don’t. If helping your colleagues feel appreciated doesn’t make them more agreeable, it’s possible that you have some toxicity running through the culture. So, it might be a good reason to leave your job if your colleagues are hard to work with and all your attempts at resolving issues haven't worked.

9. You’re not treated with respect

You may consider quitting your job if you’re not treated with respect in the workplace. Sometimes, you’re the most senior person working on the team, but the people around you don’t recognize you when you work on projects, belittle you when you share an idea, or just blatantly disrespect you. Respect in the workplace shouldn’t have to be demanded from others. If you need your lead or boss to solve your working relationship problems, it may be a sign that your peers don’t respect you as a person. It may be time to consider leaving your role.

10. You’ve been put on a performance plan

There are times when being put on a performance plan helps you in your career. Maybe you learn to communicate ideas better or it helps you overcome a difficult situation in your life. Other times, being put on a performance plan is an indication that a company is trying to push you out without having to give cause. If you think your performance plan is fabricated, you might choose to stay as you’ll have a position to possibly get paid severance if terminated. However, if you think your employer has just cause, you might choose to look for your next role, and move on to something better.

11. Your skillset isn’t aligned with the role

Sometimes, you don’t know that a role isn’t the right fit until a while into it. Maybe you thought you had certain skills or that you would pick them up quickly, but you find that what you’re doing isn’t really aligned with the knowledge and know-how. If you’re open to learning, you can stick it out to learn. But if you’re not enjoying the work and you’re finding it hard to learn, you might choose to find more enjoyable work that’s more aligned with your skills in your next job.

12. You’re feeling overwhelmed by the workload

One of the biggest reasons why people leave their job is work stress. When you first join a company, there’s a lot to do. However, as the company grows, you might find yourself taking on more responsibilities that are beyond your capabilities. Often, people get workload promotions without the compensation to show for it. That’s where you get more responsibilities without the fancy job title or salary to show for it. If you have a growing and never-ending to-do list that would take an entire team of people to accomplish, you might choose to leave a job. There’s no need to work weekends or late nights just to accomplish your daily tasks. Sometimes, it’s better to find a role you can complete tasks for during your 9 to 5 work day.

13. Your values don’t align with the company

Companies often add new policies as their team grows. Some of the policies may go against your own personal values. For instance, if you’re at a shipping company and you notice that there’s a lot of waste that the company is causing while you have a deep-rooted passion for environmental issues, you might feel that the company isn’t a good fit for you. You might instead choose to take on a role at an environmental company that actually helps reduce waste in the shipping industry and use your connection to help make that change. When your personal values don’t align with company values, it can create an unpleasant work environment for you. The work stress might not be worth it, and switching companies might be a better option for you.

14. The commute is too far

With more remote options these days, it’s much easier to find a job where you don’t need to commute at all. If you work at a company where you’re commuting for an hour and a half to two hours each day, you might feel like you’d save more time (and spend more of it with family) to work somewhere closer to home. Maybe commuting to a big city from the suburbs adds too much time to your commute resulting in less income overall when all those costs are taken into account. Instead, you might leave a job to work at a remote company or within the same area as your home, to help you save more time. After all, time is your most valuable asset.

15. You lack work-life balance

Finding work-life balance can be a huge motivator for leaving a job in 2024. Maybe you’ve become a new parent and want to spend more time with your children instead of at the office. You might look for a part-time role that gives you the flexibility you crave to have the perfect work-life balance.

Alternatively, many people choose to embark in entrepreneurship to work fewer hours or at least take breaks or vacations on their own terms. Maybe you’ve started a side hustle at your current job and plan to work on it after leaving the company.

The third work-life balance option that many young people do is taking a year off to travel. Most people have more income to travel when they’re older but feel less energetic. So instead, young people choose to travel while they have fewer responsibilities and more energy. Finding a role that allows you to have more life than work balance can be highly beneficial for your mental health and overall wellbeing.

16. The company is struggling financially

With so many layoffs the past few years, one of the good reasons for leaving a job is job security. It’s true that company loyalty isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. With the risk of an impending layoff happening at your company, you might choose to go job searching for a company with a reliable financial runway to help ensure you won’t lose your income. When you have a mortgage, childcare costs, and rising inflation for food and other goods, looking for job security in a role could be a worthy reason to leave a job in 2024.

Ready to leave your job?

If after reading through this list, you think it might be time to create a new resume and start the job search process, consider using Huntr, a job search tool that helps you organize your job search. You’ll be able to auto-fill applications, create a modern resume and cover letter with the help of AI, and more. Sign-up for Huntr today.