💼 Regret quitting a stable government job for a private one that turned out worse

Ran into Srinivas at a wedding in April. We used to sit two desks apart at the government office I left four years ago, back when I traded a steady pension and low stress days for almost double the salary at a private company that promised a much faster path up the ladder. The first year was fine, the raise was real, and I told myself the extra pressure was just the cost of a better opportunity finally paying off, the new laptop bag and the corner desk making it feel like proof I had made the right call. The second year the company restructured and I was suddenly doing two people's jobs for the same pay, with none of the growth that had been promised at hiring showing up anywhere in practice, meetings running past nine most nights while my old colleagues were already home for dinner. By the third year a new manager made it clear my role was replaceable, and whatever sense of security I used to take for granted simply was not part of this job in any real form anymore. Srinivas has been promoted twice since I left, now heading a small team of his own with a pension quietly building in the background. He looked settled in a way I have not felt in years, maybe since before I made the switch at all, standing there in a shirt he clearly did not have to think twice about buying. My parents never say it directly, but they mention him more than they strictly need to, usually right after asking how work is going for me lately. Has anyone else walked away from something stable and later wondered if the whole move was a mistake dressed up as ambition at the time, one that took years of hindsight to see clearly?

Almost double the salary and a corner desk, I know that pull. A friend of mine left a state bank for a startup in 2019, and his Srinivas moment also came at a wedding. He did not go back, but 2 years later he moved to a smaller role in a steadier company. Did Srinivas say anything at the wedding that stayed with you afterwards?

Made almost the identical switch eight years ago and spent the first two years convinced I had made a huge mistake every time an old colleague mentioned a promotion. What eventually helped was stopping the direct comparison entirely, their path and mine simply diverged, and holding both against each other constantly was only ever going to make me feel worse regardless of how either career turned out.