I don’t think I can change job — but can I change how I feel about my work?

Stuck in an unfulfilling role and want to change job, but struggling to find an alternative? Discover how to boost your job satisfaction without changing your role

The way we think about work is changing fast. With employers wondering how to cut workforces by using AI, hiring slows and return-to-office policies tighten, many of us feel stuck — grateful to be employed, yet quietly dissatisfied. In the past, an unfulfilling role could be solved with a swift LinkedIn update and a cheeky move elsewhere. Today, we’re often too scared to change job.

So how do you feel more motivated, engaged and happy at work when changing job isn’t realistic? According to leading career and workplace psychologists, the answer lies not in chasing the perfect role but in reframing your expectations, investing in your core skills and redefining what work should provide in the first place.

Things aren’t what they were

My friend Bec’s CV reads like an A-Z of media companies. She’s had more first days than hot dinners and she’s always prided herself on being able to get a new job at the drop of a hat. But in this market? Changing jobs has become a completely different beast.

‘There’s just no one hiring anymore,’ she tells me. ‘All the LinkedIn updates these days are of people sharing that they’ve take redundancy – after two decades in the same place. And no one is updating that they’ve got new jobs on the back of it. So I don’t think I’ve got any choice but to stay put and ride this one out.’

She’s right. Now when we feel ‘stuck’ in a job, we really are stuck there. Companies that once hired hundreds have stripped teams back to a handful, thanks to the changing landscape. And with AI in the wings, ready to hoover up ever more work, there’s only more fear on the horizon. So if we’re struggling to get out of bed on a Monday and go in to the office, but don’t have any alternatives, what can we do?

Reframe your wish list

Firstly, it’s important to remember, there is no such thing as the ideal job. It might sound negative, but embracing this reality can be liberating. That isn’t to say that we should ‘settle’ or ‘make do’ with our current job, it’s about reassessing our expectations.

‘All work is a compromise,’ says John Lees, author of How To Get A Job You’ll Love. ‘But people tend to polarise their choices and see work in one of two ways: either “I have a job that I enjoy all the time” or “I have a job that is uninspiring and unmotivating”.’

The people who work best, he says, are able to acknowledge both versions. Aiming for an ideal can drain your ambition rather than fuel it, says Lees. ‘Let go of the model that says it’s 100 per cent or nothing, which is often a good excuse for not doing anything.’

If you believe what people say on social media, it’s easy to believe everyone else has found their calling. In reality, jobs are like relationships: they require give and take, and you might have to be prepared to put up with the dull or difficult parts because the rest makes it worthwhile. ‘Jobs can’t be enjoyable every day for five days a week, but maybe they’re fine for three days out of five,’ says Lees.

Reframing expectations doesn’t mean abandoning ambition; it means replacing perfectionism with pragmatism — a shift that can ease pressure and restore momentum.

Boost your core skills

When we’re all worried about changes afoot, it’s easy to forget that some things never change, says leadership coach Ros Taylor. ‘Some constants remain. There’ll always be a demand for up-to-date skills. In the past, we’ve relied on our employers to train us. Many businesses have now frozen this kind of funding, but that shouldn’t stop you building skills in your spare time. It will mark you out as a self-starter and the act of taking control of your own career will empower you.’

As automation and AI become embedded in daily workflows, adaptability is increasingly prized. Be aware of more subtle ways of taking control of what you do. ‘It’s about job-crafting, taking on areas that you feel suit you, almost creating your own job,’ says Professor Peter Totterdell of Sheffield University’s Institute of Work Psychology. He also refers to ‘idiosyncratic deals’ in which we carve out our own jobs over time. ‘This is something good that we can all cultivate, making ourselves indispensable by building idiosyncratic aspects into our job.’

Offer to review products, take the team photograph, manage the company Facebook page or experiment with new digital tools. Look for opportunities and make suggestions for change that you know you can initiate. Small acts of ownership can accumulate into a stronger sense of agency — and visibility.

Change your perspective on work

Work doesn’t have to be the whole picture. We continually hope our jobs will make us happy, even if they don’t at the moment. As Alain de Botton, author of The Pleasures And Sorrows Of Work, says, ‘Our choice of occupation is held to define our identity, the assumption being that the route to a meaningful existence must invariably pass through the gates of paid employment.’ Which makes us more likely to feel dissatisfied when work fails to fulfil our every need.

The risk is that we load employment with expectations once met by community, religion or family life. One answer is to stop assuming that what everyone else is doing is more rewarding. ‘It’s easy to look around and feel that, say, portfolio careers are much better than being stuck in one office,’ says Totterdell. ‘Yet from our research, portfolio workers feel they are less in control and have to take whatever work comes along, so be aware it’s all more of a mixed picture than you’d think.’

A job can be meaningful without being magical; satisfying without being a calling. In uncertain times, learning to find enough — rather than everything — in our work may be the most resilient strategy of all.

Images: Shutterstock