Hate your job? That may be by design.

• The days of offering perks to fill labor shortages are long gone — in fact, some companies wouldn't mind shedding workers.
• So they're going hardcore with stricter RTO rules, low-performer layoffs, and pullbacks on pay.
• With recession fears rising, companies want to cut costs, and workers are clinging to whatever job they have.

When Monday morning rolls around, you may be feeling a lot like Garfield; that's kind of the point.

In recent months, BI has reported on a litany of changes that companies are making to performance reviews, return-to-office mandates, middle management, and compensation structures that have office workers feeling like the grumpy orange cat about their jobs. They may be drowning their sorrows in recession-friendly frozen pizzas — while their bosses are just hoping they quit.

That's because rising recession fears have contributed to conflicting incentives for companies looking to cut costs and employees who want to hang on to whatever job they have. Gone are the days of big raises and job-hopping, so workers are more likely to put up with changing polices — even if they don't like it.

While companies make changes for all kinds of reasons, the current economic climate provides a chance for them to go hardcore and not sweat the attrition along the way. Several Big Tech companies have made moves to identify and disincentivize low performers. When Uber upped the ante on return-to-office and changed eligibility for sabbaticals, its CEO said the policy changes could drive some workers to quit.

"The good news is the economy is still really strong. The job market is strong," Dara Khosrowshahi said. "People who work at Uber, they have lots of opportunities everywhere."

While he's right that unemployment is still low, it's gotten much harder in recent years to get a new job, especially for white-collar workers. The quit rate, which was high during the Great Resignation, has slowed way down.

And so the grumpy cat workers only get grumpier. Just 31% of those surveyed by Gallup in February 2025 said that they were engaged at work, a tumble from pre-pandemic 2023 highs. Gen Zers are particularly disconnected, which may stem from a sharp turnaround in policies like DEI or sudden layoffs, which stand in stark contrast to pandemic-era workplace rhetoric.

Indeed, fewer workers surveyed by Gallup say that they feel cared for at work, a share that's tumbled since pre-pandemic and then post-vaccine highs.

In the "take this job and shove it" period, that would have been a clear sign to walk away and find something new. But rising recession fears are instead leading to an uneasy stay. As Business Insider's Aki Ito reported, America's workers are getting restless — they can't leave their roles, even as the walls tighten around them, and that might only be exacerbated by the uncertain economic climate under Trump's tariffs.

Workers are increasingly less likely to say that they're satisfied with their wages at their current jobs, according to the New York Fed, even as the share of job seekers remains well below summer 2024 levels. Wage growth has slowed from 2022 peaks, according to the Atlanta Fed's Wage Growth Tracker, and even switching jobs might not garner a big raise these days.

Workers seem to understand their static fates, at least: In November 2024, a slim majority of the New York Fed respondents said that they were satisfied with prospects for advancement at their current jobs. By March 2025, that fell to 48.7%.

Do you have a story to share about your job? Contact this reporter at jkaplan@businessinsider.com.