Signs it's time to leave your job (and signs it isn't)
It is usually time to leave when the problems are lasting rather than seasonal: you have stopped learning, your pay has fallen behind and a raise has been ruled out, the work is affecting your health, or the values of the place no longer fit yours. A bad week, a difficult project or one frustrating colleague usually pass. You can test the market quietly before deciding anything.
The seven signs that hold up
These tend to hold up over time, and each is worth taking seriously on its own:
- You have stopped learning, and there is no project, course or role change on offer that would change that.
- Your pay has fallen behind, both the market and prices, and your employer has said no to a review or given no date for one.
- There is no path up. You have asked what a promotion would take and there is no clear answer, or the answer keeps moving.
- The work is affecting your health. Sleep, stress or dread that does not lift after a weekend or a holiday.
- Your values and the organisation's have parted. You are asked to do things you are uncomfortable with, or the direction has changed in a way you cannot support.
- Trust has broken down with your manager or the leadership, and attempts to repair it have not worked.
- You would not apply for your own job today if it were advertised.
If the job is affecting your health, it is worth talking to your GP whatever you decide. Problems with how you are being treated, such as bullying or pay that breaks your agreement, may also be a matter for Employment New Zealand rather than only a reason to leave.
The three that usually pass
Some reasons feel just as strong in the moment but tend to fade:
- A bad week or a hard project. Busy periods end. If the rest of the year is fine, the answer may be a holiday rather than a new job.
- One difficult colleague. People move on, teams change, and a conversation or a manager's help can fix more than it seems.
- Boredom after a big win. The quiet after a large project can feel like stagnation when it is really a pause before the next one.
A useful test is time. Note the feeling and the reason, and look at it again in a month. If it has faded, it was probably one of these three. If it has grown, or you find it on the list above, take it seriously.
Testing the market without deciding
You do not have to decide to leave before you look. Looking is information, and it costs little if you do it carefully. Applying for two or three roles that genuinely interest you tells you what you are worth, what else is out there, and how you feel when an alternative becomes real.
Keep it confidential: use a personal email and phone, keep it off work systems, and be careful with your LinkedIn settings. Our article on job hunting while employed covers each of those.
An offer does not oblige you to leave. Sometimes the process shows that your current job is better than you thought. Sometimes it gives you the evidence for a pay conversation where you are.
Pay, growth and the real hourly rate
Pay is easy to feel unhappy about and harder to measure. Two checks help. First, compare your pay with what the market currently pays for your role, and with how prices have moved since your last increase. Our article on checking whether you are underpaid sets out how.
Second, work out your real hourly rate. At 2026/27 rates, after PAYE, ACC and KiwiSaver at 3.5%, with no student loan, a salary of $80,000 is about $28.62 an hour over a 40-hour week. If you regularly work 50 hours, it is about $22.89. Unpaid overtime is a pay cut that never appears on a payslip, and it is often the clearest sign that a job has grown without the pay following it.
Growth matters as much as the number. A role that pays a little less but teaches you something valuable can be worth more over five years than one that pays more and teaches you nothing.
Saving five jobs as an experiment
A low-stakes way to start is to save five real job ads that you would genuinely consider, without applying for any of them. Then look at them together. What do they pay after tax? What do they ask for that you have, and what do they ask for that you do not? How do they compare with the job you have?
That small exercise often settles the question. Either the jobs out there are clearly better, and it is time to start applying, or they are not, and your energy is better spent improving the job you are in. The demo opens with no account and shows how saved jobs sit side by side with their take-home pay. In jobtracker.co.nz, a job saved from Seek, LinkedIn, Indeed or a company careers page keeps the whole ad, so you can compare them properly.
Decide on your own record
On the Move lets you test the market quietly while you stay, with each job you save kept beside its pay after tax and the whole ad, so a decision to stay or go rests on real options; create an account and choose On the Move, and the first 7 days are free, with nothing charged if you cancel before then. If you would rather look around first, the demo opens with no account.
Create your accountA card is needed to start the trial, and there is one free trial per person and per card.