Why is working at an MSP so soul crushing?
Working at a managed service provider involves intense, unrelenting stress that takes a severe physical toll over time. This constant pressure burns people out completely and drives them to leave the industry entirely after just a few years.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1leaving for internal corporate IT roles
- 2transitioning to management or non-ticket roles
- 3selling the business and retiring early
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“After 5 very long years in 2 different MSP’s, today I said goodbye and holy shit does it feel good.”source ↗
“You could not pay me enough to go back into a MSP, that shit trimmed years off my life.”source ↗
“For me, it was great experience since i was single and hungry to learn, but once that changed it was nothing but a soul burn.”source ↗
“When it's fun, it is really fun, when it's stressful, you are literally losing years of your life expectancy.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 10How do you deal with a rigid and untrustworthy service provider?
- 9How to get out of the restaurant business when you're completely burned out
- 2How to define the scope for outsourced IT support
- 8Doing senior IT work alone on helpdesk pay
- 2What happens when you go months without a manager?
- 2How do I take over home tech and cameras when my partner is gone?