People live very different lives but you could say that they go through similar stages. They most probably go to school, then decide if they would like to study or not and regardless of the decision, they find some kind of a job.

The first part of our lives is exciting as there is always a milestone that you can look forward to, like the next grade, the next school, higher education. But after that, people often might feel lost because there are no set steps and basically you just work until your retirement, retire and eventually permanently leave this world.

There is an Instagram account that captures this stage of life and creates memes to show that we are all in this boat together. WorkRetireDie mainly shares what a white-collar employee has to deal with and the existential dread they go through every day realizing what is coming for them. At the same time, the memes are funny because they are true, but also make you wonder what this is all for and even motivate you to reach for more than just that.

More info: Instagram

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The person behind WorkRetireDie is Jack Lawler, who founded the brand about 5 years ago and has a presence on all social media with the biggest following on Instagram where 95k people enjoy his content.

On social media, he mocks corporate America and makes relatable humor for those working in offices as it has its own ecosystem, its own language and culture.

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Jack told a bit more about the brand on a podcast with Auxoro and revealed how he came up with the name WorkRetireDie. Apparently, when it was graduation time, Jack’s friend’s grandfather said to them that when they're done with their education, everything that will be left for them will be to work, retire and die. It stuck with the friend group and Jack kind of stole it for the brand.

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Jack knows what it’s like to work in an office environment because he had such a job for 5 years. He really didn’t understand why everyone there took their jobs so seriously even though they weren’t saving lives.

Now he doesn’t work there anymore, but he remembers the culture and the annoying buzzwords people tend to use to make themselves sound more professional. He still remembers how pointless some of the tasks were and that everyone did that to just retire.

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White-collar jobs are the ones who work at a desk in an office and usually don’t require physical labor. That sounds lovely, but it comes at its own cost. According to the CDC National Occupational Mortality Surveillance Database, white-collar workers like doctors, dentists, veterinarians, financial workers, lawyers, and engineers have a higher suicide rate by 1.5 times or more.

Though the deaths are not linked to what type of a job a person has, it is still an interesting observation. And it is concerning to note that the rates are increasing every year.

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The CDC doesn’t provide conclusions about work-related suicides and it is hard to find out if a person chose to leave this world because of work-related issues, but it is hard to deny that people feel stressed at work.

A survey conducted by the American Institute of Stress shows that the main causes of stress are workload (46 percent), people issues (28 percent), juggling work and personal lives (20 percent), and lack of job security (6 percent).

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Knowing that other people go through the same somehow consoles you and when it’s presented in a meme format it even makes you laugh and bond with others over the annoying and stressful things at work.

Do you relate to any of these memes? Which ones are your favorite and what causes the most stress at your work? Feel free to have a conversation in the comments!