The study analyzes the experiences of pleasure and suffering in the work, as well as the eventual defensive strategies, of a group of employees who were dismissed from managerial positions and remained working at an energy company. Data collected in the twenty-seven individual semi-structured interviews carried out for this purpose were analyzed through the content analysis method and pointed out that the dismissal of the managerial position increased the experiences of suffering in these workers. Most reports of suffering are related to the loss of pleasure experienced as a manager. Similarly, most reports of pleasure are associated with the end of the suffering experienced as a manager. In addition, the analysis of the reports allowed the identification of defensive strategies classified into nine categories, named by the researcher as: naturalization of the event, disqualification of the process that led to dismissal of managerial position, disqualification of current managers, self-consolation: it could be worse, expectation for retirement, hesitation about new opportunities, expectation for changing the sector, forgetting what happened, and minimizing the change that occurred. The results obtained lead to a reflection on the concept of career associated with company culture and on the importance of the exercise of the managerial function in this context.