Difficult Decision to Make at 28

I will turn 28 this May and have been working in the corporate sector for 5.5 years. My current CTC is 20L (with an in-hand salary of 1.2L). While the initial years were fine, I haven’t felt happy or fulfilled in a long time. Now, I’m seriously considering quitting, but I don’t know what I would do next.

At this stage, it’s no longer just about career growth or money—it’s about choosing peace and time over everything else. I don’t want to spend 10–12 hours a day solving tech issues and fixing code anymore. It’s mentally exhausting, and at the end of the day, I don’t feel a sense of purpose.

I’ve been thinking about preparing for other exams. If it were three years ago, I would have gone for UPSC, but now, it feels too risky. What options should I consider?

Corporate jobs demand constant learning and unlearning of new technologies, and I find it frustrating. Until retirement, you’re expected to keep up with tech trends, troubleshoot problems, and sit in front of a screen all day. Frankly, I’m tired of it.

Is 27/28 too late for a general category candidate to quit a well-settled corporate job and start looking for other opportunities, preferably in the government sector?

Edit :

For the question, why UPSC? As I have mentioned that I would have considered UPSC if it were 3-4yrs ago, At this point in time it feels too risky. I'm not considering this alone. I would prefer other jobs which are easier to crack at this age because I'm on the verge of getting over aged for so many jobs.

Also, people saying that IAS would also require constant learning. I agree but specialising in tech skills which are constantly changing and you have to learn what the machine understands, is different from having a generalist knowledge about things. In the tech industry, upskilling, adapting to rapidly evolving tools and programming languages, essentially learning what a machine understands. On the other hand, the IAS role requires a broader, generalist knowledge, which is more about understanding governance, policy, and society rather than keeping up with ever-changing technical skills. I'm not comparing which is easier but both are different.