In-house, freelance or design agencies

Hi! Experienced designers, I'm curious. Which one gave you the best balance of growth, money and sanity? I'm a middle/middle+ graphic designer. I've been working in a marketing and design agency for 2+ years, and eventually decided to leave when all my colleagues got laid off and i was the only one left for both teams - just me, my boss and his infinite love for ChatGPT and Claude generated designs. I've been thinking to go full in-house and work for one company, rather than for multiple different clients and businesses at the same time. Though I'm still not sure and looking for options, so I'd be happy to see your opinions on which direction is better. If you tried more than one direction, what made you switch? Would you go back to it?