Young adults are taking sabbaticals to address burnout, while Gen Xers and boomers find that they just can’t quit

Summary

Younger generations are embracing “micro-retirements,” short sabbaticals or lifestyle shifts, to combat burnout and improve work-life balance.

This trend is fueled by pandemic-related stress, declining workplace flexibility, and increased burnout reports.

Millennials and Gen Z, facing financial and mental health pressures, are prioritizing their well-being, even at the expense of promotions, as they reject the traditional career model of working until age 65.

Meanwhile, older generations like boomers and Gen X struggle to retire due to financial insecurity and rising costs, with many “unretiring” to stretch limited savings.

  • apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world
    95·
    4 months ago

    Fucks sake, why does anyone read Fortune? We need regulation, unions, and no billionaires. Talking about people taking sabbaticals, which should be provided, and ending retirement to make ends meet is symptomatic of larger systemic problems. 18% increase in homelessness in 2024, and Fortune is talking about “micro-retirements” and softening these sharp issues with trend pieces. Fuck off Fortune.

    • Rooty@lemmy.world
      11·
      4 months ago

      Hear hear, Fortune is a neoliberal bullhorn, can we at least squelch it here on lemmy?

    • TimmyDeanSausage @lemmy.world
      5·
      4 months ago

      I wonder how many of these “micro-retirees” are people looking for jobs, or people who are burnt out and no longer looking after having been looking for months. My main freelance gig dried up over a month ago, and I haven’t been able to find anything substantial, that pays my bills, since then. I’ve been looking at all sorts of different things, but the reality is, I can leave the industry I’ve worked in for 15 years and take a big pay cut to take a job with skills I gained from hobbies. Or, I can somehow come up with ~$5k to pay for additional training and certifications I would need to get a better job that would pay my bills. That’s an oversimplification of my situation, but I really wonder how many people are caught in situations similar to mine in which, there aren’t really many options that work for me, or that I can reasonably obtain without outright lying on my resume.

  • andrewta@lemmy.world
    5·
    4 months ago

    Some are bored and going part time back to work. Others have had inflation smash them in the face and have no choice. I feel for the ones that have to go back. Their bosses are going to hammer them.