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
    100·
    7 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.

    • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
      7·
      7 months ago

      I can - not easily but with careful planning.

      I’m able to work remotely and my partner is on disability so for the last three months of this year we’ve been in a significantly low CoL area of Spain with our costs only marginally higher than living at home in BC. When the cost of air travel and trains is amortized over three months it’s pretty minimal and we hunted for affordable long term accommodations.

      It’s definitely a luxury not available to everyone, and we’re not staying in high class digs, but it’s worth skimping during the rest of the year to afford as we both deeply love being able to explore a new place.

    • TimmyDeanSausage @lemmy.world
      4·
      7 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.

        • TimmyDeanSausage @lemmy.world
          1·
          7 months ago

          Because I have nothing to downsize to aside from moving back in with parents… Not doing that. I share a house with 5 roommates. My and my partners vehicles are both junk cars that I’m constantly fixing. We have no luxuries, we don’t go out, and we rarely eat out. Not sure what else to cut.

  • AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@sh.itjust.works
    10·
    7 months ago

    Imagine living in a country where people take “short sabbaticals” (the developed societies know those as holidays, are paid and you are entitled to them each year) that can affect even potential promotions.

  • andrewta@lemmy.world
    6·
    7 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.