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I’ve been trying to understand what’s going on with the “Great Resignation.” Boomers are [finally] retiring. More people are gigging. People are leaving dead-end jobs. People are leaving jobs that don’t provide enough virtual work flexibility. All part of it.
But, perhaps, underneath it all, we just don’t care. Or at least w
e care less than we used to. About our jobs, that is. If true, this is a monumental shift! I have suggested that the #1 obstacle to a post-work future is the centrality of jobs to our identity. Even when we hate our jobs, they still serve as our primary source of identity and social worth. We use them to introduce ourselves to others. “So, what do you do?” I am guilty. I introduce myself first and foremost as a futurist – my job.
I think a big part of it might be the realization of just how much a job costs us. Yes, it brings in the money vital to survival in a capitalist context. But, think of how much we spend to maintain our jobs. Many people have realized, with remote work, that if we don’t need to commute, we don’t need that vehicle (as much as least). Biking and ridesharing kinda work (I know, not for everyone). Paying for that parking at work – one of my favorite insanities of the contemporary world. You don’t need that expensive wardrobe. We don’t have time to cook at home due to our busy jobs, so we eat out, which is expensive. And so on. A large percentage of what we earn from our jobs … is spent on our jobs. Consciously or unconsciously, we may be figuring that out. Without that job, our cost of living goes way down.
The skeptics will rightly point that quitting is all fun and games until the bills come due. I can totally see a “return to work” as economics dictate. But there is a crack in the armor of work. The post-work future (links to full article) is looking a bit less crazy. – Andy Hines
[…] laziness appears in the Top 5. Have we suddenly got lazy? Nah. I’ve suggested the trend toward people caring less about their jobs has been going on for years driven by several things, but chiefly values shifts. And the pandemic […]