5 Trends Leading to More Sabbaticals
Calling our lives before 2020 the “before times” went from clever joke to cliche. But like most cliches, there’s some truth there. Careers, travel, community, and work are all in a state of change.
These trends are difficult to quantify, as one can find research, surveys, and coverage that both supports and counters them. Instead, after conducting roughly 15 interviews (and counting!) with people who have taken sabbaticals, I’ve noticed several common reasons people are slamming the pause button.
Reason #1: Remote workers are feeling disconnected
When many white-collar jobs went fully remote in 2020, the general response was positive. Workers loved no longer having a commute, having more time with family, and gaining a more flexible work schedule.
Three years later, the cons are starting to catch up with the pros, especially for those who prioritized their careers as a source of fulfillment (“live to work” rather than “work to live”). A sort of existential panic sets in when one realizes they hustled for years only to spend all day talking to talking heads in boxes on a screen. It’s 2024’s version of the Office Space cubicle. In many industries, you never meet your customers, coworkers, or managers. Is the flexible working style worth the isolation?
Reason #2: Tech and startups are less appealing to the ambitious
If you worked in tech startups in the aughts or earlier, you sacrificed salary and prestige for massive upside if your company was successful or exited. To work for a startup was to toil for 12+ hour days for years. But something changed in the 2010s. Tech startups offered upside and best-in-market salaries. Young people prioritizing money exchanged finance jobs for tech jobs.
After an unprecedented bull run, growth tech companies are getting hammered with layoffs and sinking valuations. If you never really cared about technology or the problems they solved and were in it for the money, you may have a bit of a career crisis on your hands right now.
Reason #3: The nature of “place” and “home” are changing
Prior to COVID, ambitious college grads often moved away from family to a handful of cities (as profiled in books like The Big Sort and The Rise of the Creative Class). When work was decoupled from location, that naturally left many folks wondering why they were living where they were — to say nothing of the ever-increasing price of buying a home and putting down roots.
Reason #4: The increasing focus on mental health
The reasons vary from “I watched my parents burn the candle at both ends for their career” to “I’ve been going to therapy for years and know how to navigate this” but if you’re under the age of 40, you’ve probably been well-versed in the treatments and culture around protecting your mental health. “Burnout”, “quiet quitting”, “emotional labor”, and “work/life balance” are common phrases I’ve heard when discussing this. When it’s time to reconsider our options, we’re all much better equipped to talk candidly about how we’re feeling and what we need.
Reason #5: Traveling arbitrage is still possible (for now)
Someone once told me that the best plan is to earn your money in America but spend it in Europe. Consider this reddit thread asking what do Americans even do with all of that money. Or that the money that Americans spend shopping for the holidays would rank 19th largest in GDP. Despite decades of globalization, those with high-earning jobs in advanced economies can still derive great value by taking their money elsewhere. One month of a tech/finance/law salary can pay for a three-month sabbatical.