This week, young workers are leaving their jobs for practical reasons, Americans of all ages prefer jobs they love, and ‘purpose’ can be found outside of work.
Time for a New Job
Young workers from the “Z” and Millennial Generations have been the targets of harsh stereotypes about their perceived lack of loyalty to employers. Regardless of what you think about young workers, there are legitimate reasons why they switch jobs so often.
Read more about this in the Deep Dive Section of this Newsletter
In the News
For Love or Money: Survey data show that more Americans across all age groups prefer a job that they love over a job that they hate but pays well. (YouGov)
- 50% of Americans prefer a job that they love. An indecisive 24% cannot make up their minds. They must be in the corner playing video games.
- Older workers tend to strongly prefer a job they love over a high paying job that they hate.
- Younger workers are more likely to prioritize a job that pays well, however a plurality of all groups still prefer a job that they love.
Layoffs at the Amazon: A reported 9,000 workers at Amazon will soon be laid off. (TechCrunch)
Super Commute: Many employees are willing to satisfy the requirement that they occasionally appear at the office, but to do so, they’re willing to perform a Herculean, “super commute.” (Fortune)
IQ Drop: The US population is showing a collective IQ drop. (Neuroscience News)
Other News:
Creep-Dar Happiness Detector: Facial recognition software has graded the happiest US campuses. (Digg)
- It’s not quite as creepy as it sounds. The software was only used on students’ Instagram photos. Is it still creepy? You get to decide.
Judge Kyle Duncan and Stanford Law: Here is a non-partisan, concise summary on what happened recently at Stanford Law school. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
A Deeper Dive: Power to the Job Hoppers
Last year, much was written about the so-called “Great Resignation.” Lately, there has been less buzz around this topic, partially because recent numbers show a decrease in job hopping, especially in the tech sector. (Business Insider) Expectations of an impending recession have encouraged more employees to stay put in their roles for fear of what could come next, especially in the tech sector, with the widely-circulated news of layoffs at large tech companies. (CNBC)
Employee Retention
Every employer wishes they could retain more of their employees, yet their talent still leaves. To a deep career diver like myself, the stereotypical explanations on why young people ‘job hop’ so often are insufficient. While many youth do have an issue with theirattitude towards work, practical reasons are a more likely culprit. (Business News Daily)
When economic conditions are gloomy and the cost of everything has increased, employees of all ages have a bigger incentive to jump at the higher starting salaries that companies are offering. If not better pay, some employer may sweep a young person off her feet when they offer a job that is more connected with an employee’s passions or personal strengths.
Many people say that employers should “pay more” or “treat their employees better.” If employers just did this, employees would stay, the theory goes. But this is not necessarily true.
Why They Really Leave
Add in the reality that most college-educated, young office workers face an insurmountable and outrageous amount of student loan debt and you get a generation that is more concerned about money than people generally recognize. This inclination to be motivated by money comes not out of greed or any moral defect, it comes out of necessity.
Some say it is selfish for young people to job hop because it shows a lack of loyalty to a company, but anyone who has had to pay tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans understands that it is often necessary behavior, especially if they want to buy a house and have children.
Macroeconomic forces have shaped the workplace and young people have realized that sometimes the only way to grow is to accrue new skills and often the best way to learn new skills is to find a new job. Employee loyalty to one organization is a thing of the past.
The tendency for young workers to switch jobs often is not the fault of Millennials, Generation Z or anyone in particular. It is just the way things are right now and there are no signs of this changing anytime soon.
What I’m Reading
Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions
– Todd Rose
One of my favorite authors tackles a topic that silently affects us all. How we think about ourselves, how we mirror the behavior of others, and how we are conditioned to think by social norms around us, all contribute to a dragnet of confusion. We are all navigating this maze in our own way. As Rose points out, the confusing maze is riddled with collective untruths.
An alternative title could have been: “Everyone is Unwittingly Full of (well… you know what).”
Quote of the Week
“It has often been said
There’s so much to be read,
You never can cram
All those words in your head.
So the writer who breeds
More words than he needs
Is making a chore
For the reader who reads.
That’s why my belief is
The briefer the brief is,
The greater the sigh
Of the reader’s relief is.”
– Theodore Geisel (Aka Dr. Suess)
Articles of the Week
Find your purpose outside of work. (That Seems Important)
Ease up, take a mental health day. (Breeze)
Here are supportive things you can say to people who are in emotional pain. (Mind Body Wise)
New From Deep Dive Careers: There is Nothing Normal About the ‘New Normal’
“A ‘new normal’ in which influential thought leaders attempt to re-engineer the social fabric of the human species should be met with scrutiny. As more data shows that mental health is worsening, that scrutiny should intensify.”
Other Fun Stuff
More people are getting married in Las Vegas instead of at the chapel. (Axios)
The average room in a home has 2,000 visible objects and unnecessary clutter is linked to depression and anxiety, especially in women. (Nourishing Minimalism)
Dad Joke of the Week
Dada says:
~ “Look! A new cemetery? I wonder if there a wait list. People must be dying to get in.” ~
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