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As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'

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Re: As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'

#151

5 years ago I hit a burnout point and took a year off work. It was a huge perspective shift. I realized that my day-to-day of a rushed commute to work, a stressful and distracting office, thimble-deep coworker relationships and a life completely orientated around doing the above was an insane waste of my short time on Planet Earth. I reoriented my life around family, remote work, flexibility and balance. My quality o…

And also anecdotally, every professional office worker under ~30 I know has been absolutely miserable during this remote work experience, and is yearning to get back to the office - most for a full 5 days a week.

I'm quite definitely under 30, and I just quit in order to stay remote. I'm so much more relaxed, and I can spend actual quality time with my wife and friends. I'm not sure why anyone would want to go back.

Re: As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'

#152
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was attempted in the 2000s and it was a massive disaster.

China in 2000 and China in 2021 is like night and day in terms of standard of living, education etc. Just because it didn't work back then doesn't mean it wont work today.

The massive outsourcing experiment failure had nothing to do with standard of living or education. It was the combination of timezones and cultural differences.

Turns out cultural differences around work, communication, etc between the US and India/China are pretty massive. I seriously doubt that these went away in 2 decades.

Also, your argument around standard of living and education would actually be more proof that outsourcing would not work. It is no longer as financially beneficial.

That being said, you're also right, past failure doesn't mean that it can't ever be successful in the future.

Re: As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'

#153
Yeah I think it's a major transition for both employees and employers to figure out where to go from here. I suspect the best thing for people looking for new work is to find something that matches your values. As a startup founder, I started Earth Wallet around these core values - Creating a Better Planet, Innovating & Evolving, and Trust & Respect.

If anyone believes in these values, we offer a flexible, remote-friendly lifestyle, with two meetups a year at cool places like Bali, Greece, Costa Rica, Barbados, and adding new ones as time goes on! So if you're a developer looking for a new way of working in the decentralization space, feel free to reach me at developers@earthwallet.io!

Re: As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine living in a society where basic income is guaranteed no matter what, and even its worst places - its prison cells - compare favorably to the finest hotels of other countries. You have so many options you feel constantly overwhelmed, stressing about making bad choices because everything your primitive heart could ever desire is not merely available, but plentiful and cheap. And it'll recruit you if you're not…

"Imagine living in a society where basic income is guaranteed no matter what, and even its worst places - its prison cells - compare favorably to the finest hotels of other countries." What I see are bored young males hanging out and getting in fights, not a whole generation of people learning cuneiform in their newfound free time.

Absolutely. There is no free lunch. UBI comes on the backs of the value adding class of society. Some people actually LIKE to work, hard as it is for some to believe.

The Value Adding Class will have privilege thrust upon them in the form of paying for those young males to hang out and get in fights.

Ive had the dubious honor of knowing more than one kid who was never going to have to work a single day in life owing to who their parents and grandparents were. They tend to end up chemical addicted for the most part.

Idle hands do the devils work.

Re: As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'

#155
Most couples take a second job to increase their standard of living, but now millions were forced by the pandemic to reduce their standard of living, and many are now saying "Wait, this reduction in my standard of living is really an improvement in my standard of living." That's especially true when some phase-shift decision was made, like taking in roommates to one's apartment, or moving back in with one's parents, suddenly one's expenses are much lower, and one can think more carefully about what kind of work one is willing to take.

Re: As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And also anecdotally, every professional office worker under ~30 I know has been absolutely miserable during this remote work experience, and is yearning to get back to the office - most for a full 5 days a week.

That's baffling, haven't people got friends?

Apparently not.

As psychologists worry that the coronavirus pandemic is triggering a loneliness epidemic, new Harvard research suggests feelings of social isolation are on the rise and that those hardest hit are older teens and young adults.

In the recently released results of a study conducted last October by researchers at Making Caring Common, 36 percent of respondents to a national survey of approximately 950 Americans reported feeling lonely “frequently” or “almost all the time or all the time” in the prior four weeks, compared with 25 percent who recalled experiencing serious issues in the two months prior to the pandemic. Perhaps most striking is that 61 percent of those aged 18 to 25 reported high levels.

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/02/young-adults-...

I'm excited to go back to work in-person. Working with my colleagues gives me a great deal of joy throughout the day.

Re: As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And also anecdotally, every professional office worker under ~30 I know has been absolutely miserable during this remote work experience, and is yearning to get back to the office - most for a full 5 days a week.

That's baffling, haven't people got friends?

It’s hard to make friends as an adult. Especially:

1) If you don’t have kids (socializing with other parents).

2) Don’t go to church/synagogue/etc (church attendance in decline)

3) Do not live where you grew up. (People chase opportunities in other cities.)

4) Aren’t in school any more.

Neighbor friends are also possible, but it can take many years for people to become comfortable enough to be friends, and due to #3, there’s often not enough time for that to happen before people move.

Half my friends are from work and half are parents. They’re not super shallow friendships but also not soul-level deep, either. Deep friendships were left behind from college days.

Re: As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people pay $100+/month for cable, eat out multiple times per week, have thousands of credit card debt, and an unexpected $400 bill would ravage them. If you want to live a un-average life, you need to have un-average priorities and sacrifice. Few on HN should be living paycheck to paycheck. Check out Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover for a starting model. And yes, you'll have to sacrifice now to benefit later.

I totally recommend everyone read Dave Ramsay's work to understand how to approach money. It was an eye opener for me. But you have to understand that consumerism is pushed down our throats from all around starting at a very young age. Dave Ramsay doesn't just come into your consciousness like advertising does, and unless one is close to someone who is very anti consumerism and advertising you will likely be subjecte…

While many here are commenting on the abstract general population, most are speaking about themselves with variations of "must be nice!"

When you fly, the emergency briefing tells you to put on your own mask before helping others. In lifeguard training, you're taught to keep yourself afloat before the victim.

If you don't have your own finances in order, your opinion on others' finances is just noise and about as valuable.

Re: As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'

#159
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Jobs are handing out more money with more flexibility than ever seen before. I may be naive, but I guess this office-work-exodus would result to improvements in office spaces in general to attract devs (or other employees in tech). This would also make it easier for people who are looking to move to the US to find office jobs, since the competition is less fierce. Am I off mark here and too naive?

It seems like every year there’s a new study showing how cubicle farms are bad for productivity and health. Everyone hates them. Same thing for long commutes, they’re terrible. But still companies keep building new cubicle farms in downtown cores. Maybe office workers are just done with this stupid shit.

I like working in an office, I just don't like that it takes me 40 minutes to get there. In a better world I could live _in_ that downtown core, a short walk or bike ride away from work.

Re: As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'

#160
Fantastic opportunity for more automation and labor saving software innovation.

Also fantastic opportunity to make more money for those who continue to work. Salaries for them could be higher.

Great for offshore workers especially in tourism countries that suffered big decline too!

Not against the guys who want to take a break at all.

It’s just a good opportunity. Just as it was during the pandemic when people took the time to learn new stuff.

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