Rewind to a decade ago, and women were hustling, “leaning in,” and girlbossing — with the millennial-pink power suits to prove we were ready to shatter some ceilings. Today? We’re searching for “dumb jobs” and fauxductivity is on the rise.
We all know what happened: The pandemic burnout train hit hard. Working, living, and homeschooling within the same four walls had a lot of us reaching a breaking point. And just when we thought we had a chance to take back some control of our lives, companies decided to backpedal on all those accommodations that made working and living more seamless. Remote work? A distant memory. Flexibility to leave early for your kid’s soccer game? Not without some side-eye. Instead, businesses are mandating five days in the office (looking at you, Amazon) while laying people off left and right.
Dig a little deeper, and employees gravitating toward “easy work” isn’t a reflection on us or our ambition, drive, and sense of purpose with our jobs — it’s that we’re sick and tired of climbing an old-school corporate ladder that leads nowhere. Proof: Women are creating new businesses at a record rate, the OverEmployedWomen thread on Reddit is buzzing, and more folks are going after their “FIRE” financial goals. Ambition no longer means pursuing a certain title or number on a paycheck, but making your job (or “portfolio career”) work for you. In fact, we’ve never felt more driven to go after what we want — and trash anything that’s holding us back.
— “Not leaning in, just living,” Skimm Money Team
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