On the “micro-retirements” trend

“What if we released our obsession with productivity and the need to measure the impacts of our rest? What if we expanded our definition of success, welcoming the notion that it’s deeply personal, rather than societally prescribed? ”

Both Unilad and Business Insider recently ran articles on the rising trend among Gen Z and Millennials of micro-retirements, or in other words, career breaks and sabbaticals. A few things struck me about the articles. Firstly, it’s interesting to see folks in their twenties and early thirties beginning to adopt this practice. I wrote about it in this post, but throughout my 15 year career, I’ve ended up taking multiple breaks from my tech and product management career. Perhaps the only difference between myself and younger folks now is that they’re unapologetically taking these breaks, and they’re planning them. My breaks were unplanned and due to debilitating burnout. Earlier in my career I didn’t see peers taking time away from their career trajectories, so perhaps Gen Z and younger Millennials are testing new norms.

Even as folks engage in these new norms though, both of these articles have a tone of caution, highlighting the potential negative impacts of taking extended time away from the workforce. The risks they note include, finding the break unfulfilling, falling behind as skill sets and technology rapidly evolve and not being able to contribute to your long term retirement for when you reach the traditional retirement age. These items are all fair concerns, and I’m the number one advocate of carefully planning an extended break to account for them. That being said though, after reading the pieces, I got the sense of a slight bias discouraging folks from considering micro-retirements.

Finally, there’s an emphasis in both these pieces on a need to be productive during your career break, even though, for some people, the very reason for the break is to recover from burnout. For example, Jes Osrow, the co-founder of an HR consultancy quoted in the article states regarding a career break:

“...it's an opportunity to combat burnout and pursue "personal passions" outside the office. For others, it could be the perfect time to start a new side hustle.” 

Or later in the article in reference to defining what “coming back” means for a given individual,

"Is it returning with a new set of skills, or when you've reached a certain financial benchmark?...Setting these goals helps ensure that your time off is meaningful and intentional, giving you clear metrics to measure success."

Other than noting the opportunity to address burnout, these comments hold an assumption that a sabbatical must be productive in a certain type of way. We’re a society obsessed with productivity. Even in our rest we feel the need to provide metrics for how successful it’s been.

A new perspective

What I’d offer in response to these articles is, what if we normalized taking career breaks and empowered professionals with the resources to address the legitimate concerns raised? What if we released our obsession with productivity and the need to measure the impacts of our rest? What if we expanded our definition of success, welcoming the notion that it’s deeply personal, rather than societally prescribed? 

Not everyone is interested in climbing the ladder of their industries. As a whole, we’re seeing that people’s ambitions are shifting. There’s a growing lack of fulfillment in job titles and promotions, but rather people’s ambitions are expanding beyond an employer to personal interests or investing more time in family or community. Some people are content for a job to just to be a job or an income stream, and I’d argue that’s okay.  

We know that corporate loyalty is a thing of the past. Gone are the days where you’ll work with one company for decades and retire with a pension. Employees are hopping to new jobs every 2-3 years in order to earn more money, so why not include regular periods of rest, play and contemplation?

It’s not guaranteed that any of us will make it to the traditional retirement age, so I’d make the case that we embrace the idea of making work work for you. Let’s find whole life satisfaction at whatever career stage we’re in, including the incorporation of thoughtfully planned sabbaticals that allow us to be present in the current season where we find ourselves.