Every time I go online, I’m bombarded with “quiet quitting” clips and videos of my peers bragging about leaving their nine-to-five office jobs to work from a beach in Thailand.
It is a tiresome and damaging narrative that encourages young workers like me to opt out of stability before we’ve even found our footing.
These videos glamorise trading steady employment for the life of an entrepreneur without showing the financial strain, emotional burnout and career stagnation that can come with it.
I know this, because I fell for it too.
My first job out of university was full-time, but we were expected to be in the office just twice a week. In hindsight, that lack of in-person contact left me detached from my work and colleagues. I couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to leave it all and embrace the “digital nomad” lifestyle.
A year ago, I was sitting on a sun lounger in Spain, catching the last of the autumn sun while working remotely as a business owner and talent manager. I could go to the gym when I wanted, sleep whenever I liked and book spontaneous trips abroad. I had no one to answer to and I was making good money – the Gen Z dream.
But it wasn’t all sunshine and daisies. With no set working hours, I never knew when to switch off. Whenever I tried to relax, guilt crept in about what I should be doing. It quickly became exhausting.
It also became lonely. Living on my own schedule was isolating – other than my boyfriend, no one I knew was in the same position. I spent my days alone on my laptop, craving the social interactions that come with an office. But no one mentions this when they rave about the digital nomad lifestyle.
It takes a rare kind of person – disciplined and self-contained – to thrive in that world.
So now, in my mid-20s, I work in the office five days a week, have 28 days of holiday a year and plenty of people to answer to. The biggest difference? I’m far more fulfilled. The structure I once saw as restrictive has become a source of purpose.
There’s a danger in online trends like #QuitTok, “lazy girl jobs” and the “soft life”, which glamorise quitting without a plan.
Right now, almost one million 18 to 24-year-olds in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEETs) – around 15pc of the age group, according to the Office for National Statistics.