When it comes to the job front, the tides are changing. After massive layoffs last year, now there’s the Great Resignation. Four million people have left that traditional nine to five job behind, and in turn it’s forced companies to take another look at how they keep employees.
“You have to make sacrifices in your life in order to do it,” said Jake Leber, a now former television news producer. Jake’s one of the millions who quit the nine to five grind to pursue his dreams. He liked his job, but wanted more than just collecting a paycheck.
"We work holidays, we work weekends, we work overnights, and you have to make sacrifices in your life in order to do it,” he said about his former jobs.
Krister Ungerbock is a best-selling author and global leadership expert. We asked him what the Great Resignation meant to him.
“It means that we're losing employees in record numbers,” he told us.
Ungerbock is also an award-winning former CEO who says people have changed. Many are no longer in it for large salaries. Instead, he says, they want to spend more time with family, hobbies, or even a side business.
“People are leaving because they are looking for a better paycheck or alternatively looking for a combination of a better paycheck and more flexibility to work from home,” he said.
Ungerbock also shared his thoughts about two waves of people changing jobs.
The first, he says, include people who've already quit and could afford to do it. He says they also have the most options and are typically better employees.
The second wave and yet to happen, Ungerbock believes, are loyal employees who do some soul searching and decide it's time for a change.
“The best employees, it's probably resulting in increased freedom and increased financial reward,” he told us.
As for future career changes, Ungerbock believes, "I don't think it's going away anytime soon.”
As for Jake, he’s now living his dream by hosting trivia shows in local nightclubs and working remotely for a trivia company during the day.
He also urges everyone to follow their dreams, that’s if they can afford it.
So if you're in the market to change jobs or even just thinking about it, experts recommend you figure out how much money you have saved, how much you owe, weigh the pros and cons, and figure out your long-term objectives.
