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For some of Gen Z, the new career ladder means stepping off entirely.
For most people, the idea of “retirement” is something that arrives after decades of work – a reward for staying the course, paying your dues, and submitting to the grind. But for Gen Z, a generation raised in the shadow of economic precarity, climate anxiety, and post-pandemic existential dread, that finish line is no longer the goal.
Instead, we’ve arrived at the era of ‘micro-retirement’. Despite the term first emerging in 2009, this in-between space is gaining traction of late; it’s less about stepping away from work forever and more about hitting pause. Some describe it as a small career break, others a full-scale detox from corporate life and culture. Regardless of the semantics, this phenomenon reflects a cultural pivot – an emerging ethos that work should serve life rather than the other way around.
According to The Guardian, these intentional gaps between jobs aren’t always planned, and they aren’t necessarily a luxury. They’re a response to chronic burnout, a system that rewards overwork, and a collective sense that time – not money – is the scarcest and most precious resource.
The concept is taken from a 2007 book called ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’ by Timothy Ferriss. The book inspired thousands of workers, including Adama Lorna, who was inspired to take a 6-month micro-retirement from her job after reading it. ‘Instead of waiting until your 60 or 70 to travel the world and indulge in hobbies,’ says Lorna, ‘you do them while you have your youth, your energy and health.’
If it sounds similar to a sabbatical, that’s because it kind of…is. ‘Sabbaticals are seen as the thing that an organisation offers to you for paid time off, and then you come back to that job,’ says Kira Schabram, an assistant professor at the University of Washington who is researching micro-retirement. ‘People are just taking it into their own hands.’
Unlike traditional breaks from work, these pauses are rarely empty. Rarely bypassing an opportunity to monetise the moment, many young people are filling their micro-breaks with lucrative hobbies and side hustles, the most common being influencing on social media.
It’s easy to dismiss this as wishful thinking, or worse, privilege in disguise. But micro-retirements are not the exclusive domain of the elite. According to Forbes, this is a growing trend driven not by wealth but by re-prioritisation. Gen Z is less interested in climbing the ladder and more focused on building a life that doesn’t require constant escape.
While previous generations often staying loyal to the same employer for decades, younger generations are moulding their career paths to suit them – and have been for some time. Whether that’s jumping from different jobs and building a diverse CV, to taking up more freelance opportunities, or making the most of remote work.
