The Great Resignation Has an Ugly Sequel — the Great Realization

But no one wants to talk about the flip side of the “dream”

Pranshu "Maverick" Dwivedi
6 min readNov 13, 2021
Photo by felipepelaquim on Unsplash

It all started late last year and picked up steam in the spring of 2021, so much so that it was coined into a well-recognized term — the Great Resignation or its cousin the Big Quit.

The mass exodus of people from their current jobs, especially in America, but quite widespread across the world, was triggered by the pandemic but its roots are much deeper than the virus. The pandemic simply provided a time for people to reflect on their lives and weigh their priorities. The result was that many realized how frustrated they were in their golden handcuffs, and decided that this was it. They were no longer going to sell their soul for a few thousand dollars.

Work-life balance suddenly came to the fore. When they could do just as well at their “job” from the comfort of their homes, why would they ever want to go into a formal office setting? Moreover, if they could produce all this great quality work for a corporate employer in exchange for peanuts, wouldn’t they rather work for themselves and keep all the profits, rather than a fraction?

There is also the philosophical bit of it all. When life’s so damn uncertain that a random black swan event could claim millions of…

--

--

Pranshu "Maverick" Dwivedi
Pranshu "Maverick" Dwivedi

Written by Pranshu "Maverick" Dwivedi

Stay-at-home-dad who "retired" from a 12-year career in finance at the age of 35. Curious thinker with an opinion on nearly everything and is here to share it.

Responses (102)