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Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc.

CAREERS

The great January escape

Many employees see January as the ideal time to make a career change or switch to a role that better aligns with their goals

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IT’S 2025 ― A new year, a new you. Maybe that has you reconsidering your position and your career prospects, just like a certain prime minister. And maybe, also like the prime minister, you conclude that it’s time to try something new.

 

“Many employees view the new year as a fresh start, prompting them to reevaluate their career paths and seek new opportunities,” HR director Mary Jenson told Digiday. “Additionally, the holiday season can exacerbate feelings of dissatisfaction or burnout, leading to increased turnover.”

 

It ain’t just the PMO enduring the burnout blues ― HR departments across the country will be bracing for what’s now recognized as a fairly predictable January resignation rush. Data from Glassdoor finds that job applications surge by 22 per cent in January, on average, as people look to forge new paths and take advantage of topped up hiring budgets.

 

As a phenomenon, the January resignation rush is simple to explain: people tend to reflect on the outgoing year and towards the new one over the holidays, and for a number of them, that will lead them to conclude that quitting their job is what they need.

 

“Post-holiday clarity gives professionals time to reflect on their career trajectory and workplace satisfaction,” said recruiter Geoff Howison. “Many professionals strategically wait until after receiving their end-of-year bonuses before transitioning to new roles, making January an optimal time for change.”

 

On the other side of the equation, firms often launch new projects and have increased budgets around this time of year, giving restless jobseekers a place to go.

 

Another way for employers to think about it is as the bill coming due for the year that just ended. If an employee is thinking about leaving in January, they’re probably already halfway out the door ― and throwing money at them now is probably not enough to convince them to stay.

 

“Someone just doesn’t decide on December 22, ‘I’m gonna quit,’” observed Eric Mochnacz of HR firm Red Clover. “Usually, it’s a culmination of a number of factors that occurred throughout the year that made them decide to start searching for a job in the first place.”

EMPLOYMENT

NEETs: Why some young adults are disconecting from the job market

Not everyone who wants a job has one. And not everyone even wants a job at all

MAYBE YOU’RE LOOKING for a new job this January, but that’s not the case for everyone, including the rising ranks of young people rejecting work altogether, known as NEETs: “Not in Education, Employment or Training.”

 

Recently, the Financial Times reported that “economically inactive young people” are reaching near-historic peaks in the UK, mirroring trends seen elsewhere.

 

“The number of economically inactive young people [is] close to its highest level ― a similar story in Europe and the U.S., where more than one in 10 young people are NEETs,” wrote Delara Zand. It’s also a worldwide phenomenon, with the Chinese ‘lying flat’ movement more or less espousing the same ideas. In Canada, StatsCan estimates that 11 per cent of youth between the ages of 15 and 29 fall into the NEET category.

 

“I could never go back to working a normal job again,” one young non-worker told FT. “With inflation and rents rising, the incentive to devote all of my time to an employer to barely scrape by didn’t make sense anymore.”

 

Rising ranks of the NEETS presents a bit of a paradox: at a time when the cost of living is relatively high, young people are rejecting work at higher rates. Across the globe, the International Labour Organization (ILO) now estimates that 21.7 per cent of all people between 15 and 24 are considered NEETs.

 

Economists slot voluntary NEET-hood into the concept of demotivation in the economy. “There is a growing phenomenon of younger employees who feel less connected and less motivated. Reasons for demotivation given include the gloomy economic outlook, rubbish jobs, a desire to move abroad and an awareness of better alternatives,” wrote economist Tejvan Pettinger. “A content creator is more desirable than doing a so-called ‘bullshit job’ for other people.”

 

Overall, the rising rate of NEET-hood is considered a red flag that countries should be keeping an eye on. “Too many young people around the world are becoming detached from education and the labour market, which can damage their long-term prospects, as well as ultimately undermine the social and economic development of their countries,” said ILO director of the employment policy Sangheon Lee.

 

But what’s different these days, economically speaking, is NEET-hood can be a sustainable path, in the sense that people can find all sorts of avenues to find income.

 

“In the past there were few alternatives to a classic nine-to-five job. But Generation Z has grown up seeing people make a living from YouTube, Instagram and online sales,” Pettinger wrote. “In this regard, I have some sympathy. I used to have a proper job teaching economics 45 hours a week. But I wanted to spend more time cycling, so I gave up teaching and worked for myself creating a website and then a YouTube channel. It’s not particularly well-paid; I would probably earn more with a proper job. But I love the freedom to work when I want.” 

Terry Talks: The sartorial mind

Over the last 30 years, dress codes throughout corporations and offices have undergone drastic changes. In this week's Terry Talk, Terry dives into a fascinating 2024 study by Kristin Lee Sotak that explores the impressions our clothing choices leave on others. The study sheds light on how stereotypes tied to attire can shape recruitment and interviewing biases, often influencing decisions in subtle but impactful ways.

WATCH HERE

CULTURE

Ageism in the workplace: Its a bigger problem than you think

Old, young and in-between tensions between different generations are escalating

FOR ALL THE snide commentary passed on their idiosyncrasies and mannerisms, the modern workplace is increasingly a young person’s domain ― by the end of 2025, it’s expected that 75 per cent of the global workforce will be from the millennial generation. So, while Gen Z are still often the butt of the joke, it may not be surprising that Gen X and older workers say that age, not youth, is increasingly seen as a liability in the workplace.

 

A new study from MyPerfectResume found that 99 per cent of workers over the age of 40 see “at least some degree of ageism in the workplace,” with many reporting “ageist stereotypes, bullying and subtle cultural pressures to conceal their age.

 

“Most workers aged 40 and older admit to adjusting how they act and speak at work to avoid standing out,” the survey found. “Only two per cent of respondents said they never change how they act or speak around younger coworkers.”

 

But ask younger workers, and they’ll say they are the victims of ageism, too. “I often get mistaken for being younger than I actually am, which sometimes causes people to underestimate my knowledge or dismiss my opinions,” one early-20s lawyer told The Washington Post. Michael North, a business professor at NYU, added that he thinks that those aged 18 to 30 are facing the worst ageism in the workplace right now.

 

It all seems to suggest one thing about the modern workplace: every generation has pretty negative ideas about every other generation. Ageism is flying in all directions, making it harder for generations to work together.

 

“I think individuals who are experiencing ageism are feeling a lot of pressure to not necessarily showcase their age, and almost assimilate or fit in,” said MyPerfectResume career expert Jasmine Escalera. “I really hope that this is a wake-up call for organizations and people in leadership to think about.”

REMOTE WORK

Sensible or short-sighted?

As Amazon forces RTO five days a week, are other companies rethinking their stance?

FLYING IN THE face of most predictions that hybrid work is here to stay, ecommerce giant Amazon kicked its new, very inflexible RTO policy into place this year, requiring 100 per cent in-office attendance.

 

The move makes Amazon a clear outlier in the realm of large firms, where hybrid work remains the norm.

 

“Amazon’s shift, specifically, is top of mind for business owners,” wrote Sarah Lynch of Inc. Magazine. “Companies large and small will ponder if they, too, need to switch up their remote-work stance in order to stay competitive or grow into an Amazon-like powerhouse. Whether they actually make changes will start to become clear early this year,” as they watch RTO at Amazon play out.

 

But on that front, it’s not exactly been a speedy return. In more than 40 markets, the RTO date was delayed by as much as four months, because the company didn’t have enough space for all its people. And they haven’t been able to apply the mandate equally across the globe. According to Business Insider, the policy is much more flexible if you’re working in Europe than if you’re working in the U.S. (In the Netherlands, for instance, employers “cannot legally enforce an RTO policy without the approval of a works council.”)

 

The big thing to watch will be the company’s retention rate. A recent survey found that 48 per cent of Amazon’s staff reportedly already began applying for other jobs, with nearly 70 per cent saying they were likely to leave the company within the next year. This could, of course, be the point ― layoffs in disguise ― but for normal companies who are looking to limit staff turnover, the rate of dissatisfaction could give them pause before following Amazon’s lead.

 

It is a reminder that hybrid work is still a moving target. “That dance between the employee and the employer is suggesting we’re still on a journey to that perfect mix,” said Robert Half’s David King.

 

At Amazon, though, many employees remain pretty dead set against the idea.

 

"Our whole bread and butter is selling products to people remotely and selling products to people who want to work remotely,” CJ Felli, a system development engineer at Amazon Web Services, told CBC NEWS. “So, if we can't make remote work, then what are we selling?”

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