LIFESTYLE
We made it to Friday, yey. We don't know about you but for us this week has been a WEEK. And it go us thinking somewhere between graduation and now, the job market got harrrrd. And it's not just our imagination, pay in North America and parts of Europe didn't grow at all in real terms last year (meaning pay is outpaced by inflation, according to the ILO and the average job seeker now sends out anywhere from 30 to over 100 applications before landing a single offer. Whilst we never got the benefits the boomers did, there were definitely better perks, better hours and less burnout before. This isn't a woe us, avocado toast is preventing us from buying a house article, and we're not going to tell you that burnout isn't real either, because it most definitely is. But if you've been feeling a bit stuck, and you don't quite know how to fix it, this might help.
For The Ones With No Job Satisfaction
Not everyone has to do their dream job, and honestly that's more relevant than ever in this market. Plenty of people get their satisfaction from things entirely outside work, hobbies, family, sport, whatever it is for you, and that's a completely reasonable place to get it from. If you still want your actual day to day to feel better though, attitude does most of the heavy lifting. The effort you put in, the skills you pick up off your own back, and the pride you take in doing things properly, whatever the job title says, will get you further satisfaction-wise than a fancier title ever will, especially if that title just eats into the time you'd rather spend on everything else.
For The Ones Who Work Too Much
You have to ask yourself if the return is actually worth the investment, because guess what, hot stuff, a big bank account isn't all that. Giving up time with family, your health, seeing your friends, or just living like an actual human being is worth so much more in the long run. Nobody lies on their deathbed wishing they'd worked more hours.
For The Ones Comparing Themselves To Everyone Else's LinkedIn
LinkedIn is everyone's flexing location. It used to be the coffee machine in the office and that was bad enough, but now you have to hear it from every connection you've ever made, and it's the worst possible place to measure your career success. If you wouldn't believe a stranger's dating app photo represents what they actually look like today then don't believe their LinkedIn post represents their actual daily experience either.
For The Ones At The Beginning Of The Career Ladder
It might feel bleak right now, but there's actually a lot more opportunity out there than LinkedIn doom-posting would have you believe. Yes, AI is coming for admin-heavy roles, but be honest, who actually wanted to spend their career typing up meeting minutes in a cubicle anyway?
Here's the part nobody's talking about enough. Huge numbers of small business owners are reaching retirement age over the next decade with no one lined up to take over. McKinsey estimates around six million small and medium businesses in the US alone will need new owners by 2035, more than a million of them perfectly viable, profitable businesses, representing an estimated five trillion dollars in value just sitting there waiting for someone younger to take the reins. Forget building a startup from nothing, there's an entire generation of boring, profitable, unglamorous businesses, plumbers, local manufacturers, accounting firms, about to need new owners who know how to use a spreadsheet and aren't allergic to email marketing.
For The Ones Who Got Laid Off And Are Spiralling
First, the layoff is not a referendum on your worth, no matter how much your brain insists it is. Companies cut roles for budget reasons, restructuring, a new exec who wants their own people in, reasons that have nothing to do with whether you were good at your job. Give yourself a window to feel terrible about it, a week, two weeks max. Then make practical moves, file for whatever support you're entitled to immediately, make sure you don't wait on this one, and tell people you trust that you're looking. Many jobs come through someone knowing someone, not an application into LinkedIn easy apply.
For The Ones Considering A Full Career Pivot
Changing direction entirely feels terrifying mostly because of the sunk cost. All those years, all that experience, surely they have to count for more than starting again from zero? They do. The skills that got you this far, transfer to almost anything you'd pivot into. What really stops people is the fear that starting at the bottom of a new industry erases the years they spent near the top of the old one. That's ego talking. Test the new direction in small doses first, like some upskilling and a few freelance projects, before deciding whether the full leap is worth making.
For The Ones Who Feel Trapped
This one's harder because there's rarely one clean fix. Lifestyle creep sneaks up on you, school fees, mortgage, a fancy car, family support and suddenly the job you'd love to leave is also the one paying for a life you can't easily downsize. So instead of trying to find a big dramatic exit, try the smaller plan.
Start a job search with zero urgency. Not to 100% leave but just so you've got options, that alone takes the edge off feeling trapped. Look hard at where your lifestyle creep is, subscriptions, upgrades, flexing purchases (you know the ones), because trimming those buys you a more freedom to make choices later. Build a small Fuck It fund, because options feel completely different with money behind them versus none at all. And before assuming the only fix is quitting, ask for some smaller change first, fewer hours, more remote days, a different team, sometimes the trap is in the details, not the whole company.
Whichever one of these is you right now, satisfaction-starved, overworked, comparing yourself into a spiral, just starting out, freshly laid off, plotting a pivot, or quietly stuck, the job market might be tougher than it was for the generation before us. But there's still a way through it, you might just have to build it yourself.