December 27, 2021

"But they all didn’t just quit their jobs. They also posted a video about their decision, some of the very moment they resigned, on the popular social media site TikTok.

"And by doing so, they joined countless others who have turned the 'Great Resignation' — the pandemic-era phenomenon of record numbers of Americans quitting their jobs, more than 4 million a month since July — into a communal online experience. The TikTok videos, often raw, sometimes profane and always emotional, show how the pandemic has exacerbated the stresses of work in America and revealed how some workers are using this moment to reevaluate what they want out of life. But why post about quitting on TikTok? And if the videos show how much these TikTokers craved something better, what actually comes next? These five TikTokers told us their stories...."

From "#IQuitMyJob These 5 TikTokers wanted more from work. So they quit — in a very public way" (WaPo).

Here's the page at TikTok collecting all the #IQuitMyJob videos.

22 comments:

Achilles said...

People quit jobs all of the time. It is not a new thing.

Now they just have the opportunity to publicly warn future employers of what a mistake it would be to hire them for another job.

Original Mike said...

"what actually comes next?"

Government handouts.

Tomcc said...

I didn't follow the link, but did any of them cite insufficient internet popularity?

effinayright said...

Original Mike said...
"what actually comes next?"

Government handouts.
***********
States don't give you unemployment benefits if you quit your job.

Given the punitive policies the federal government has toward the unvaccinated I don't expect them to be handing out cash, either.

Achilles said...

Free money of course has nothing to do with people quitting their jobs.

People do not quit jobs when they are given free money to not work.

This has nothing to do with the massive inflation going on right now either. Devaluing work and lowering everyone's standard of living has nothing to do with people quitting jobs.

Neither do rent moratoriums.

Or student loan payment moratoriums.

If I didn't know better I would say the people running our country right now have no idea how a complex economy works.

effinayright said...

Achilles said...
People quit jobs all of the time. It is not a new thing.

Now they just have the opportunity to publicly warn future employers of what a mistake it would be to hire them for another job.
*******

Yeah. they're obviously frivolous and irresponsible flakes for not wanting to be injected with untested and utterly ineffective vaccines with known and unknown side effects, and forced to even if they've already had the illness and recovered from it.

Flakes.

SNORT

Big Mike said...

revealed how some workers are using this moment to reevaluate what they want out of life.

What they want doesn’t include a salary, I take it.

Achilles said...

effinayright said...

Achilles said...
People quit jobs all of the time. It is not a new thing.

Now they just have the opportunity to publicly warn future employers of what a mistake it would be to hire them for another job.
*******

Yeah. they're obviously frivolous and irresponsible flakes for not wanting to be injected with untested and utterly ineffective vaccines with known and unknown side effects, and forced to even if they've already had the illness and recovered from it.

Flakes.

SNORT


Those people aren't posting on Tik Tok. Most of the #IQuit stuff is food service millennials.

And most of us are still employed. Our company dropped the mandate on the 15th like an unwanted sack of shit. The people here that never registered their status are still here.

And in our field anyone that got fired by a stupid company for not getting the vaccine would get hired in a heartbeat.

Dave Begley said...

The entire crew at a Burger King in Lincoln quit earlier this year. They posted their collective notice on the main sign on the street and locked the place up. I think they started this trend.

And they all got better jobs after they quit.

Earnest Prole said...

Generally speaking, what interests Althouse interests me, but you could not pay me to care enough to follow that link.

tommyesq said...

More than 4 million a month since July? So that's how Biden got the unemployment rate down!

(Note - the unemployment rate hovered between 6.3% and 5.9% under Biden in January - June 2021, then suddenly fell to 5.4% in July, 5.2% in August, 4.8% in September, 4.6% in October, and 4.2% in November).

Maynard said...

I retired three years ago. It is essentially the same thing as quitting if you have invested your money smartly. Who needs the bullshit anymore when you can afford to stop working?

Middle age spouses are quitting and taking care of the kids while the other spouse works to pay the bills. When you factor in the costs of daycare, etc., it works out well. It also gives parents the option of actually raising their kids instead of teachers and babysitters.

For younger people with lower end jobs, there does not appear to be a lot of incentive to work and develop a career where you have some say in what you do and how you do it. The authoritarians in college pretty much beat them down when it comes to thinking and acting independently.

My 24 year old stepson, a recent college grad with loans to pay is in that boat. He is not working nor is he in grad school. He is trying to discover his direction in life by playing on-line games. Apparently he is nationally ranked in some games and makes a few bucks playing. Of course, he has never paid rent or a utility bill in his life. That is for us old fogies.

gilbar said...

two nurses are close friends of mine
one is a democrat, that loves her job (telemetry nurse)... still working; no surprise.
The other,
a ER nurse, that's had COVID; and DIDN'T want to get vaxed; i WAS surprised she was still working
Then, i found out YESTERDAY, she has two more 12 hour shifts to go... Then: Adios

25 years of being a Nurse, and was told:
"IF you don't get VAXED by Jan 1, we'll consider it a voluntary termination... NO benefits"
So, She said: "FINE, i am out the door Dec 30th"

Oh, another thing...
IF she'd Stayed; it was Mandatory that she work the 31st, 'cause they're short handed
Now, they'll be MORE short handed. Government is STUPID

ps. be careful on the 31st. If you get in trouble and go to the ER; you'll probably have to cope with a telemetry nurse that's working a double shift, and don't know sh*t about ER

Wince said...

… revealed how some workers are using this moment to reevaluate what they want out of life.

"Or a baby's arm holding an apple?"

What do you want from life?
To kidnap an heiress
or threaten her with a knife

What do you want from life?
To get cable TV
and watch it every night

There you sit
a lump in your chair
Where do you sleep
and what do you wear
when you're sleeping

What do you want from life?
An Indian guru
to show you the inner light
What do you want from life?
a meaningless love affair
with a girl that you met tonight
How can you tell when you're doin' alright
Does your bank account swell
While you're dreaming at night
How do know when you're really in love
Do violins play when you're touching the one
That you're loving

What do you want from life?
Someone to love
and somebody that you can trust

What do you want from life?
To try and be happy
while you do the nasty things
you must

Well, you can't have that, but if you're an American citizen you are entitled to:

a heated kidney shaped pool,
a microwave oven--don't watch the food cook,
a Dyna-Gym--I'll personally demonstrate it in the privacy of your own home,
a kingsize Titanic unsinkable Molly Brown waterbed with polybendum,
a foolproof plan and an airtight alibi,
real simulated Indian jewelry,
a Gucci shoetree,
a year's supply of antibiotics,
a personally autographed picture of Randy Mantooth
and Bob Dylan's new unlisted phone number,
a beautifully restored 3rd Reich swizzle stick,
Rosemary's baby,
a dream date in kneepads with Paul Williams,
a new Matador,
a new mastadon,
a Maverick,
a Mustang,
a Montego,
a Merc Montclair,
a Mark IV,
a meteor,
a Mercedes,
an MG,
or a Malibu,
a Mort Moriarty,
a Maserati,
a Mac truck,
a Mazda,
a new Monza,
or a moped,
a Winnebago--Hell, a herd of Winnebago's we're giving 'em away,
or how about a McCulloch chainsaw,
a Las Vegas wedding,
a Mexican divorce,
a solid gold Kama Sutra coffee pot...

or a baby's arm holding an apple?

Narr said...

I'll skip the baby's arm holding an apple, thanks.

Our son left his low-level carpentry shop job for another which has the same lack of benefits and prospects as the old one, but pays slightly better. OTOH he avoided, with my advice, the trap of college debt by skipping that hassle after a few semesters.

I rather suspect that his plan for the future consists of inheriting everything from my wife and me, and eventually--who knows, maybe before I'm gone, even--a bigger stake from his uncle, my youngest brother. The working lives of many people, funneled down to the last, unmarried and unmarriable, of the line.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

The numbers are juiced by all the baby boomers retiring. That's why I quit in October.

JK Brown said...

If you are all for people quitting their jobs, you'd best be handy and be able to do for yourself. Even then, you'll soon run out of steel, electricity, oil, wood, clothing, and well, anything you can't make yourself off what you grow on your own land from seeds you carry over year to year.

Winter is coming, with snowy, freezing storms. Perhaps the linemen will take the week off till it warms up.

David Begley said...

Gilbar:

I used to be an ALJ with the NE DOL. I heard unemployment cases. Tell your nurse friend to file an unemployment claim. She did NOT quit. She was discharged. And I would argue that her discharge was NOT for misconduct. It was a single incident and it was NOT misconduct because she had natural immunity.

Hospitals in NE are pulling the same stunt and an ALJ friend tells me the lose EVERY case.

Another corporate and Dem scandal. Heartless fucking hypocrite bastards.

Bunkypotatohead said...

Everyone is getting rich buying bitcoin and making tiktok videos.
Why work in some demeaning entry level mcjob?

Rollo said...

President Beeblebrox invited the dancing TikTok nurses to the White House (and the story is "Republicans pounce"). No word if hospital administrators put the firings of the unvaccinated nurses on social media for his delectation.

Static Ping said...

Sometimes it takes a major life event to figure out what you are going to do with your life. If you are not happy with your job, it is easy to just get stuck in a rut and not try to change. COVID has caused quite a few people to reconsider.

That said, I do expect that they will find jobs more suited for them, or get training to change to a different line of work, or find some other way to live without being a burden to their parents, the government, or whatever. "Take This Job and Shove It" feels nice but it does not pay the bills.

Stephanie A. Richer said...

I suspect there is a different set of values between people who say they have quit their jobs and those who say they have changed jobs.