- Stressed-out Gen Zers and millennials are taking sabbaticals known as “micro-retirement.” They’re likely taking note of Gen Xers and boomers who are struggling to actually retire.
Taking a look at unretiring baby boomers and Gen Xers, already exhausted young adults are finding that it might be time to reinvent the wheel. If the workforce is turning from sprint to marathon, young adults are set to react accordingly, pausing for little water breaks or vacations along the way.
The phenomenon has been dubbed the “micro-retirement” by TikTok users—but it’s essentially taking a sabbatical.
Set to take up to a year off, Anaïs Felt says that she’s “never felt better” than while on her break, noting that she’s well-rested and feeling healthier.
Currently in the interview process with some of the “top companies in tech”, Felt, 31, asserts that “none of them seem to care” about her taking a micro-retirement and rather say that they’d like to take one as well. “I think our world is changing and people and millennials who are in leadership roles are really starting to respect our need to take time off,” she adds.
Burnout fuels micro-retirement for young adults
Indeed, work seems to be taking a special toll on employees of late. Just 50% of workers report to Gallup that they are “thriving in their over lives,” a record low since the polling service began surveying sentiment in 2009. Gallup notes that the reported rate of employees thriving started to decline in 2020 when the pandemic hit. Dealing with waxing and then waning flexibility from employers likely led to a hit on well-being. Years later, malaise persists, as burnout mentions on Glassdoor reviews reached a new high in 2024.
Entering the workforce during this changing time, Gen Zers appear to be especially unhappy. Often the most underpaid in the office, this cohort was deemed the most stressed-out generation by Cigna in 2023. Millennials, too, stepping into the often difficult role of middle manager, report high levels of burnout.
Calling her strategy “microdosing retirement,” 30-year-old tech consultant and content creator Liz Lee says she knows she’s not the only one terrified of going into an office every day until the age of 65 “and having to fit decades worth of living into the time you have left.”
While she’s not quitting her job to take a break, she’s changed her mindset to prioritize her mental health and personal interests, similar to a retiree. With the goals of enjoying life to the fullest while she’s young and also saving for the future, Lee has even turned down promotions in order to maintain a better work-life balance.
“You realize once you get outside your bubble there’s a lot of different ways to live life,” Peter Ovendorf, one-half of a young couple who quit their jobs to travel the world, told Fortune. Claire Zhu, his partner, began their journey when feeling burned out at her finance gig in 2020 and taking note of creators posting full-time travel content.
Boomers and Gen Xers can’t quit
On the other end of the spectrum, older employees are finding leaving the workforce to be an incredibly difficult feat.
Glancing down the barrel of retirement, older generations are finding a black hole in their wake. Gen Xers report being the least financially prepared to leave the workforce, perhaps due to their coming of age as the pension faded—points out Fortune’s Alicia Adamczyk.
Living longer and operating within an increasingly expensive world, adults find themselves also working more than expected. Some have been forced to “unretire,” or return to work after finding their savings to not go as far as expected.
Financial anxiety is even making rich boomers act more frugal, as they opt for a less splashy retirement given their need to stretch out their nest egg for an indeterminate amount of time. And people think they need more than they might to actually retire, as Northwestern Mutual points out that the “magic number” needed to retire is rising faster than the rate of inflation.
Finances aside, working one’s entire life seems to have made a mark on older generations’ psyche. “Retirement to me is a scary thing. How much can you lay on the beach?” George Cavedon, 73, tells Fortune. It’s a widespread trend, as the rate of Americans older than 65 still working has almost doubled since 35 years ago, per data from Pew Research Center.
Perhaps their straits have influenced younger generations’ desire to redefine work for themselves, or at least take a vacation.
