Quiet-quitting: Why Are All The Twenty-Something's Leaving Their Corporate 9-5s?
The subtle undoing’s of the corporate world, and why so many young individuals are taking it upon themselves to call it a day. Has the focus shifted back to us?
All opinions are that of my own.
In July of this year, I decided to throw in the towel and quit my corporate 9am-5pm job. I had only been there for 5 months, it was my first position in an office-based environment, and I was not sure about it … at all. I went through all the stages. From being extremely nervous to leave my life and love of hospitality behind, to throwing my all into my position and feeling I’d finally found a role that harnessed my skills… I really covered all bases. However, ultimately, here we still are.
Four months after working in recruitment, I had to admit three things: I did not like my job, I was burnt out, and I really, really, really wanted to quit. My colleagues were supportive; I did not want to leave. I wanted to brave it and make the most of the opportunity in front of me. However, midway through the fifth month I had a complete mid-20s crash out and thought “no more!”.
I saw so many of my peers echoing my thoughts and feelings about corporate burn-out. I reached out to several friends who are working in corporate roles but desperately want to move towards their creative desires, and asked for their thoughts on corporate burnout. The overarching theme that was fed back to me was this: we are all simply doing what we must to survive. It’s not about pursuing the dream job, it’s about using all your time outside of your somewhat structured work day to just, well, feel something.
However, the problem with that is this. In many corporate areas, your days may - contractually - start at 8am and finish at 5pm, but does that really happen? No. Factor in the cultural expectation to, alongside all your colleagues, be at your desk by 7am and finish at 6:30pm and suddenly you feel like a polar bear on a shrinking piece of ice. Not to mention the inevitable city-speak at the end of the day; where you have to, with exhaustion, say to your colleague: “No, I do not want to go for a glass of £10 orange wine and picky bits at 8pm”. Put that all together and what do you have? A day where you work 7-6:30pm, rush home, pop something batch-cooked in the oven with boil-in-the-bag rice and watch an old re-run episode before you sleep. It sounds bleak because that’s what it feels like sometimes.
So, the real question is, how do we move through this, is there a way to move through this level of corporate exhaustion? When the days feel insufferably bleak, it is easy to look at influencers as examples of individuals who have nailed their 9-5’s. The idea that influencers can be anyone, from any background pursuing their ideal career can make a job in the corporate world feel draining. When you can see the opportunities in front of you but you are stuck in a rigid environment, it can make your every day feel extremely dire. This led me to think about the way in which our worlds are entirely dominated by what we can see. The easy view of the careers that you can obtain by simply picking up your phone.
The perspective that piqued my interest was the idea that influencers make it look easy to quit the 9-5 and become rich and successful overnight. There are so many influencers, it can be easy to feel bogged down by the seeming tangibility of the lifestyle; this idea that anyone can pick up their tripod and record a day-in-the-life and become the next overnight sensation. This concept is, however, very rose-tinted. It would be fantastic if everyone who wanted to quietly quit their corporate roles could have the opportunity to live the freelance lifestyle in Maui.
However, that is an infantilised dream to so many. I for one would love the opportunity to pursue a career far away from the straight-lased corporate helm. Yet the perspective of being able to just simply quit and move towards a goal without financial stability in your mid-twenties is not only daunting but feels impossible, unless you suddenly obtain the golden ticket of privilege (or a massive inheritance).
It is difficult to want to push yourself forwards, to walk away from any particular role. I left my 9-5 because I did not have the headspace at the time to focus on the work whole-heartedly. Although the angle is personal, the overarching themes remain the same. Are we all facing corporate burn-out and what can be done about it?
MFHA England noted in 2024 that “... a quarter, 25%, of UK workers report feeling unable to cope with workplace stress.” The report further claims that an astounding “79% of employees are experiencing moderate-to-high stress levels, with younger employees (16-24) and women showing the highest stress levels.”
The resounding thought process of being a cog in that corporate machine lingers on for so many individuals. I understand that so many people desperately do not want to go on fighting the corporate battle because the world is so intense. Is this a perceivable recession indicator? Or are we as a society becoming lazy and just simply do not care enough about the roles we are undertaking? Are people essentially feeling that in the trade off between money and happiness, they would rather risk it all for fulfilment?
Although quitting your job out right and moving to Bali might not be an option, it doesn’t mean that the work-life-balance doesn’t exist, it just needs to be shaped by what works for you and your happiness. Maybe there is a middle-ground. It may be hard-won, but I, for one, feel it is worth fighting for.
Works cited:
“Key workplace mental health statistics for 2024 · MHFA England.” MHFA England, 21 November 2024, https://mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/blog/Key-workplace-mental-health-statistics-for-2024/. Accessed 5 September 2025.
Written by Charlotte Gwyneth Eleanor Fairbairn.
