[music]

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls and if you quit your job in the last year-and-a-half, if you've participated in what's summer calling the Great Resignation, how are you doing now and what's life been like since you said, "I quit."? Emily in Harlem you're on WNYC. Hi, Emily. Thanks so much for calling in.

Emily: Hi, thanks so much for taking my call. I left my job this spring and I had one of the most glorious summers ever, spent a ton of that time outside, played tennis pretty much every single day. It was amazing and reality is setting in. Something with the season changing and fall, and the shortening days and I'm ready to go back to work and pretty unwilling to compromise. It's so important and I haven't found the right fit yet, but yes, feeling ready after months of a break that I really, really needed but pretty ready to buckle back down now.

Brian Lehrer: What kind of job did you leave if you want to say, you don't have to say, but what didn't fit that led you to quit in the spring?

Emily: I worked at a job for many, many years. I was there for about 15 years and worked in education. I think partly because I was there so long, I hit a wall. I was not growing. I was not challenged. I was not satisfied. I needed a change. I really, really needed to change. I was very much in a rut. I don't think I would've left had it not been the pandemic and everything that was going on in the world. I would not have been able to sever those times.

Brian Lehrer: Maybe you had some more money like a lot of people, because you weren't going out as much. You had a little more savings in the bank than you might have in normal times. Now you say reality is hitting, what does reality feel like?

Emily: Well, it feels a little bit like the walls are closing in, [chuckles] not a good feeling. I'm counting my pennies, so I was able to relax and enjoy myself over the summer and had a little bit of the financial cushion. It could be some of the seasonal change, but it doesn't feel great. I definitely feel the anxiety creeping in and wondering if I am going to have to compromise what's going to give.

Brian Lehrer: Emily good luck. I hope it all works out. Call and report back. Olivia in Portland, Maine, you're on WNYC. Hello from New York, Olivia.

Olivia: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call.

Brian Lehrer: When did you quit what?

Olivia: I quit at the end of July. I was working at a social service organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for about six years. Knew I had wanted to make a leap and make a change in my life and climb the ladder and reach my goals, but I think a lot of people like myself and I know a lot of other people do. You can get really complacent in one place if it feels comfortable, or you've been doing it for a long time.

I think the pandemic is probably cliché, but it did provide a lot of us some space to think about what we really wanted to do. I certainly felt that way and thought about it maybe more than most people. It was a constant conversation on my mind with the people close to me in my life. I decided just to quit with nothing else lined up. I just felt really at the end of my rope and very burned-out as I know a lot of people who maybe work in this field who might be listening can relate to.

I knew I wanted to move up and work for a larger organization may be at the national scale. That was really what I sent my mind to, and I quit with nothing else lined up. I ended up finding something at my dream organization, which I feel very lucky and fortunate for but I just wanted to recommend anybody feeling like they're scared to do that, to make that jump. I really just can't recommend it enough and I was terrified and really scared I wasn't going to find anything, but I really just-- I think it is all for the best, and yes.

Brian Lehrer: That's great, Olivia. Now, are you saying that you're working for a national organization or a bigger organization that's doing maybe at the policy level what you were doing hands-on that is on behalf of kids with disabilities?

Olivia: Yes, exactly. Yes.

Brian Lehrer: How scary was it at first? It sounds like it's working out more easily for you than for our previous caller knowing what the fit is, and then being able to land a job there.

Olivia: Yes, it was really scary. I didn't have anything lined up. I just had ideas for what I wanted to do and ideally, I think anybody wants to stay in their current job until they find the next one. I just felt like for my own mental health and wellbeing, that I couldn't do that anymore. It was really, really scary and I felt very similarly to the previous caller, like the walls were closing in.

I found a job in mid-September and as I think-- I don't know. My job that I just left it was my first job out of college and I was there for six years. I don't know if that's necessarily a long or short time in between to find a job, but it sure felt like a really long time to me. It did feel really scary, but since finding the right place I just can't recommend it enough and when you leave it, all the stress pulls away from you.

Brian Lehrer: Let me ask one other question, because some people say it's easier to find a job while you have a job. Did the employer who you were able to hook on with now, did they ask you about that? Did they have any doubts about you on the fact-- Because of the fact that you had quit or weren't currently employed in the field?

Olivia: That's a great question. I don't think so. I think perhaps maybe just because it was so recently that I had left. I had said I left that job at the end of July. I was applying for jobs in August and September that maybe that wasn't that long of a gap, but I did feel worried about it, of like, "Oh, well, what happened?" I did feel worried that they--

Brian Lehrer: They didn't raise it explicitly with you. Olivia, thank you--

Olivia: No, I don't remember.

Brian Lehrer: They didn't ask you that in the job interview, I guess. Thank you. Good luck. Thank you so much for checking in. It sounds like you could be an inspiration to other people. I think so might Helen in Stratford, Connecticut. Helen, you're on WNYC. Hi there.

Helen: Hi. Hi, Brian. Nice to talk to you. I quit my job October 28th and I was an Interior Designer for an architectural firm for the past four years. I turned 66 in September, so I was able to get full social security. That helped with my decision to quit. I also converted my second floor into an apartment and I'm renting that out.

The most important thing that I'm doing is, I was able to negotiate a four-day work week for the past year because I went on Medicare and the benefits for my health insurance I switched out for a whole day off every week. I started volunteering teaching art with teens at the Girls and Boys Club, and with our elders at some assisted living places. I love it and that's what I'm trying to turn into my next career. Well, I am turning it into my next career.

Brian Lehrer: In a way, you're a classic retirement story because you're saying you turned 65, 66 Medicare and social security gave you the cushion to make the change that you wanted to make. Now you're renting part of your house for some income, you're doing some volunteer work that feels really satisfying to you. What do you say to other people who might be right around your age, or about to turn your age who are afraid to take that leap? Maybe their incomes are going to go down from what they've been doing in their employment, or even how they're going to fill their days.

Helen: It's all a matter of perspective. I don't feel that I need that much money to be happy. It feels easy for me. Not everybody's like that. I'm still going to need to bring some income in. It's wonderful and I'm so grateful, and I actually feel sad that people have to wait till their mid-60s to be able to be free like this. I did do the classic thing, like you said. I started volunteering to find out if I maybe wanted to do it full-time. It turns out that I really love art instruction, so start volunteering now before you retire. Just find out what your other interests are, if you don't know.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, really interesting. Helen, thank you so much. It's interesting what she says about Medicare. You know when they were having the Obamacare debate back more than a decade ago, one of the models that they considered was just extending Medicare back to age 55 instead of 65, because those were so many of the uninsured. At least the uninsured who were starting to have age-related health problems and bills.

They didn't take that model, but that probably would've freed a lot of people to make some more life choices than they've been able to make rather than hang on for the sake of employer-based health insurance moving Medicare back from age 65 to 55. Her story is so interesting in that context. Hannah in Queens you're on WNYC. Hi, Hannah.

Hannah: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call.

Brian Lehrer: Tell us your story. What job did you leave?

Hannah: I was a pediatric occupational therapist, and we switched to remote learning at the beginning of the pandemic and I was also pregnant. When my daughter was born in July, I went on maternity leave. I had been working part-time. I have a four-year-old son as well, and I just kept extending my maternity leave just saying I wasn't quite ready to go back.

Then in September of this year, I decided to really make a go of starting an embroidery business. I'd been selling embroidery for a few years, but because of the pandemic and having that time off and realizing I really loved having the flexibility to be at home with my kids. I decided to put more time and energy into making a little business out of it.

Brian Lehrer: Into that and making a go with that. Do you feel like it's working out, or do you feel insecure because it's hard to make enough of a living at least so far selling your own embroidery and you've got these kids to feed now, or-- How does it feel?

Hannah: [chuckles] My situation's pretty great. My husband works for the city, so we've got a decent amount of financial security with that. Insecure and optimistic, I waffle between the two [laughs]. I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes. It's been growing. The business has been growing slowly but steadily. I'm open to going back to work as an OT, and I do teach art to a young boy with autism once a week. I could maybe see doing more of that as well. I'm open for what comes, yes.

Brian Lehrer: Maybe there's no way to know the answer to this question, but do you think that you might have taken this path anyway once it sounds like second child was born and you were on maternity leave and felt that tug to stay home with them more, or do you think the pandemic had a lot to do with it too?

Hannah: That's a really good question. I always had it in my head that I couldn't wait to be done working so that I could just be an artist [chuckles], and I think the pandemic definitely put things in perspective. It just gave us the extra nudge. Paying for childcare is really expensive anyway. I had the reasons to put more into embroidery before, but I think the pandemic pushed me over the edge in terms of timing like, "Let's just go for this now and give it a try."

Brian Lehrer: Hannah thanks and good luck to you and your whole family. We have time for one more Kip in Bushwick. You're on WNYC. Hi, Kip. We have about a minute for you. How are you doing?

Kip: Hi. I'm good. How about you?

Brian Lehrer: Good. What job did you leave in the Great Resignation?

Kip: I left a higher-end cocktail bar in the Lower East Side. It had been like my dream bar that I'd been trying to work at for a while. I read how to bartend and a lot of my training manuals quoted their type of teachings for a long time.

Brian Lehrer: You got at that job but then you quit it?

Kip: Yes. I had the pleasure of working in some really great cocktail bars and I also had some really toxic places. Going into there whether that be a little bit of homophobia, or I actually had a little bit of physical violence against me by the guy who ran it. I decided to leave it. Since then, it has definitely been a little bit of a journey because a little bit of trauma of trying to get back into the industry. A little bit of hesitation I'd say, more so than that. Now I'm finding out if it's something that I want to get back into full-time.

Brian Lehrer: It sounds like you were traumatized on the job, so you're even deciding and unfortunately you're out-of-time on this note, but you're deciding if you want to do that kind of work anymore and make yourself vulnerable in the same way, right?

Kip: Yes, but I turned a little bit of a fun half-time being a drag queen into more of a full-time thing.

Brian Lehrer: That has to be the last word. Kip thank you and thanks for all of your calls on participating in your own way in the Great Resignation.

Copyright © 2021 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.