This is so common. People are afraid of and unprepared for income and status setbacks. Sometimes you need to take a couple steps back to get back on track. (I’m currently taking a step back and I’m intimately familiar with the uncertainty of it.)
"What do I want out of my one short life? To spend it toiling away unhappy 90% of the time and spend money trying to be happy the remaining 10% or find something I enjoy doing the majority of the time that can also pay some bills?"
A lot of people are asking themselves these questions, and if you're not -- why not?
So, trading your week days for money to do everything you want in the weekends is pretty okay now. Being a company (wo)man is sort of seen as being a class traitor?
Maybe that's just because I work with low income college students, though.
Then a generation of millenials collectively got millions of degrees in liberal arts and humanities, but the degrees didn't have any class-signaling power or economic value the way a college degree in 1970 did, so instead of getting cushy careers they ended up in low-paid, low-status unfulfilling jobs, with debt from a useless degree.
Gen Z saw that happen and took a more practical view towards college, careers, etc.
In addition, it can be non-job motivations. e.g. you take a year off to travel for a bit, or engage in some hobby that you know won't make any income. I wouldn't mind doing some art classes if I ever got to that kind of money to live off of for years.
I honestly can’t tell if you’re serious here. I’ve been in tech for almost twenty years and the only way I could have 7 figures in stocks is if I still lived at home and didn’t contribute anything to the budget. There is a whole world of people working in tech outside of Silicon Valley’s ridiculous compensation. Money is still a concern for the vast majority of us.
No one in my company has equity except the founder. On the off chance we actually get far enough for me to get equity I’ll be lucky to get $100k out of it.
But yes, it was a purposeful use of extremes. Unless you rush to young retirement or are in that SV scene and move out, most people won't have the means to metaphorically move out to the pastures and become a farm hand.
But that is in fact an option for a few in tech. I recall some 20+ year googling choosing to leave and pick up comedy as a career.
How does that work?
I've received an offer from a company that seems to have a lot better alignment... But it pays 10% less. Meanwhile my current salary has not kept up with inflation over the past couple of years.
What is truly problematic is the social isolation, the inactivity, and a feeling of not being included.
I could go working any job for 20h per week if it did not feel alienating and so competitive and busy.
The work mentality is survival of the fittest on steroids.
Work is a binary ingroup or outgroup. People who are out are seen as undeserving and seen as lesser people.
That's why people want to keep their job.
but still can't get a job anyway
"I want to leave but if I do I may not be able to find another job and may not be able to pay rent" is instead the reality most Americans face.
For a single, childless person who wants to live a lower-middle class lifestyle in a low cost of living area, sure.
But if you want to live in a decent location, you're looking at needing at least a million just for a house. That leaves 1.5 to generate income, so at a 3% safe withdrawal rate that's $45k per year. After taxes that's now like $35k. And you're not getting health insurance from employer so budget $6k per year for premiums (and be ready to pay out up to $6k per year more if you end up in the hospital).
So in the end, you've got something like $20k-$29k per year to live on. That covers groceries, car maintenance/insurance/payments, upkeep on the house, phone, etc sufficiently for one person. But you're probably not joining your friends on their ski vacation or even going out for drinks with them too often.
And of course, the whole thing falls apart with a family. The average cost of health insurance for a family of 4 is $24,000 per year.
FYI when I took some time off, I had to pay ~$3500/month for health insurance for a family of three (and of course still pay deductibles and out of pocket costs).
Health care insurance in the US is unimaginably expensive.