Quarter life crisis for young Aussies
FORGET the midlife angst: Australians aged around 25 are now facing the quarter-life crisis with “unprecedented levels of anxiety” because of the importance placed on finding a “dream career” and living up to workaholic friends.
A generation brought up believing “anything is possible” has resulted in large numbers simply being overwhelmed by “too many choices” — with 37 per cent having already changed their career entirely by the age of just 25.
One in four have already had to have a “career break” by that age too. And as work becomes the most important part of a person’s identity — as opposed to family, hobbies or simply enjoying life — new research reveals half of people aged 25-33 feel anxious when comparing themselves to more successful friends.
According to a report to be released today by LinkedIn, two-thirds of this age group worry about finding a job that they are passionate about and 29 per cent feel they have wasted time working in the wrong job. “This enormous career-related anxiety stems from uncertainty, too much choice, FOMO (fear of missing out) and a strong sense of wanderlust,” LinkedIn’s senior director of Learning and Talent Solutions for Asia-Pacific Jason Laufer said.
“Marry up all the stats and millenials are overwhelmed about making the right choice and achieving the dream career.”
But another major pitfall of the constant job shifting is that many workers in the age bracket effectively end up constantly going back to square one on their career paths.
Social Demographer Mark McCrindle said Australia’s young workforce had become “passive job seekers” — with the proliferation of opportunities available through social media or even freelancer sites like AirTasker meaning they were presented with opportunities.
“Millennials are not changing jobs because they have a compelling reason to leave, they’re changing jobs because they don’t have a compelling reason to stay,” he said.