American Workers are Reaching a Collective ‘Not This’ Moment

An alternative theory of why so many Americans are quitting their jobs

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Economists are always seeking a rational answer, backed by data and numbers. That’s no bad thing. But with all the articles looking for the data-driven reason behind America’s great labor shortage, I think the answer might be obvious.

If you ask me (NB: not an economist), the reason why Americans are quitting their jobs at a record levels— and being pickier about choosing new ones—is simple. What we’re seeing is a collective realization of what I think of as the ‘Not This’ moment.

Here’s the thing about Not This: It’s got little to do with rationality or logic. In my observation, it usually comes about in one of two ways. One is that you’ve simply had enough. You become convinced that the suffering of your current situation is worse than the suffering of plunging into the unknown, and so you jump. This can happen in relationships, addiction scenarios, jobs, places you live—whatever. When you reach this point, logistics and sensible choices do not matter. Your life is on fire, so throwing in some dynamite seems totally fine. You go forth and begin to extract yourself from whatever Not This has outlawed, no matter what it takes. It’s not hard to imagine many people in the…