As Ross Perot's running mate, retired Vice Admiral Jim Stockdale uttered the memorable "Who am I? Why am I here?" lines in the vice presidential debate in 1992.
Stockdale had an unintended effect of laughter as a response, when he had planned that as a serious opener to critiquing politics. While that laughter didn't really tip the elections one way or another, he didn't get the job that he was auditioning for either.
Millions of Americans apparently have been asking questions in recent months about themselves and their employment in a Jim Stockdale-like manner. In response, they too are out of jobs--people have been voluntarily quitting. The Great Resignation, as it is being referred to.
Why are millions quitting, and why are millions of job openings unfilled?
There's something existential behind the #GreatResignation: "The pandemic and the rise of remote work have changed the way we view our lives and the world."https://t.co/1flESYGNFz#Covid #WorkLifeBalance
— Sriram K (@congoboy) October 27, 2021
Our view of life, work, and our fleeting presence in this world has changed dramatically as a result of the epidemic.
In the old country, people refer to Smashana Vairagya (स्मशान वैराग्य). At the cremation grounds (smashanam) as we look at the burning body of the person that we loved so dearly, we are hit with the realization that we too will be dead one day. That momentary understanding leads to a determination (vairagya) to examine one's priorities in life.
However, that is a fleeting sense of detachment because after a few minutes, or a few hours, or a couple of days, we return to the material world and get back to chasing after the irrelevant aspects of life. After all, we are humans.
Covid, on the other hand, was not merely one death. It has been days and days, months and months, of death and suffering of people we know and hundreds of thousands that we don't know. But, the photos and videos of humans suddenly perishing, or of their families and friends struggling to find a bed in hospitals that were crammed full of covid patients, drove home the message that a single death alone cannot do. Smashana vairagya became more than a fleeting emotion, and became deep set in many minds.
Work became the least important thing in many people's lives. Living gained priority. Their kids became important. They quit. And many of them do not plan to return to employment, at least not right away.
While there is plenty that Hindu philosophy has to offer on this topic, even a secular framework can help us think through whether we should be worried about this Great Resignation.
This author is one--and not an exception--who argues that this is a good thing:
A lot of us fundamentally said to ourselves, “I’m not going to take this or continue this job because I don’t have enough flexibility, or because I want to take care of the people I love, whether that’s kids or families or aging parents. It’s balancing things out in a way so it’s not just C-suite level leaders or boardrooms dictating what needs to happen in someone’s life or for the economy.
I see it as actually balancing the scales to be more equal where people are standing up for themselves and saying, “This is what’s most important to me, and therefore, I will say no to what’s not.” That’s amazing.
Especially when they figure out how to get by, many of them will not return to the work force.
Count me in that statistic, even if for different reasons. My priorities are very different now. And this is no स्मशान वैराग्य.
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