I’m quitting my job at a big tech company to travel. Hustle culture is overrated — I’m taking a year off.

I was juggling working with a full-time student workload in a challenging degree. I graduated in December 2019 and was able to get a full-time job offer.

My workload kept piling up in an industry that wasn’t as stable as I thought

I joined in 2020. A few months later, the Great Resignation took place. I saw a lot of my teammates quit, transfer, and move on.

I went from being this fresh grad trying to get as much experience as possible to helping with this increasing workload — with fewer people.

I was consistently handed really challenging projects. It seemed like if I couldn’t deliver, there was no one else. Everyone else was stretched thin, and there was no new hiring at this time.

In late 2022, the company announced it was going to be doing layoffs.

I want to spend the time developing a good health routine for myself.

I also want to spend some time upskilling — tech is moving so fast that I need to try to keep up as much as possible. I also want to spend time on simple things, like reading books and meeting new people.

I also want to preserve my mental health.

I know that if I keep going in the long run, it’s not going to be healthy for me. I definitely have a fair bit of anxiety going to work.

I know I’m taking a risk, but I’m putting myself first

My parents are confused by the idea. That wasn’t something they could ever think of.

My mom mentioned the FIRE movement to me. She said, “Why don’t you continue to work for the next 10, 20, 30 years, and you can just retire early, and then you won’t have to work again?”

But for me, there’s so much uncertainty. Your plan to keep working could just be stopped by a layoff.

Going through the pandemic really taught me and a lot of my peers that the future is not really promised.

There’s a rejection of hustle culture. What’s the point of giving so much loyalty? We definitely know that no job is going to be loyal to us.

I’m definitely taking a step back in my career. I’ve built up all this clout over time with this employer. If I continued to work at the pace I did, I would have another big promotion in two years.

My big fear is that when I come back, I’m going to be ready to get a job and there won’t be one available for me.

But I truly believe that taking a break will make me a better employee.

I will return with more knowledge and experience that’s needed to do the job.