3P’s of Profession, today – Passion, Priority and Paycheck

It is always a question for everybody at some point in a professional career.

• Should I follow my passion and not bother much about my pay-check?
• Should I prioritise my monetary needs only and continue work unhappily for an uninterrupted pay-check?
• Should I combine my passion and my needs to earn a decent pay-check yet balance my personal life?

The answer to each of these questions determines how our career requires to be re-shaped.

For a moment, let us leave aside these questions and ponder over the reasons for the ‘The Great Resignation ‘syndrome that has thrown up a huge challenge for both employees and employers the world over. In US 41% of working people have quit their jobs. In India, nearly 25% in Tech Sector have quit work since last year and millions have lost jobs in both organised and unorganised sectors. They are either jobless or transitioning to new jobs, some going back to their family business or vocation and a very few of them are starting on their own. The scenario, post the pandemic, is posing new challenges in our profession and is making us think of options that are good for our career and family life in the long run. The employers too are grappled with resignations and the vacant positions are getting hard to fill-in,unless the job description makes a few concessions to an aspiring employee.

As per a LinkedIn study, there is a 50% increase Y-o-Y in profile updates, and it is true for every job portal. People are unhappy in their present jobs and quit them for various reasons – burnouts, no recognition, uninspiring work, low pay-check, gender disparity, no employee care, inflexible work hours etc. Gen Z leads ‘The Great Resignation’ pack at 80%, followed by millennials and Gen X.

The pandemic has posed a serious question about the definition of work and is now being re-written to include what is best for a work-life balance and priorities in life. People are switching jobs for flexibility, better employee perks, work location, family needs or for pursuing their favourite field of work. The brave ones oozing self-confidence in their skills and savings, go on their own to create their worlds.

Going back to those three questions, what would we pick? 

The first option is riskier but not so if we have saved enough to wither away the possible tough times that we could expect with this option. The second one is for prioritising money over an uninspiring job, bad boss, stagnating career, yet pay- check is regular and mortgages / EMIs are paid on time. The 3rd option also looks to be an interesting choice for it helps to meet family needs with lesser work hours and remote work with just enough pay but more time to pursue a field of work or hobby that we are passionate about, or we could also pick up new skills or pursue an academic course that we have been postponing for a long time.

We are the one to decide what works best for us. There is no single prescription for all.