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by jeromegv 2583 days ago
While people might switch jobs more often, is that supported by data that they use this time to unwind? You end up without health insurance coverage during that gap so I can’t imagine tons of people going in that direction.
2 comments
maxxxxx 2583 days ago
From what I have seen most people leave their job on Friday and start the new one next Monday. Almost nobody takes time off. Also, a lot of companies want you to start tomorrow. I have told companies that I want to take a month off before starting there and it seemed they couldn't even comprehend the concept.
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ghaff 2583 days ago
>You end up without health insurance coverage

There's COBRA although, of course, you don't have the employer portion paid for any longer.

I'm a bit skeptical that the typical person takes a lot of time off between jobs. If you've already got a position lined up, your new employer probably wants you to start as soon as possible. You can probably negotiate 2 or 3 weeks but, in most cases, I expect a real sabbatical would be tough.

And, if you don't have a job lined up, I probably wouldn't be confident enough to just take it easy for a couple months.

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chungleong 2583 days ago
There certainly are a lot of Americans who mismanage their finances. Standard advice is to have at least six months of saving at your disposal. If you can't take a afford a break at a time of your own choosing then how are you going to cope when you get laid off during a recession?
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ghaff 2583 days ago
It's one thing to have a reserve for emergencies and another to tap into that reserve because you want to take a few months off before looking for a new job. Though absolutely nothing wrong with that if you're in the position to do so and it's a priority.

But I've always taken a lot of vacation, including a number of trips up to a month while working. The one time recently when I had a job lined up I did push things out a few weeks which was just fine. The time before that was in the middle of the dot-com bubble bursting and I considered myself lucky to get something fairly quickly; it could easily have been many months+.

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