From unemployed to self-employed: Why the switch is more common than ever

"When Mikala Mahoney was laid off from her marketing job last summer, first she was shocked. Then the anxiety flooded in. "I realized that over the past few years in my career I had created a false sense of steadiness," she tells Fast Company. Friends had regularly told Mahoney she was fortunate to have landed a good, stable job as a marketing coordinator at Paramount+. In a moment, that illusion was in pieces."

"Following the traditional path as a salaried employee with a steady paycheck, healthcare, and benefits had long been viewed as the safe bet. But with many people's paychecks from their 9-to-5 barely covering the cost of housing and groceries, layoffs at their highest in the U.S. since 2020, and nearly 26% of unemployed people having been jobless for more than six months, the unemployed-to-self-employed pipeline has never been stronger."

"Mahoney threw herself into the job hunt, quickly landing her next role. A few months later, she was laid off again. After losing her job twice in less than a year, this time she decided to bet on herself. Following the traditional path as a salaried employee with a steady paycheck, healthcare, and benefits had long been viewed as the safe bet."

Mikala Mahoney experienced two layoffs in under a year, first from a marketing coordinator role at Paramount+ and then again after briefly landing another position. After two months unemployed, she chose to pursue full-time content creation and documented the transition on TikTok. She had been creating content previously but had not envisioned solopreneurship. Traditional salaried employment still offers steady pay, healthcare, and benefits, yet many 9-to-5 paychecks barely cover housing and groceries. Layoffs are at their highest in the U.S. since 2020, and nearly 26% of unemployed people have been jobless for more than six months. These conditions are strengthening an unemployed-to-self-employed pipeline.

Read at Fast Company