Burnout is no longer a problem to push through — it’s becoming the reason a growing number of young workers are walking away from their jobs entirely. Instead of waiting for retirement, Gen Z and millennials are taking what’s known as an “adult gap year”: A deliberate pause from career-building to travel, learn new skills and figure out what they actually want from life.
The shift matters now because the workers driving it are the same ones companies are trying to hold onto. And the financial, emotional and professional stakes of taking — or skipping — an extended break are reshaping how a generation thinks about work.
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What Is an Adult Gap Year?
An adult gap year functions as a kind of mini retirement. Much like a teenager might take time off before college, adults are using the period to slow down, reset and explore. It can last weeks, months or longer, and the goal is rarely another line on a résumé.
The trend has gained significant traction online, where the hashtag #adultgapyear on TikTok has accumulated thousands of videos of young people speaking out against hustle culture. In one viral TikTok video, a creator warned that “hustle culture is going to be the downfall of this generation.” Another admitted she once viewed being constantly busy as “an aspirational status symbol.”
Why Adult Gap Years Matter Now
The scale of burnout among younger workers is hard to ignore. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 74 percent of Gen Z and millennials report experiencing moderate to high levels of burnout. For many, an adult gap year is less a luxury choice than a necessary response to years of unsustainable working conditions.
Employees are signaling the same priorities in benefits data. In SHRM’s 2025 benefits survey, leave was the second-highest priority for workers — trailing only health benefits — for the fourth year in a row. Yet paid sabbaticals remain rare in the U.S. Society for Human Resource Management data showed that five percent of companies offered them in 2019, rising to seven percent by 2023.
Can You Actually Afford an Adult Gap year?
The financial barrier is the first question most people ask. AJ Schneider, financial strategist and founder of Beyond The Green Coaching, argues that with planning, an adult gap year is achievable for more people than expect it to be.
“Getting your finances in order is so you can take huge leaps of faith in your life. It is not only so you can retire, buy a home, and make money in your sleep. It’s so you can say, ‘I am unhappy, and I’m safe to leave,’” she told The Post. “Every dollar you save is going to fund you in the future, get excited about what you’ll be able to do with that money, versus feeling like your instant needs are more important.”
Her math is straightforward: figure out where you want to go, estimate flights, accommodations, food and activities, then divide that total by the months you have to save.
What the Research Says About Taking a Break
The case for stepping away isn’t just anecdotal. Organizational psychologist David Burkus, who began researching sabbaticals in 2015, says the benefits extend in both directions.
“People report better mental and physical health, increased confidence, and a greater sense of purpose after an extended break,” Burkus told Business Insider. He also notes that teams left behind tend to cross-train, share knowledge and become less dependent on a few “indispensable” people.
A peer-reviewed study published in the Academy of Management in 2022 interviewed 50 professionals who had taken extended time off. All said they came back as better leaders.
DJ DiDonna, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and coauthor of the study, told Business Insider that everyone he interviewed wished they had taken one earlier. The best times for a sabbatical, he said, often coincide with natural life transitions — a honeymoon, a newly empty nest or the “twilight career” stage before retirement.
For a generation already questioning the rules of work, the adult gap year is starting to look less like an escape and more like a strategy.
