‘Micro-retiring’: 24-year-old nurse quits job for very 2025 reason

A young nurse has revealed that she’s quit her job calling it the “best day ever” exposing a wider ‘retiring’ trend that Gen Z love

Generation Z aren’t just quietly quitting or doing the bare minimum on Mondays anymore. They’re treating themselves to “mini-retirements” and exiting the 9-5 grind for small periods whenever they can.

The trend has emerged on the social media platform TikTok where young people are sharing that they’ve started taking periodic breaks from the workforce to priorities their personal lives and are micro-retiring wherever they get the chance.

“Why are you not working?” That was one of the main responses a 24-year-old got when she announced her plans to quit her job as an emergency nurse.

Annabel Denisenko has been working as a nurse for three years in a hectic emergency department.

She’s the first to admit that she loves it, but what she loves more is the opportunity to not work.

“I’m not leaving nursing because I hate it. I’m just excited to flee Australia and explore London and I’ve been back and forth from London and every time I leave I’ve never felt I was there for long enough,” she told news.com.au.

She was giddy when she quit. Picture: Instagram/annabeldenisenko

She loves being a nurse. Picture: Instagram/annabeldenisenko

Ms Denisenko said she felt “giddy” the day she resigned not from nerves but from excitement about her impending freedom.

“I walked out with the biggest smile on my face!” She said.

Online she broke the news sitting in her car and said, “oh my god I just quit my job” calling it the “best day ever!”.

The 24-year-old said it was unexpected for her to quit because she was working her way up the nursing ladder and her skill level was increasing and quitting to some of her co-workers, family and friends seemed more “crazy” than anything else.

“People were like ‘Why are you doing this? But I needed to go,” she said.

“I’m calling it my quarter-life crisis. Everybody my age was like ‘100 per cent do it’ but it was older people that were like, ‘why are you not working?”

She’s so keen to enjoy some time off! Picture: Instagram/annabeldenisenko

She’s stepping away from the grind. Picture: Instagram/annabeldenisenko

The unemployed nurse said she even had someone close to her tell that she should be “grinding” and that her quitting was just further proof that her “generation has no work ethic” but Ms Denisenko doesn’t see it that way.

“I’m building new experiences,” she argued.

“I’m not working to live! I’m living and working on the side. I hustled for two years and saved the amount that I saved and now I’m about to take two years off and not lift a finger.”

She does plan to work when she’s in London but only casually she doesn’t even want to be locked into anything part-time.

She’s also not even concerned about falling behind in her career because in her opinion she’ll “catch-up” at some point.

Plus now she’s had some experiencing nursing she’ll always be able to have that on her resume.

She’s going to work casually. Picture: Instagram/annabeldenisenko

She’s really excited about her future. Picture: Instagram/annabeldenisenko

Recruitment expert Roxanne Calder previously told news.com.au that there’s now more “caution” when it comes to hiring Gen Zers because they tend not to stick around for very long.

“All the resignations that have come through have burnt employers,” she told news.com.au, adding that Gen Z employees are often seen as higher risk investments than other hires.

Ms Calder said that if you’re hiring a Millennial or a Gen X worker, they’ll be immediately able to hit the ground running because they’ll bring experience and expertise to a role.

Gen Zers are typically workers who need training and need a company to invest in them first before they become an asset to the business.

If they quit 12 months later, it isn’t a great investment of time or money.

“You’re investing in their potential and their future with you. If they want to move on within 12 months, that is a very low return on an investment,” she said.

Originally published as ‘Micro-retiring’: 24-year-old nurse quits job for very 2025 reason