'The big quit': How the COVID-19 pandemic led people to re-evaluate their careers

In the first year of the pandemic, tens of thousands of people lost their jobs as some Ontario businesses were shuttered and others were slapped with strict capacity limits.

But in 2021 there was a shift. As businesses reopened again, there were some people who decided not to return to their old positions. Others decided to make a change after a year of working during the pandemic, choosing to enter a new career or field of work.

After a year of job loses, employment in Ontario finally started to rise about six months ago. In November, Statistics Canada said that the province’s unemployment rate was finally back below pre-pandemic levels.

Ontario has gained about 421,000 jobs since May—a month in which nearly half the jobs lost in Canada were reported in Ontario.

On this week’s episode of Life Unmasked, two experts join the team to talk about what changed in those six months.

Brendon Bernard, a senior economist with Indeed, discusses what industries are hiring, what kind of jobs people are searching for and what employees are looking in terms of work-life balance. Following that Lynn Imai, a career counsellor with Canadian Career Counselling, goes into more detail about what she calls ‘the big quit’ and why so many people started to reconsider their priorities during the pandemic.

The team also speaks with some listeners about why they decided to take a leap and change careers in the middle of a pandemic.

Life Unmasked airs every week first on iHeart Radio before becoming available on other streaming platforms. If you have questions for the podcast team, or an idea for an episode, please email [e-mail].