Opinion: Say hello to the flexetariat, empowered employees who want a change

Commuters walk across London Bridge toward the financial district, in London, Britain. Today the unquestioning drudge, hemmed in by the commute, has been replaced by a highly assertive worker who puts freedom and flexibility at the center of their working identity. — Reuters

The future of work was foretold half a century ago, not in commerce but in art. In Belgian surrealist René Magritte’s 1953 oil painting Golconda, a throng of identically dressed men in trench coats and bowler hats fill the sky, framed only by buildings. They exist in tight, monotonous formation. Only on close inspection can you see any individuality on their faces.

The suggestion of office life as surreal imprisonment is clear. In 2022, the prisoners have jumped the barricades. The air is full of The Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting. Nearly half of senior HR leaders surveyed by consulting firm Gartner Inc are now concerned by “mass turnover events”.