YOLO is an acronym for "you only live once", which was popularized by the rapper Drake a decade ago.
We learned this interesting fact from the New York Times article Welcome to the YOLO Economy.
The article describes the growing number of people who are, in the words of the article, "quitting prestigious and high-paying jobs to pursue risky passion projects."
Key quote from the article:
Several people in their late 20s and early 30s — mostly those who went to good schools, work in high-prestige industries and would never be classified as “essential workers” — told me that the pandemic had destroyed their faith in the traditional white-collar career path. They had watched their independent-minded peers getting rich by joining start-ups or gambling on cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, their bosses were drowning them in mundane work, or trying to automate their jobs, and were generally failing to support them during one of the hardest years of their lives.
And because they've lost faith in the traditional career path, they've decided to strike out on their own in some way.
There is a growing body of evidence indicating that the number of independent workers (freelancers, self-employed, gig workers, etc.) has increased substantially since last fall.
Among the examples, most of which are anecdotal, is the surge in new business applications by solopreneurs.
The pandemic clearly has many people re-evaluating their lives.
And while we don't think the vast majority of traditional jobholders will leave them for self-employment, it's becoming clear many are.
We'll have more on surge in self-employment in the near future.
