Bahat: How is this shifting the power balance between men and women?

Schrager: Every time you have a big economic shock, it tends to accelerate trends. Routine jobs that tend to be more physical have been going away in each recession and tend not to come back. So what we see in each recession is the male participation rate slowly falling. While we certainly see women leaving for childcare issues, and their quits have been elevated throughout the pandemic, I think we'll see more long-term consequences for men, because their jobs tend to go away and not come back.

Lowry: So many of what we would traditionally consider "blue-collar" jobs now require a bachelor's degree or a certain amount of technical school or trade school to be eligible for hiring. That's creating a challenge for people to secure even a middle-class existence on the same basis that was formerly available to previous generations—but not anymore to millennials and Generation Z coming up.

Bahat: What's the cost of Lying Flat? How are people's long-term career plans changing, or how should they change?

Leondis: This is a really good time for people to step back and think about what they're doing and the industry they're in and if, long-term, that's the place they want to be. If you're choosing to be in more of a frontline industry or a services industry, then you really have to decide whether you're willing to deal with the trade-offs and risks that come along with that.

Schrager: When I wrote about lie flat, I was writing about people on more of a high-powered career path. While I understand a lot of them may feel burned out now—it's been a trying 18 months—one thing they have to keep in mind is that these are very prime earning years. If you look at wage paths for college-educated people, they're very steep in your 20s and 30s, because that's when you're getting skills. And for most people that's not a very pleasant process, and that's been true for all generations.

Among less-educated people who don't have as many options, this is a great time to flex some worker power and find a career that offers more advancement.

Lowry: I do find it fascinating that with the rise of technology there's been a rise in the amount of leisure time people have, which has afforded the opportunity to put more emphasis on mental health and to have conversations around that. So the question really comes down to what people are going to choose to prioritize, the wealth potential, or the personal holistic satisfaction potential, and I don't think there's necessarily a right or wrong answer.

Leondis: If you do choose your personal well-being and health over your wealth, what does that mean for your job prospects down the line? For those who are choosing to sustain their careers but working from home or embarking on a different track, they're probably going to be losing out to those who go into the office every day where they're being seen, both figuratively and literally.

Bahat: Given the current rate of inflation, how much risk are people taking when they choose to Lie Flat?

Schrager: A lot. Lower-track jobs don't keep up as quickly with inflation. If you're taking time out of the labor market, inflation should worry you not only because it's eroding the savings that you're living off of, but because the Fed could start raising interest rates and more aggressively tamp back on the economy, which means unemployment might start rising again and it might be harder to find a job. Right now it's a very advantageous labor market for a lot of people, but if we really get serious about cracking down on inflation, that might not be for long. With a high inflation environment, you don't know what the economy is going to be next year.