Small pensions are on the rise. Here’s what HR managers need to know
Why do some good employees voluntarily quit for weeks or even months at a time? The answer lies in the rise of “mini-retirements,” a career-break trend particularly popular among Gen Z and millennial workers. According to SideHustles.com, approximately 10% of US workers plan to take a very low retirement this year.
Unlike traditional holidays, which are often sponsored by an employer, micro-retirements are self-directed breaks that employees take throughout their careers. They allow people to rest, travel, pursue personal growth or simply take a breather from the stress of modern work.
While many headlines celebrate it as a wise lifestyle choice — “retirement fun” while you’re still young and fit — there’s a deeper truth to work. Small retirements are not one-off career experiments. Spring Health reports that this could be a signal of broken engagement patterns, outdated workplace expectations and a mental health support gap too big to ignore.
What’s driving the small retirement movement?
For many young professionals, the idea of waiting until they are 60 or 70 years old to take a meaningful break seems antiquated. They expect to work longer than previous generations and want to enjoy life now while they can.
However, burnout may be a major driver of this trend:
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According to Moodle, 66% of workers report experiencing burnout today.
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According to the American Psychological Association, more than half of workers believe that their employers overestimate the mental health of their workplace.
Along with greater acceptance of career breaks and access to gig or freelance work during transitions, micro-retirement has become more culturally viable.
What do micro-pensions look like?
Superannuation can take many forms. in 2025 A Fast Company article outlined a few common ones:
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Quit your job, take a break and find a new one.
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Coordinate with your employer about unpaid time off work.
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Take a break from your business as a business owner.
What can mini-retirements reveal about the experience of your employees?
If employers notice that more employees are taking longer breaks or “mini-retiring” altogether, this could indicate deeper issues at your workplace than just individual lifestyle choices. These pauses in voluntary careers often result from unaddressed organizational gaps.
Some workers may quit because of chronic burnout or lack of access to mental health care. In these cases, the solution isn’t more time off, but faster, more personalized support systems that prevent burnout before it escalates.
Others may not return from a break because they don’t see a clear growth path within the organization. When internal mobility is unclear or career development stagnates, employees are more likely to disengage and look elsewhere for meaning.
Still others may be wary of traditional PTO policies, fearing that taking time off could lead to retaliation or adverse judgment. If time off is tacitly penalized or if mental health care is stigmatized, employees are more likely to check out entirely rather than temporarily recharge.
In many such cases, employees do not leave because they want to. They leave because the systems in place don’t give them the recovery, recognition or growth they need to survive.
Why engagement, not privilege, is the real solution
Wellness weeks, make-up days, and other perks are helpful, but they don’t address the systemic causes of employee burnout and disengagement.
Long-term engagement comes from:
According to SHRM, employees with a strong sense of belonging are 2.5 times less likely to burn out. While HR leaders can’t specifically address low retirement, there is an opportunity to address the reasons employees seek them out in the first place.
Five levers HR can use to turn burnout into engagement
To reverse the growing trend of burnout and avoid the career disconnect that often leads to retirement, HR leaders must go beyond surface-level fixes. Here are five high-impact strategies that can transform the employee experience and drive long-term engagement:
Expand access to accurate mental health care. Timely, results-based care is essential to managing burnout before it escalates. Solutions that offer quick access, culturally-aligned support and personalized care plans significantly improve employee well-being, reduce sick leave and increase productivity.
Invest in improving your manager’s skills. Managers are the main line of employee experience. By learning emotional intelligence, not just performance management, they are better equipped to spot early signs of burnout, build psychological safety, and build trust in teams.
Match roles with purpose. Employees are more likely to stay engaged when they understand how their work is connected to a larger mission. Regularly strengthening this connection—through goal setting, storytelling, and recognition—can increase discretionary effort and enhance retention.
Create programs that encourage belonging. Peer mentoring, employee resource groups, and engagement initiatives play an important role in making employees feel seen and supported. A sense of belonging is a powerful predictor of engagement and can significantly reduce turnover.
Create transparent growth paths. When employees can see their future in your organization, they are more likely to stay and grow. The challenging roles on offer, clear pathways for internal mobility and accessible learning opportunities help retain high-potential talent and reduce the urge to “drop out” in search of something more meaningful.
From resignation to rejoining
A small retirement can provide valuable insight into what workers really need: more autonomy, more meaning, and more work-life balance.
HR leaders who see these breaks as a signal, not a threat, have the opportunity to turn disengagement into deeper connections that can improve the workplace in ways that go far beyond the need for small retirements.
It starts with reimagining the engagement from the ground up. By building mental well-being, trust and purpose into the culture, organizations can make micro-retirement unnecessary.
This story produced Spring health and reviewed and distributed Stacker.