Written by Hani Fauzia Ramadhani | Read in Indonesian

In the past decade, the culture of obsessive work, often referred to as hustle culture, has become increasingly widespread. TFR even conducted a survey  on the phenomenon and raised a similar issue in 2021. Apparently, after two years, the discussion about crazy work culture still has not ceased. However, this time, the same issue is discussed in a different tone; more and more people decided to end their hustle era.

As the peak of collective exhaustion is felt by the productive workforce generation, worsened by the low job satisfaction levels, many people no longer care about their jobs and have started to do “quiet quitting”. Many also decided to leave companies that are considered to have an unhealthy work culture, which then triggered “The Great Resignation” phenomenon. There are also a few people who are determined to completely change their work situation by moving abroad. TFR had the opportunity to speak with three people who belong to this last group.

Leaving a soul-draining job

A few months ago, there was a viral tweet from Fierza showing a photo of herself wearing her work uniform at a farm in Australia. The photo was accompanied by the caption, "I used to joke with my colleagues when we had a lot of deadlines: should I just resign and become a farmer? And look at what I'm doing today in Aussie!"

That’s right, Fierza is one of the people who left her comfortable position in the corporate world and switched to "rough" or manual labour. With a working holiday visa (WHV) which is valid for three years, she left for Australia in 2022 and tried her hand at various jobs, ranging from washing dishes in a restaurant to packing harvested fruits in a plantation. For her, these jobs, although far from comfortable, are more fulfilling. She also had the opportunity to travel around Australia during her free time in between jobs.

When asked about the reason behind this big decision, Fierza recalled her time working in Indonesia which she felt was draining, both physically and emotionally. "One day, I was at a point where I was really exhausted with the super busy life in Jakarta and tried to find a way out of Indonesia. My motivation was that I'm still young and I want to see the world. Luckily, my parents also supported me. My mom always said, while you're still single and have no one depending on you, enjoy travelling. Long story short, I ended up with the WHV and went to Australia," she explained.

Before deciding to apply for the WHV, Fierza considered other countries that have similar visa programmes. "I compared the living costs and minimum wages in Australia and some other countries. For example, Australia and the US have similar living costs, but the minimum wage in Australia is $21.38/hour, while in the US it's $16.50/hour, which is already the highest, depending on which state you live in. So I chose Australia," she said. Fierza is currently trying to get permanent resident status. "But let's just go with this WHV for three years. If I like it, I'll continue, and if I want to go back, I'll go back. We never know what lies ahead, and I don't want to worry too much about it," she added.

Fierza feels that the decision she made opened doors to experiences and opportunities that she had never imagined before. She learned a lot from the people she met, especially about work ethics. "What I like about Australia is that work is highly valued here. From here, I also learned that they don't really care about your degree, as long as you're willing and able to work, then work - and do your best. Their life principle is 'be the nicest person in the room', not competing to see who's better than whom," she said.

Proactively pursuing life and career stability

Unlike Fierza, Andre, who now resides in Toronto, Canada, did not completely change his profession after moving from Indonesia. He still works in the localisation sector – an industry that has been growing at a rapid pace over the past decade. A little background about the localisation industry, we might be more familiar with the term "translation" which, with the development of technology, has expanded into other areas, such as app testing, creative translation and market research.

"Although job opportunities in Indonesia are abundant, I realised that these opportunities are very limited to freelance work," said Andre. This was what prompted him to move to Canada, a country known for being immigrant-friendly. "I moved through the student pathway by taking a post-graduate certification on project management. Then, a week before graduating, I received a full-time job offer in an appropriate field," he added.

In addition to feeling more satisfied with promising career opportunities, Andre also experiences higher work motivation. "What I like the most here is that we get paid hourly. With this calculation, I feel that the time and energy we dedicate to work is more valued," he explained. He also said he experiences many other positive things thanks to a more balanced lifestyle. Andre now has more free time to take his dog for a walk around the city and also to cook. "After noting it down, ironically, my cost of living in Canada is cheaper than when I lived in Indonesia - excluding house rent, of course. Can you imagine how bad my lifestyle was back then?" he reminisced.

Andre, who moved to Canada in May 2021, does not see himself returning to Indonesia anytime soon. "But I don't have any plans to change my passport either. My closest goal right now is to secure a permanent resident (PR) status in Canada. Here, immigration uses the points system, and as we speak, I'm actually 7 points away from getting invited for a PR application. Fingers crossed!" he said.

Exchanging work obsession for pleasures in life

Febri, a freelance digital marketer, moved to Braga, Portugal in February 2022 after going through a rather lengthy administrative process. She explained that the two main reasons for her move were the quality of life and the conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Before moving to Portugal, I had backpacked to some neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia. Then I was exposed to some new experiences and realised that the cost of living and the quality of life in Indonesia are not proportional. Moreover, during the peak of the pandemic - the Delta wave in 2021 -, it was really obvious that we were left on our own and the way the pandemic was handled was not equal across regions," she said.

She then explored various ways to move out of Indonesia and happened to find information about the opportunity to move to Portugal. "Actually, there are quite a few alternative visas to move to Portugal, but in my case, I used the Manifastação de Interesse (Expression of Interest). Basically, I submitted an application to the immigration office, stating that I am interested in living in Portugal as a self-employed person who pays taxes here."

Febri said one thing that stands out the most in Portuguese culture is how people approach work. "The Portuguese are not obsessed with work, there are even running jokes that people here always take their time during lunch and often make coffee at the office," said Febri, who admitted that the joke is partly true. She has even started to adapt to a similar work style; enjoying life in between work. "I like to go out for lunch, have wine or coffee after lunch before returning to work. I also make time for Pilates in between work. When I was in Indonesia, I was so obsessed with work that I couldn't do any of those," she explained.

For Febri, although Portugal is considered cheap by European standards, the cost of living there is not much cheaper than in Indonesia. However, for the better quality of life that she has, the price she pays feels worth it. It is not just about the more relaxed work culture; there are also many other factors, such as no excessive traffic jams, better air quality, closeness to nature and various personal development she has achieved since living there.

"One thing I learned from the people here is to value self-respect. When I first moved here, I immediately noticed that the Portuguese are always well-dressed. I read a little about Portuguese culture and it turns out that paying attention to our appearance and how we carry ourselves is a form of self-respect. If we can't present ourselves in a way that is respectful towards ourselves, others will find it difficult to respect us. So, I started paying more attention to how I present myself. Not necessarily concealing myself, or being fake, but being more mindful of how I carry myself," she said.

At the end of the day, each of us has to pick our own battles. Moving abroad is not for everyone, and it is certainly not a quick fix for all career and life issues. There are many challenges and obstacles in pursuing this choice; bureaucracy, language and cultural barriers, adjusting to the new workplace, as well as the financial and emotional burden that we must bear. However, the courage to change one's fate and leave behind an environment that no longer aligns with one's conscience deserves appreciation.

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