Prince Harry has long been open about mental health. For the most part, this is helpful. A person as prominent as Harry speaking about mental health undeniably reduces the stigma. But yesterday, The Duke of Sussex spoke out about work and mental health, and kind of missed the mark.
In an interview with Fast Company, The Duke of Sussex Prince Harry talked about his work as chief impact officer at mental health start-up BetterUp, where he began working in March. In the interview, he talked about what’s prompting the Great Resignation, where young people are quitting the jobs they’re unhappy with - a prolonged reverberation of the pandemic.
Now 37-years-old, Prince Harry says the Great Resignation has been ‘brewing for some time’ and that people quitting their bad jobs is ‘something to be celebrated’.
Last year, Prince Harry and his wife, The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, decided to step down permanently from their royal duties, to become financially independent outside of the royal family, and live a life as close to normal as possible in the US with their two children. Considering this, it’s clear that the Duke of Sussex is speaking from his own experience. He too was unhappy with his job, and so he quit in one of the greatest resignations ever.
Harry praised those who decide to end roles that are making them unhappy because it points to a shift in people ‘putting their mental health and happiness first.’
‘I’ve actually discovered recently that a lot of the job resignations you mention aren’t all bad,” he told the publication. ‘In fact, it is a sign that with self-awareness comes the need for change. Many people around the world have been stuck in jobs that didn’t bring them joy, and now they’re putting their mental health and happiness first. This is something to be celebrated.’
It’s clear that Prince Harry is alluding to his own struggles. He has spoken out numerous times about his struggles while remaining part of the Royal Family, and the psychological impact on him and his wife leading to their decision to leave. He has previously described being part of the Royal Family as a ‘difficult environment’ and his wife was subjected to agonising levels of scrutiny, criticism and trolling.
While I agree with Harry that life is too short to stay in roles that make us unhappy, we don’t all have the luxury of quitting and starting a new life across the pond as he did. Harry and Megan were in a remarkably unique situation where financial cut-off and suddenly leaving the country was a welcome situation, more comfortable than working.
He and Megan may have been ‘cut off’ by the Royal Family and now making their own money, but he will never struggle - at least not the way a normal, run-of-the-mill worker does. It’s a privilege to be able to leave a career and decide whether working is going to be about comfort or about survival. For most people, especially the working class, going to work is simply a necessity. A means to an end we must do to keep food on the table and the heating on.
Harry can also never understand that for people without the insulation a literal royal has, like the approximate 1.48 million unemployed people in the United Kingdom right now and the 200,000 people who were made redundant, unemployment doesn’t necessarily feel like freedom. For a lot of people, losing their job during the pandemic wasn’t a fun decision, it was something they didn’t want which happened against their will. For those people, it can be frightening not knowing where the next pay cheque will come from, and how long it will take.
While what Prince Harry has to say about mental health is important - and it’s positive for the public to see such a prominent public figure being honest and open about the impact of bad jobs on our psyche - his experience isn’t relatable and he hardly represents the worker. Most of us don’t get to decide to leave our unfulfilling jobs, we just have to keep going.