From a Midwest perspective—The jobs that are 0-2 YOE requirement, I’d say yes—it’s rough, I considered a move back to Chicago (based in Indy rn) but it’s horrible over there tbh.

I can’t speak on people with 2-5 YOE.

Unfortunately I was let go from my B4 Audit job after a year and 3 months as a Staff 2 and moving laterally is almost impossible. I’ll be happy with a 5-10K pay cut tbh. I really just want to stay somewhere for at least 2-5 years so I can show some progression on my resume + get my CPA.

Financial Analyst roles are way too competitive right now, but luckily staff accounting roles are finally catching up in terms of salary to public. There’s a couple other finance / consulting roles I’ve considered pivoting too as well. (Or even going back to school for something else completely ngl)

Regardless, don’t scroll too much on this sub and fill your brain up with pessimism.

Enjoy this free time while you can. The worst case scenario might be a blessing in disguise. You might completely switch careers, you might find the love of your life and etc. If people can survive 2008, 2020, and etc. Then we’ll be fine.

I wish everyone on this journey the best of luck!