Unemployment is an opportunity

About Fired Up

The first question we tend to ask each other is “What do you do?”- But what happens when that very “doing” is in question? When you are in job transition? When you are unsatisfied with your daily job and can’t proudly identify with your status? Being unemployed does not feel sexy. And yet, crises hold an immense potential for the individual and for our society as a whole.

Unemployment is not a individual experience, but a structural feature of our society

Only 13% of employees feel aligned with their employer. In 2030 millenials will account for 75% of the work force and already now we see that the values of employees have shifted: job-hopping will be increasingly normal and “being unemployed” becomes a transitional phase in our lives.

We strongly believe that having moments out of work contributes to your self-development in a positive way. Imagine more employees would take time to reflect on what motivates them, what they truly want to work on, and how they want to make a contribution. The effect on societal well-being could be immense.

There is a misconception that being unemployed “is taking tax payers’ money” and that it is equivalent to laziness. The opposite is the case (at least for all the people we have worked with): These are people who are courageous enough to question the status quo. People who want to contribute in a meaningful way.

When Clara Hahn founded the Fired Up Space in Berlin in early 2020, the world was changing. Around her, she witnessed how creatives lost their jobs in large numbers. But people never just loose a job. They often loose a perspective on the world. They lose their daily habits. They might even loose their sense of self.

Not long before that, Clara had left the father of her daughter and became a “single mom”who temporarily received social benefits. During that time she also experienced job coaching, but it left her deeply disappointed. “The coach was trying to make sense of my colorful CV and how to best get me to function again.”

Clara believes that not having a “straight line” in your CV, having different talents, and “being creative” can be seen as an important asset in our quickly changing world where life paths become increasingly less predicable.

As the company grew, Clara joined forces with Malte Rauch in the summer of 2023 to restructure Fired Up as a GmbH. Since then, the company is jointly managed by them and has substantially grown its team.

With Fired Up, Clara and Malte wish to encourage people in crises to take time for themselves and also contribute to a larger discussion about the role of work, unemployment, and personal development in our society.