We have appeared in the following places...
Style Magazine - Going Up: "Escapethecity.org"
'Fed up with being a banker? Here's how to fly the coop. One thousand more members each month'
6 June 2010
Financial Times
"Web start-up helps workers flee corporate life in City"
'A London-based start-up has found a lucrative opportunity in the market for City workers eager to quit corporate life in the Square Mile for more entrepreneurial ventures.'
15 May 2010
Evening Standard
"The Great Escape Route: Why City boys are quitting their jobs"
'You'd have thought they'd be clinging on for dear life. But there's a new breed of high-flying twenty-somethings who, having taken up jobs in the Square Mile, are now planning to ditch their desk jobs in order to live the dream, 20 years early.'
22 Mar 2010
"City Spy: Mass exodus to Escape the City"
'Escape the City is a London-based website that helps unfulfilled City workers find exciting opportunities outside the Square Mile. Online since March this year, they've now got 12,000 members and are signing up new ones at the rate of 1,000 a month.'
24 May 2010
The Independent
"Escape the City targets disillusioned bankers"
'It is easy to see why many young people are disillusioned with their existence as investment bankers, corporate lawyers or accountants. After the financial crisis and recession — with unemployment still at 7.8%— City workers may be one category whose members are more unpopular than politicians.'
26 Feb 2010
Forbes.com
"A new venture by two ex-City workers is helping young grads flee Britain's financial sector."
'Only a few years ago, Britain's best and brightest graduates flocked to "the City," or London's financial heartland, sucked in by its intoxicating mix of power and wealth. But a year after the financial system's near-meltdown, a growing number of young graduates are seeking to flee, and a new venture called Esc--short for Escape-the-City--is helping them chart a flight plan.'
15 Sep 2009
The Globe and Mail
"How burritos and cupcakes helped British bankers slip their ‘golden handcuffs’."
'Rob Symington and Dom Jackman [...] bonded over their dissatisfaction with their jobs as Ernst & Young management consultants. When they decided to change careers, they looked for a website to provide advice and help them make contact with other like-minded professionals – except there wasn’t one. So they started their own.'
15 Jun 2010
Smarta.com
"60 second start-up: Escape the City"
'Dom Jackman and Rob Symington are founders of community-based recruitment website Escape the City, launched tomorrow. Can they beat the Smarta stopwatch?'
26 Jan 2010
t5m.com
"Escape the City rocks Guanabara"
'Everyone likes parties and parties with a purpose are best of all. Dom Jackman and Rob Symington provided just that on Wednesday night by packing funky Brazilian venue Guanabara to the rafters for the launch of their company Escape the City.'
02 Feb 2010
Der Tagesspiegel
"Flüchtlinge aus der Londoner City"
'Escape the City" heißt ein Projekt, eine Jobbörse für all diejenigen, die die Nase voll haben von ihrem Dasein als Banker, Rechtsanwalt oder Wirtschaftsprüfer. Viele junge Leute sind schon dabei, die Finanzmetropole London zu verlassen...'
08 Feb 2010
Dare2 Magazine
"Present fears are less than horrible imaginings"
'The number 1 reason for setting it up was the realisation that there is a huge trend of young people working in 'The City' in jobs that aren't right for them and that they would move from if they had a good tangible alternative.'
27 Apr 2010
Iddictive.com
"Helping Young Professionals to Escape the City"
'As we move through school and then university, most of us lose sight of those childhood aspirations and settle into more ‘normal’ careers with good prospects, comfy chairs and nice business cards. It’s only later that some people get that ‘aha’ moment and realise that they’d still much rather be an astronaut. Dom Jackman and Rob Symington had a similar kind of experience.'
29 Mar 2010
So what are these young professionals thinking?
As part of our research before launching Esc we asked 300 young professionals about their attitudes towards work and their aspirations for their future careers.
The answers (summarised below) were extremely thought-provoking and inspired us to run a more detailed survey. We're well on the way to the statistically significant target of 1000 responses with the new one. If you would like access to the full survey results and analysis please email us at...
press [at] escapethecity.org
Increasing numbers of young people want to transition away from the corporate mainstream
Our first survey showed us some really interesting things about the young professionals who we surveyed:
How do they feel about their jobs?
- Only 10% feel like their current job is their vocation
- 70% don't find their job interesting
- 30% are actively looking for alternatives to their current employment
- And 57% of them are intending on moving within a year
So, what do they want to do instead?
- 60% would like to run their own businesses one day
- 70% would like to work abroad one day
- And fully 75% would transition away from the corporate mainstream if the right opportunity arose...
This is a lot of people looking to do something different.
These are the people we want to help. This is who Escape the City has been built for.
Help us spread the word!
As a startup and a community-based model we are always interested in spreading the word about our concept and reaching lots of young professionals who are working in jobs that aren't right for them.
If you are interested in doing a piece please get in touch. We would be happy to help.
The Esc community is full of people who have left traditional corporate careers to go and do something different. Many of them have amazing stories. We would be happy to introduce you to interesting people.
Here are some of the reasons you might want to get in touch:
- you are a member of the media and are interested in covering Escape the City
- you want to put us on the front cover
Please email us at...
team [at] escapethecity.org
