Playing the entrepreneurial game can turn job loss into opportunity

In times of financial crisis, some people will roll the dice on starting a new venture to cope with the uncertainty of unemployment, say business researchers. In a new study in the Journal of Business Venturing, University of Alberta researchers Angelique Slade Shantz, Madeline Toubiana of the University of Ottawa and their team found that when people lost jobs and experienced "occupational disorientation" during the COVID-19 pandemic, some chose to "play" with entrepreneurship, simply to see where it might lead or to explore a new identity.