(Natural News) The Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has made many young workers rethink their jobs and careers. With many suffering from burnout while working desk jobs, some have shifted to doing manual labor as farm workers.

CBS News talks to two individuals – James Marriott and Cat Steckbeck – who have given up their office jobs to work on a farm.

Twenty-four-year-old Marriott leaves his home before the sun rises. He commutes to work, passing by the crowded streets of Boston – but he is not going to an office in the city. Rather, he heads to Drumlin Farm at Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Marriott has degrees in neuroscience and global health, a perfect fit for his earlier job at a biotechnology firm's laboratory. He used to develop vaccines in his former job, but his current farm work requires a different skill set. Alongside his farm duties, Marriott is pursuing a master's degree in epidemiology.

"This was a very intentional decision, not something like 'I don't know what to do, let me just go work on a farm.' This is how I want my life to go. I don't see myself doing this forever, but I will always keep farming in some kind of way," he says.

Meanwhile, physical therapist Steckbeck has chosen the green outdoors instead of the hospital. She says: "It was a very stressful time. For me, it was just not the right setting – and I think [COVID-19] certainly sped up the feelings of burnout."