Even sarcastic, it is extremely bad taste from the author and wasn't picked up on by editors, so the initial criticism stands, and this New York Times article is just a manifestation of the zeitgeist.

And the caption of the header image of the article is "Cat Del Carmen, left, and Erika Cruz are not exactly mourning having left their jobs", implying people should indeed fear not having a job even if said job would be detrimental to their overall well-being.