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Description: This study examines for the first time both qualitative, participant-subjective drivers and quantitative individual difference predictors of reported change in productive and affective-attitudinal facets of the sociolinguistic repertoire following occupational major life events (MLEs), specifically entry into the workforce, job/career change, unemployment, and retirement. We analyzed survey data from 154 German-speaking adults in Austria who experienced (at least) one of these career-related MLEs. Results from Bayesian modeling showed that individual differences in event experiences (e.g., how stressful an MLE is perceived, how damaging an MLE is for one’s social status) in combination with psychosocial factors such as resilience resources or varietal proficiency affect the degree of MLE-induced change in the varietal repertoire. Qualitatively, thematic analyses revealed that facets of the linguistic marketplace seemed responsible for occupational MLE-induced language change, but also socioaffective drivers such as dialect pride and career-resultant shifts both in one’s social networks and contact with other dialects.