Key Workplace Trend Update: Career Cushioning Is Set to Persist Into 2024
Twelve months ago, the biggest workplace conversations of 2022 centered on three major shifts: quiet quitting, the cultural push to work smarter instead of grinding endlessly harder (we can credit the lazy girl job movement for liberating so many of us who embraced this mindset), and widespread corporate downsizing.
While 2024 projections indicate layoffs will not hit the same pace or impact as broad a range of industries as they did in 2023, the risk-mitigating trend of "career cushioning" is almost certain to continue gaining traction. First popularized as a buzzword in 2022, career cushioning describes the practice of building backup career plans—and over the past year, growing numbers of workers, even those currently employed in full-time roles, have adopted this proactive approach.
A 2023 survey from specialist recruitment firm Robert Walters highlights just how widespread this practice has become: of 2,000 white-collar workers polled, more than one third (37%) were already actively taking steps to secure a new job. Sixty-six percent of respondents reported regularly tracking shifts and open roles in the broader job market, while 43% had recently updated their professional resumes.
Elliot Jackson, director of Robert Walters’ Austin office, explained: “Working professionals are acutely aware of the economic challenges that organizations are navigating right now. But interestingly, the way companies are choosing to address these challenges is what impacts employee sentiment most. As a result, nearly half of professionals are turning to career cushioning as a proactive response to low job satisfaction, actively seeking roles that offer higher levels of professional and personal fulfillment.”
Broader industry data aligns with these findings: by mid-2023, job applications submitted through LinkedIn were 18% higher than the year prior, even as the list of companies implementing layoffs—particularly in the tech, media, finance, and retail sectors—continued to grow. As 2023 drew to a close, widespread economic uncertainty left many workers feeling on edge, and eager to prepare for any potential changes to their employment.
That said, career cushioning is a demanding, time-consuming process. Browsing open roles can feel exciting at first, but it quickly turns into a slog of working through pages of application screening questions, updating resumes and professional portfolios, networking with new contacts, and prepping for interviews. All this extra work can easily drag down productivity at a worker’s current full-time role.
Even so, in an already hyper-competitive job market, workers are taking far more intentional control over their own career trajectories. For most people building professional safety nets, career cushioning has proven to be a well-worth-it, reliable backup plan.
