Forget Quiet Quitting – Career Cushioning is the Workplace Trend Taking Over in 2023

2022 was a turbulent time for the workforce as employers, employees, and human resource leaders alike had to cope with a series of changes to both the economic and social landscape.

The first half of the year saw unemployment rates dip towards a 50-year low according to the Bureau of Labor, while the Federal Reserve made several interest rate hikes – most recently hovering around 4.5% – and the cost of gas and household necessities spiked. In fact, families likely spent nearly 16% more to feed their families during last month’s holiday season, as compared to the year prior.

As people around the country work to earn and maintain a steady income, employers and leaders across industries have had their fair share of buzzworthy trends to contend with. Take the topic of corporate ‘ghosting’ for example: people analytics firm Visier found that 84% of job-seekers have ghosted their employer / a potential employer in the past 18+ months. Another trend has been Quiet Quitting – the concept of doing the bare minimum on the job – which has appeared in several headlines and conversations over the past several months.

Cushioning the Blow

Now, as the looming recession grows near, today’s workforce has shifted to a new trend: Career Cushioning. Simply put, Career Cushioning is the act of lining up a new gig while continuing to work in your current position. The concept comes from the world of dating, where an individual might have a pool of two or three prospective partners lined up, should the one they’re investing time and energy in not pan out in the end.

In response to a recent Bluecrew survey, 72% of workers said inflation has impacted the way they view their job, while 57% noted they have sought out new or additional roles over the past year due to the rising cost of living. Amid surging layoff rates and companies tightening budgets, it’s no surprise that workers are feeling the need for a plan B.

The Impact of Career Cushioning on HR

Much like any trend in the employment space, career cushioning is sure to have an effect on human resources professionals – and potentially place additional burdens on their shoulders. HR teams may experience unexpected vacancies or no-shows, an impact on the overall culture and morale of the organization, and of course additional recruiting and hiring costs. In fact, our recent research found that, as inflation drives many workers to look for better paying jobs or ways to supplement their current income, it can cost employers more than $6,700 to replace a single worker making $15 per hour.

So, what are HR pros to do?

Career Cushioning: HR Friend or Foe?

While an HR manager’s first reaction might be to wince at a trend like Career Cushioning – and true, it may cause hiccups in day-to-day operations, worker retention, and hiring needs – it doesn’t necessarily need to conjure concern.

Instead of making Career Cushioning the enemy, there are several steps that HR leaders can take to support their colleagues as they work to make ends meet:

Have an open line of communication. We’re all in it together and some people might be coping better than others. Opening the door for honest conversations around the impacts of the economy – on the organization (to a certain extent) and personally (to the degree that individuals are willing to disclose) – enables leadership to provide better outcomes for the workforce. Whether through improved communication strategies, increased transparency across the business, or programs to address employee concerns head-on, fostering an open dialogue provides HR with a deeper awareness of employees’ workplace desires and needs.

Step up where you can. Times are tough –– some businesses may not have been able to give out holiday bonuses last year, while others were forced to layoff a large percentage of their workforce. That said, HR leaders should work to provide where they can, keeping in mind some of the other workplace perks today’s employees are prioritizing (e.g., work-life balance, benefits, and schedule flexibility). If handing out raises isn’t on the horizon, maybe each employee gets a handful of mental health days added to their PTO balance. Perhaps it’s a stipend allowing individuals to pursue continued learning opportunities. Think creatively about ways in which your organization can provide value to employees, without necessarily driving direct costs.

Supplementing the Workforce: The gig economy has stepped up in ways unimaginable since the onset of Covid-19, providing people with added sources of income while also meeting them where they’re at in terms of post-pandemic priorities. Today though, it’s about going beyond the traditional gig economy and towards a “Gig 2.0” mindset which affords workers the opportunity to supplement their full-time positions and regain control of their financial health outside of the typical gig use cases like Instacart or Uber.

Smart HR teams – especially those impacted by career cushioning – are leaning into this next evolution of gig work, with industries spanning from supply chain and manufacturing to hospitality and retail actively gig-ifying their work model. Utilizing Workforce-as-a-Service platforms to supplement critical roles – everything from operating a forklift to filling open retail shifts – is becoming an essential part of the plan for businesses that may feel the pinch from employees cushioning their full-time roles. Some platforms even provide W-2 status for gig workers, eliminating the compliance risks and extensive costs often placed on the shoulders of the employer while providing essential protections and benefits – such as social security, unemployment insurance, and lower tax burdens – to the workers themselves.

While the trend of Career Cushioning may be just that – here today and gone tomorrow – it’s important for HR departments to understand the mentality of their workers, and the steps they’re taking to endure the hand they’re being dealt. As we start the new year, HR teams who go the extra mile in supporting the things their employees do both on and off the clock are those that are going to retain their top talent and ease their own workplace burdens, through good economic times and bad.

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