Evening Standard: Needs to speak to career/employment expert about 'Career cushioning'

Career cushioning is the latest trend from candidates who want to create a safety net from their career but more importantly to protect their income stability. Career cushioning is a movement that is arising from concerns as the economy enters a recession, which raises the issues of looming redundancies and job losses, something being further exacerbated by the ever-increasing cost of living. Career cushioning differs to quiet quitting. The latter is seen by demotivated employees who no longer are aligned with their work. Career cushioning, on the other hand, can be seen across both motivated and demotivated individuals, who are looking after number one, namely themselves. Often, they are happy and don't want to leave their firm, but line up a safety net in case the worst happens.

I've seen a material increase in people wanting to create a 'career cushion' since the pandemic and, more recently, given the current economic uncertainty. I'm the author of Leaving the Corporate 9 to 5 and, coming soon, Outside of the 9 to 5. I'm available to speak today. I'm a careers and business coach working with experienced corporate professionals who want to strengthen their personal brand and create new opportunities in their career. This might mean building their own business alongside their full-time job, or ultimately transitioning into working for themselves.

All these new terms are things that people have been doing for a while as people realise they have choice. Choice is the thing that unites all career change thinking, but the choices come from different drivers, either forced or created. I founded Another Door seven years ago after redundancy, and wrote 'Why losing your job could be the best thing that ever happened to you'. We now support people through redundancy, career change or rethinking work to make it work for them. You don't have to leave anything or take huge risks to change your work, and that's what we explore with people. And that, effectively, is what career cushioning is all about.

Career cushioning is on the rise as workers are worried. A looming recession and headlines of layoffs at big tech companies have employees quietly activating a plan B, should the worse happen and they lose their job. With quiet quitting, you are generally satisfied in your role and not looking for other employment, but doing the minimum needed to fulfil your job. Career cushioning is the opposite: you're getting ahead by brushing up your networking and job-searching skills to give yourself a competitive edge should you find yourself unemployed. Like quiet quitting, career cushioning needs discretion and balance. Tip too far into making it obvious you don't like your job or are looking elsewhere and you may inadvertently find yourself in the firing line.

If the past three years have taught the current generation of workforce one thing, it's that their job isn't safe. What that means is we're seeing more and more people try and pad their careers with other sources of income to give them a backup plan. Another stream of income means they can afford to move industry and take a pay cut, or leave their role and still pay the bills while they find a new permanent job. It also means they can diversify their CV to enable them to be more recession- or redundancy-proof. For this generation of workforce, it's all about lifestyle. Loyalty doesn't exist any more, so whatever people can do to either keep their ear to the ground, or to make sure they're able to take advantage of an opportunity, they'll do it.