Career cushioning: The contingency plan Gen- Z employees secretly make

Gone are the days of our parents and grandparents when, fresh with a degree, they entered their first job and spent years working there till they retired. Today, both employers and employees are looking for fast growth and for that they need skilled individuals, those who come with specialised skills, those who keep on updating themselves and learning something new, and those who do not hesitate to take risks because they have a back-up plan up their sleeves. Gen- z employees today have entered the career cushioning mode, especially since the lived-in experience of sudden lay-offs during the pandemic. This trend is like the quiet tabs that are open in your laptop/phone background, always working, discreetly and suddenly activating when needed.

What does career cushioning involve?

Career cushioning, in simple terms is the constant involvement of networking, up-skilling and finding better opportunities. This not only serves as a foundation during crisis but also helps you take the step forward if you are set on having a career change. Anyone who is proactively into career cushioning will keep on taking online or offline skill upgrades classes in their fields of interest, keep revising their resume and posting it online, constantly networking with people from their field, apply to opportunities casually until something concrete comes up, start a side –hustle of their own and working towards having an emergency fund to support their lifestyle if anything untoward happens.

Why are Gen-Z employees resorting to career cushioning?

Most Gen- Z employee’s today worry about their future, career trajectory, sudden layoffs, better income and sustaining their knowledge in the era of AI. Thus, resorting to career cushioning has almost been normalized in the job scenario. Neither employers nor employees expect each other to sustain in the same organisation for decades. With a rising economy, the needs, wants and desires also rise. Thus, to fulfill them one needs more money and for that better opportunities. Moreover, in the rapidly digital era, manual labour is almost being replaced every other day. Thus, those individuals need to think of alternative ways of survival. Ambition and career growth is also an important reason why people are always on the lookout.  

Are there any benefits to it?

One cannot deny that if you are constantly in touch with relevant people in your field it will definitely come to your rescue if bad days befall you. This, in turn, reduces job hunting stress, makes you more confident during job interviews, and gives you full knowledge of taking risks. However, career cushioning has to be undertaken very intelligently. It may have a tendency of demanding a lot of time, even during your work hours. This may lead to a fall in quality of work in your present organisation, leaves you with a burnout feeling, makes it impossible to balance both sides, easily distracts you, and may create conflict of interest. Hence, while career cushioning is a practice most people undertake, one needs to be discreet and well-balanced in doing so.

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