Career trends: what "Quiet Quitting," "Lazy Girl Job", and other terms mean, and, more importantly, why they can be good

Careerists still work hard for benefits, burn out, then laugh about it, stay in positions for the money, dream of starting their own business and are surprised when it turns out to be a real survival game, and then return to the beginning. Only now, each stage and career trend has its name. We've outlined the most popular ones so you can stay on the cutting edge of career fashion and always know what your colleagues are gossiping about.

Quiet Quitting

"Quiet quitting" or "quiet withdrawal" is the state of not quitting your job but doing the minimum you consider sufficient to earn your salary. The term has pitfalls. You can use it to explain both why you are not achieving your previous goals and the reason for your dismissal. You often see quiet quitting with people stuck in the wrong position, an industry they are not interested in, or a function they are already bored with.

Symptom:

You stop going the extra mile and gradually lower the bar you set because you don't want to be expected to do much. You do the minimum, and you define it yourself. The minimum required of you may look completely different in the eyes of the manager, but you do not want to specify it so as not to compromise yourself. You no longer have the enthusiasm to do your job as well as you used to, and you don't try to find or regain that enthusiasm. You don't think much about your career in that organisation anymore either: you're burnt out, want to do business alongside your job, or are looking for opportunities to move to another company.

Quiet quitting, by the way, is very popular on TikTok and Instagram. You can find clips about it by following the appropriate hashtag.

Lazy Girl Job

A "lazy girl job" is work that exists for the sake of the salary and not stressing the employee. There are no pretensions to success here from the beginning: the employee is not trying to get ahead, to show how cool, irreplaceable and amazingly professional they are. A lazy girl job is something simple, bringing home the bacon - even if it can be a modest amount, it is relatively unstressful for a person. This trend appeared after the boom of the side hustle culture, i.e., a person working several jobs and doing additional part-time work. Usually, "side hustle" refers to a small project, a business just getting on its feet, and other variations of getting supplementary income, which differs from the primary income source. For example, a bank employee might run her social media page selling knitted rabbit hats. Or a waitress could create her online shop of gift constructors, recruit girlfriends and offer customers interesting variants of presents for loved ones. However, such stories required considerable energy and are therefore suited not every person who was familiar with them.

A lazy girl job is the same bare minimum, evident to everyone from the beginning. Payment, by the way, most often matches the load: you cannot count on an increase in salary or bonus because no one in the organisation (including your boss) is interested in trying for the company's sake.

Symptom:

You got a job just for the money. You are not working for some great goal; you have no desire to make history in your niche or promote it in any way. You also don't want to build a career; you don't feel the need to learn anything and improve your professionalism. You may have a professional passion, but it only manifests outside the work office. Not to be confused: a lazy girl job is not a job you are bored with at some point, but it brings income, so you can't give it up. It's selling your time for money with an open transaction everyone understands.

Career Cushioning

It is slowly looking for a new job while fulfilling duties at your old one. In other words, you have not yet tendered your resignation, are working and do not give the appearance that you would like to change companies. The term gets used when looking for career opportunities outside your current organisation. Career cushioning is deliberately looking for a new job, taking courses that enhance your skills at the expense of your current employer, and attending professional conferences paid for by your current employer. The term generally describes a genuine and familiar situation: you want to find a new job. You are looking for one while staying in your old job because you can't afford to move to another position right now or want to save more money.

Symptom:

You're not worried about transitioning to a new job. You look slowly but surely: if you don't find something interesting, you will stay in your current position. If you see something interesting, you'll move on, but prepare for the transition responsibly. You'll hand over your business to your successor, say goodbye to everyone, and maybe throw a farewell party. Or not - you are a calm person, confident in your qualifications, know your rights, and do not exclude that at some point you will want to return to the company from which you leave. Thus, you don't want to act rashly. You want career growth that you can't get in your current organisation, but you more or less like the salary and tasks, so you're not looking for a new position in a hurry.

What Career Trends Are Already Outdated and Irrelevant?

The world around us is changing, so some trends sooner or later fade into oblivion. Let's look at what trends were on the market a couple of years ago and are still present in some cases.

Great Resignation

This wave of layoffs swept through the corporate world between 2021 and 2022. Employees of large companies loudly announced their resignations, wrote long explanatory Facebook posts, and went on holiday to islands. Some started to learn a new profession; some left for another company, some left the country, and some started their own business. The life stories of each participant in this career trend were different. Still, they were all united by the tiredness of capitalism, which leaves no choice but to work more than eight hours every day, forget about weekends and breaks, do unnecessary bureaucratic work and curse everything in the world, waking up on the alarm clock.

Hustle Culture

The "hustle culture" is the trend for extra income, evident in 2020-2021 during the first waves of coronavirus infection. As time has passed, the side hustle or hustle culture has ceased to interest employees. As we have already emphasised, it requires a lot of resources, creativity and an incredible desire to perform many varied daily tasks. At some point, mental stability, mental health and other intangible but life-affecting things became more vital to hustlers than money and closed tasks in the planner. That's why you don't hear anything about hustle culture for a long time now, although it is - we're more than sure - still present in some form in the career world.

Side Career

A "side career" is a full-fledged second career, which differs from the first in terms of activity. Often, it varies dramatically: you may be an engineer in your first profession and a copywriter in your second. The second career differs from the "side hustle" in that it is not a project or a temporary part-time job. It is fully developed. You can have a high position, yet your colleagues may not know anything about the first career. This method often gets used by people who decide to change careers as adults. If you cannot quit your job, learn a new trade, take a few internships, and become a junior-level professional, a "side career" will be your only option when trying to transition from one industry to another.

Whichever career trend from the above applies to you, put yourself and your health first. If you don't enjoy your job, you won't be able to grow in it and build a career. Pay attention to your needs and requirements first and the opinion of a cynic who counts money and perks - second. Then your achievements will be the envy of any careerist!