Career cushioning is Plan B for your career
By SeasonedPros.ca Insights Lab
With some sectors shedding full-time employees, workers are looking over their shoulders and wondering if they will be next.
To prepare for the unexpected, many are “career cushioning.” This means making backup plan so they won’t be caught off-guard in the event job loss.
Career cushioning isn’t like The Great Resignation or Quiet Quitting. Career cushioners don’t want to leave their jobs or work less.
They want a Plan B, just in case.
Why career cushioning?
The race for talent is still on. There are still more jobs out there than people to fill them.
But in uncertain economic times, workers don’t know what is coming down the tracks. Even senior executives and leaders are vulnerable to layoffs.
They don’t want to be blindsided, so they start looking at the job market and updating their resume. They might take a course to sharpen up their skills.
Depending on the signals they are receiving inside their organization, they might even start applying for jobs to cover themselves.
Career cushioning gives workers a sense of security
Here are 5 tips for career cushioning
1. Keep your career cushioning to yourself – Sharing the fact that you might be looking could raise doubts amongst colleagues and bosses. This could undermine their confidence and compromise your position.
2. Consider contract work – This is the ultimate in career cushioning because you can take on multiple contracts which provide a buffer if a contract ends or you lose a job. Register with a specialist contract recruiting agency.
3. Activate your LinkedIn network – You don’t necessarily have to divulge the fact you are looking for work but you can share your work and some of your accomplishments with your network of contacts.
4. Take a course – Skill requirements are constantly changing and it is a good idea to know what the market demands and to update your skillsets and open yourself up to new skills.
5. Don’t get into a panic mindset – If you like your job, keep calm and carry on. Heightened anxiety will impact your work and colleagues and bosses will notice.
We will be hearing more about career cushioning in 2023. It’s a proactive approach to career planning.
SeasonedPros.ca is an on-demand business talent source. Clients with an immediate need for experienced talent trust us to source professionals for project, interim and part-time roles. Each professional in our national database has 20 + years of business experience. We provide our clients 2-4 four vetted professionals in 10 business days or less.