The trend of 2023: Career Committing

Difficult, all those trends, I really can't keep up anymore. Last year, quiet quitting was the thing, now it's something else again. Did you miss the whole quiet quitting thing? No problem, let me catch you up: this was a trend among employees where they only do the bare minimum for their work and nothing more. This became a trend because it was supposed to maintain a good balance between work and private life and because you only do what you are paid for and thus were hired for (but nothing more).

That is now already a thing of the past, because LinkedIn has spotted a new trend: career committing. They are certainly enjoying the alliterations, that is something that is for sure. It is striking that career committing is on the rise, as it is actually almost the opposite of quiet quitting. I do have to mention that quiet quitting was on the rise when Covid was still a big part of our lives and that the boundary between work and private life blurred quite a bit because everyone was at home. Now that we are going back to the office a lot (more), it actually makes sense that the attitude of employees towards their work is changing.

And yet I found the figures published by LinkedIn quite striking. For example, seven out of ten employees (up to 35 years old) indicate that they feel personally involved in their work, and that was precisely one of the major problems with quiet quitting: people no longer felt closely connected to their company. In addition, 29 percent have even started working more hours per week compared to last year. Yep, I already said it: quiet quitting is really a thing of the past. We seem to have gotten our groove back, if I may believe these figures.

So we are no longer settling for our current position, but thinking about the future. 23 percent of the respondents in this study have focused more on developing their skills in their current position compared to a year ago. We now find that development very important: 21 percent said they would not switch jobs, provided their current employer offers additional development opportunities or training.

It is striking that trends can change so quickly, although I must honestly say that I never fully understood quiet quitting. If you don't like a job, it seems wiser to look for something that gives you satisfaction. Doing as little as possible seems to me personally anything but satisfying and extremely boring.

Handy: if you are currently in a position that you are not happy with, LinkedIn has a nice overview of the ten skills that are currently in highest demand. I personally find LinkedIn a great platform for self-development, because through LinkedIn you can obtain multiple certificates — also for free. So it's a recommendation, especially if you are looking for a new position or if you want to go for that promotion.

Image: Netflix