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The career glow-down: Why we now choose peace over promotions
Young people aren’t lacking in ambition. They’ve just found a different way to be happy – descending the career ladder. They’re doing OK
It’s almost laughable. The dreams we were taught to dream as kids are now the stuff of nightmares. Aim for a stable job, teachers said – all it does is make us nervous about the next layoff. Own a house by 30, parents said – but real-estate prices rise faster than our salaries can keep up. Drive a nice car, movie heroes said – but what about parking, petrol and the planet? One generation ago, “grindset mindset”, “hustle”, and “working around the clock” were all positive terms.
Now, more of us are hitting backspace on that formula. No one wants 2.5 kids – India’s birth rate is 2.03. No one wants the corner office, either. A survey conducted last year by HR firm Randstad suggests that 42% of American employees don’t want a promotion because of the additional responsibilities that come with it. Laura Whaley’s videos (@LoeWhaley) on how to clap back at corporate exploitation has earned her 3 million Instagram followers. Oh, and we’re no longer #QuietQuitting. We’re doing it loudly.
So, what happened? The game of life opened up parallel levels so we could make lateral shifts, not just linear ones.
In 2023, Saumya Sharma, 35, turned down a promotion of a senior associate at a prominent consulting firm. “I was already burnt out, I knew I’d have to take on more roles and responsibilities,” she recalls. “Even if I took days off to recuperate, it just meant postponing the workload to a later date.” She switched to a consulting job in public health. Work is “very slow”, she admits, but it is meaningful and she actually enjoys the pace.
Taking a step down on the career ladder is no longer a sign of defeat. When Pallavi Naidu, 42, started out in event management two decades ago, “a happy life had three indicators: A fancy car, an expensive apartment, a fat paycheck,” she says. There was international travel, exciting events. “But I was always on. Eventually, I realised that I wasn’t showing up for my family and my four dogs.” She quit in 2019 and moved to Goa the following year to start a digital publication, Alcobuzz. “My idea of success now is making a good meal for myself and being able to workout. And I get to hang out with my dogs whenever I want.”
Another pivot from the old ways? Admitting that something isn’t working and moving on rather than screaming internally. Shivam, 33, a Chandigarh-based emotional intelligence coach who does not use his last name, was pursuing a doctorate in aerospace engineering and working as an assistant professor until eight years ago. “I realised I was pursuing society’s idea of success, not mine. I didn’t have time to spend with my wife or pursue hobbies,” he recalls. “By the time you’re 60, you’ve devoted so much time to your work, to earning money, that when you finally step back and relax, your body and mind won’t let you. I didn’t want that to happen to me.”
He gave it all up to be an emotional-intelligence coach, and now conducts workshops and writes books on the subject. “We still want to do well in our careers – that hasn’t changed. But getting titles and positions isn’t the end goal or driving-force,” he adds. “We want to be happy.”
It’s getting employers to pivot in response -- offering raises, hybrid positions, in-office bonuses and additional leave days. A Cisco survey from last year, which polled 3,800 employers, finds that 81% of them plan to redesign their office space to lure and retain workers.
In a world of new rules, there’s one constant: You can’t descend a corporate ladder if you haven’t climbed it in the first place. “At the start of your career, corporate jobs make you disciplined and teach you to work under pressure,” Sharma says. “Once you’re financially better off, that’s when you can step off the pedal and take those skills elsewhere.”
From HT Brunch, March 29, 2025 Follow us on www.instagram.com/htbrunch
