career cushioning

Career cushioning is quietly lining up your next job while you still have your current one, just in case you get laid off or decide to leave.

What career cushioning means

Dictionary.com describes career cushioning as lining up future job opportunities while still employed, by learning new skills, browsing job listings, networking or applying for roles. It’s usually driven by worry: rumors of layoffs, a shaky industry, a new boss who doesn’t seem to like you.

It’s different from quiet quitting. Quiet quitters do less at work. Career cushioners can keep working hard; they’re just building a soft landing.

Examples

• “With all the layoff rumors, half my team is career cushioning.”
• “I updated my LinkedIn. Not job hunting, just career cushioning.”
• “Career cushioning saved me when the company shut down my department.”

Where it came from

Dictionary.com says the term caught on at the end of 2022 and start of 2023, as recession fears and big tech layoffs made workers nervous. A common theory is that it borrows from dating slang: “cushioning” is keeping backup romantic options in case a relationship ends. Career cushioning applies the same idea to jobs.

Related terms

• Quiet quitting: doing only what’s required.
• Rage applying: mass-applying for jobs out of frustration.
• Job hopping: switching jobs often.
• Side hustle: a second source of income.

See more terms like this in our work and money slang guide.