The dynamically changing technological market, which sometimes bombards us with new solutions, programs that make work easier, as well as innovations that can eliminate human work, undoubtedly has an impact on the labor market. This quite drastically affects the sense of stability of the employee, who is increasingly concerned about whether he will be able to maintain
his current position.

A proposal recommended by people working in HR departments of large corporations is to implement a type of employee protection called career cushioning.

What is career cushioning and how can it help?

This is a relatively new strategy for employees, but it is becoming more and more popular. The main goal is to ensure safety on the labor market and in the current workplace through a number
of activities, including:

Developing new skills that influence the employee’s attractiveness on the labor market; provide more opportunities for career development and flexibility in changing conditions;

• Expanding professional contacts, which allows not only to meet new and interesting people from the industry, but also to make contacts that may be useful in the future.
• Monitoring the labor market in order to look for new development paths, interesting job offers and potential alternatives offered by competing companies;

Why is it so important?

For most employees, the dynamically changing labor market is associated with high stress, which negatively affects their everyday life, both professional and private. However, the above-mentioned strategy allows to create the impression of control over the situation and comfort for the employee who controls his/her own further professional steps.

Moreover, career cushioning adds self-confidence to employees who, having a wide range of skills, can perform better in job interviews. Ultimately, this also increases the chances of negotiating
a higher salary or other employment conditions.

Employees who support the idea of ​​the so-called “Plan B” employees often not only look through job offers to see what skills are sought in given positions, but also actively participate in job interviews. This allows you to research the market and employers’ expectations regarding new employees. Such an analysis allows you to prepare properly, plan appropriate steps and estimate
the time when you will be able to start working with higher requirements. Today’s labor market sometimes even makes it easier for employees to find such interviews, because due to the shortage of specialists in some sectors, recruiters themselves send invitations to people who do not necessarily plan to change their current job.

There may be many reasons to start career cushioning, some of them may be related to stress, stagnation in the current job or the desire for further development. However, it is undoubtedly worth investing your time to support your career, develop and strive for something more, but also secure your future.