With tech layoffs emerging one after the other, many are looking at job prospects that could provide them with professional and personal safety. For that, these employees upskill themselves, increasing their chances of employment with another firm.
Employees also reach out to their connections to see what jobs are looking for candidates and brush up on their resumes.
The latest trend – career cushioning – which emerged on LinkedIn, is a term used for those who fall under this category.
Career cushioning often involves the metaphorical action of ‘cushioning’ oneself from the pain of unexpected job loss.
It [career cushioning] is the art of “taking actions to keep your options open and cushioning for whatever comes next in the economy and job market. Think of it like an insurance policy to set yourself up for success,” LinkedIn career expert Catherine Fisher said.
However, this can also be accompanied with guilt. Speaking to Arabian Business, Bayzat’s chief customer officer Brian Habibi said there are a few triggers that cause employees to look elsewhere for a job, and they do not need to feel guilty for it.
“While the many reasons why employees resign are well documented, it is interesting to factor in events that trigger such decisions. Recent research has found that following work anniversaries, job-hunting activity jumps up to 9 percent — this is even more pronounced following class reunions (16 percent). When reflecting upon the role and career development reveals unachieved ambitions, employees feel inclined to look elsewhere for progress,” Habibi told Arabian Business.
What organisations can do
“To counter the culture of career cushioning, organisations need to ensure their employees perceive their career growth prospects to be transparent, tangible, and fair. This calls for a diligent performance management practice — an area where businesses unfortunately fall short. In Dubai, for example, a mere 26 percent of SMEs follow a well-defined practice for employee performance management,” Bayzat’s Habibi said.
Habibi added technology can also be used to the company’s advantage. “Today’s digital performance management platforms ensure nothing is forgotten or unseen. Setting goals is easy, as is tracking their progress. The employee experience is enhanced because workers have trust that their performance is being accurately monitored and recorded. And in the meantime, the employer has created a constructive environment that makes attracting and retaining talent easier.”
On tracking performance accurately, Habibi said organisations must then recognise and reward top performers, thus increasing morale and motivation.
“This could include offering stock options which makes these valued employees ‘buy into the company’s vision’ and ties their professional success to the long-term growth of the organisation,” he said.
Adding to this, The Talent Enterprise’s founder and chief executive officer David Jones said that career cushioning is also a good strategy for “navigating a portfolio approach to professional development.”
“For decades smart organisations have been investing in high potential programmes and succession planning to manage their talent risk. Increasingly smart people are also investing in more options for developing their own human capital and career trajectories. This is today’s reality of where talent demand meets talent supply in modern, complex labour markets,” he said, adding that “our research indicates that individual’s working lives are becoming longer and more volatile and less predictable and linear.”
Major layoffs of 2022
Following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the SpaceX and Tesla founder sacked over 3,700 employees. Meta laid off over 11,000 employees in early November, followed by Amazon, which approximately let go off over 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs.
Dubai cloud kitchen platform Kitopi has sacked 93 of its head office staff, people familiar with the matter told Arabian Business, as the tech industry continues to slump.
“We’ve made the decision to streamline, simplify and focus our efforts across the business to be more effective and efficient. As a result, we have reduced our global workforce by 1.86 percent,” a Kitopi spokesperson told Arabian Business.
Kitopi’s entire workforce numbers over 5,000, but the job cuts represent a 10 percent cut of head office staff.
“We are grateful to our colleagues who have helped get us to where we are today and we will be providing as much support as we can,” the spokesperson added.
Kitopi, which stands for Kitchen Utopia, was founded by Mohamad Ballout, Saman Darkan, Bader Ataya and Andy Andreas to help food brands scale and expand across borders with minimal capital expenditures and operating expenses by taking care of the entire operations process- from supply chain and staff training to food preparation, delivery, and customer experience.
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