‘Job-dropping’: Why more workers are choosing to step down, not up

Forget climbing the career ladder, because a growing number of workers are deliberately choosing to step off it. The trend, dubbed ‘job-dropping,’ describes employees who turn down promotions, opt for less demanding roles, or walk away from management positions altogether, all in pursuit of better work-life balance, improved mental well-being, or simply a different definition of success.

A career ladder that isn’t so linear after all

According to Peter Duris, CEO and co-founder of AI career platform Kickresume, the traditional image of career progression no longer reflects how many people actually want to live and work. “We often call it a ‘career ladder,’ but people’s progression isn’t always so linear,” he said, as quoted by Free Malaysia Today (FMT). “While a promotion and a bigger title might often be associated with success, lots of people are making decisions for their own well-being that might look, from the outside, like a step down.”

Duris noted that workers may come to realise they don’t enjoy managing people, need more time for family responsibilities, or simply want a healthier balance between work and life, which may be reasons that often go unspoken in a culture that still tends to equate seniority with success.

Parents, especially mothers, are leading the shift

According to FMT, a recent Kickresume survey found that 29% of parents said they were actively looking for less demanding roles after having children. That figure was notably higher among mothers, at 40%, compared to 24% among fathers. This gap likely points to how unevenly the pressures of balancing career and caregiving still fall.

While ‘job-dropping’ might be a new term, the underlying sentiment is far from unfamiliar to Malaysian workers. A 2024 survey found that 67% of local employees reported feeling burnt out, up from 58% in 2022, with poor work-life balance cited as one of the leading contributors.

Glenn Hitchman of Heriot-Watt University Malaysia has previously described burnout as a ‘silent epidemic’ in the country, pointing out that Malaysian employees work more than 45 hours a week on average. This kind of workload may help explain why some workers are losing interest in chasing promotions and bigger titles altogether.

The trend may also strike a particular chord with Malaysia’s so-called ‘sandwich generation’, which is comprised of adults simultaneously raising children and caring for ageing parents. For many in this position, a more demanding role simply isn’t worth sacrificing family time or personal well-being for.

Why this matters for Singaporeans

While the term ‘job-dropping’ emerged from the coverage of FMT, based on Malaysia’s workforce, the underlying pressures driving the trend will likely sound familiar to many Singaporeans too. Long working hours, the high cost of living, and the demands of caring for both children and ageing parents are pressures that cut across both countries, and Singapore’s own workforce has not been immune to rising burnout concerns in recent years.

The trend also raises a question for Singapore’s labour market and policymakers: as more workers, across both countries, begin prioritising sustainability and balance over rapid advancement, organisations may need to rethink how they define and reward career progression. Would it be sustainable for them to keep on utilising the old-school ways of incentivising employees with promotions? Is that what the general workforce prioritises?

Redefining what success looks like

For previous generations, career success was often measured by how quickly someone climbed the ranks. Today, many workers place greater value on flexibility, family time, and personal fulfilment instead.

That doesn’t mean ambition has disappeared entirely. Instead, workers are increasingly questioning whether a bigger title actually translates into a better quality of life, or just more hours and more stress for the same underlying dissatisfaction.

For those weighing a step back, Duris recommends taking a long-term view, noting that a temporary pause in career progression doesn’t necessarily mean giving up on future ambitions altogether.

He also advises workers to be upfront with prospective employers about their reasons for seeking a less demanding role, whether that’s better work-life balance, reduced stress, or a preference for hands-on work over management responsibilities. Before making any major career decision, Duris encourages employees to first raise their concerns with their current managers, since adjustments to workload or responsibilities may sometimes resolve the underlying issue without requiring a full step back.

Instead of assuming every employee is chasing the next promotion at any cost, it may be productive to look at it from another angle. Times have changed, and trends are showing that career trajectories are altering because of a generational shift in goals and priorities. Perhaps it’s time to reevaluate status quo and see whether the labour force still benefits from a possibly antiquated practice.