"Meet the budget-friendly promotion: more work, same pay. It's a common phenomenon for many workers. One day you're updating spreadsheets and shadowing meetings. Next, you're suddenly scheduling boardroom calls and taking on a team of your own. The responsibility piles on, but your paycheck still looks grim when it comes to splurging on the weekends. That's a "quiet promotion." And as more economic concerns drive smaller compensation budgets-silent workload changes are becoming more common."
""It's basically a way to test-drive someone's leadership without committing to a title," Rezvani tells Fortune. "Sometimes leaders are 'kicking the can' on real pay or promotion discussions (and decisions), while still piling on responsibilities. Dodging hard conversations creates more confusion and resentment; on the other hand, naming issues head-on builds trust," Rezvani added. "It's a sign of an avoidant culture.""
Quiet promotions assign greater responsibilities without concurrent pay increases and are growing as companies tighten compensation budgets. Employers use them to save costs and discreetly test leadership potential while avoiding formal commitments. The practice creates confusion, resentment, burnout, and higher turnover, especially among early-career workers such as Gen Z. Experts recommend naming added responsibilities, tracking impact, having direct conversations, and negotiating compensation to prevent normalizing unpaid advancement. Employers who dodge pay discussions risk cultivating an avoidant culture that undermines trust. Expected raises next year are projected to mirror this year's levels.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]