Not everyone is seeking career advancement at work.

The market for finding new job opportunities has slowed down in recent years, and there have been limited chances for individuals to advance their careers. According to Bloomberg reporting, citing ADP data, only 1.3% of 68 million white-collar workers were promoted in the first three months of 2024. This is the lowest rate for any first quarter in the past five years, which is concerning, given that January is typically one of the busiest months for promotions.

According to a Pew Research Center survey of over 5,200 workers in October, 38% of workers are dissatisfied with their chances for career advancement at work, while only 26% are satisfied.

A significant share of U.S. workers, 42%, would decline a promotion if offered, indicating satisfaction with their current job, according to Randstad, an HR firm.

People are already feeling overworked and underpaid

Although many individuals believe they are performing tasks beyond their official job duties, they are not being compensated accordingly.

According to Pew, 29% of people are unhappy with their salary, with many stating that their pay does not keep up with the cost of living, they cannot pay their bills, and they earn less than a colleague who performs similar work.

Sherrika Sanders, 44, of Atlanta initially declined a promotion with her company several years ago due to that exact reason.

Sanders was offered a promotion to assistant controller, but she declined because she was already performing the duties of the higher role and knew she was being underpaid based on market rates.

According to Sanders, you usually have to begin doing the work required for a promotion before you receive it, nine times out of ten.

She met with the company's vice president and presented her case, highlighting her achievements, praise, exceeded project deadlines, and benchmarks.

Management is getting more stressful

Since 2020, numerous companies have experienced significant changes, such as handling high turnover and hiring, adapting to remote and hybrid work, reorganizing teams, expanding job duties, and facing budget constraints. As a result, managers have had a more challenging task of leading their teams through these transformations.

According to a recent Gallup report, 73% of workers say their company has undergone disruptive change in the past year, which is linked to high levels of burnout.

According to Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor, the last two years of cost-cutting have disproportionately affected middle-managers and front-line managers. As a result, laying off middle managers leaves more work for the remaining ones, with higher expectations and fewer resources.

A study from Robert Walters found that 52% of Gen Z workers do not desire to become managers due to the compounding stress of management.

Promotions can take you off your own career track

Your new role may not align with your desired responsibilities due to budget cuts and team restructuring.

For the same reason, Sanders, the accounting expert, declined a promotion.

In the summer of 2017, she was in charge of accounting for the U.S. and Canada operations of a telecommunications company. At that time, she was given an opportunity to take on a larger team to supervise.

Transforming accounting processes and empowering her smaller team were passions of hers, but taking the opportunity would pull her away from them.

She politely declined the offer but demonstrated her dedication to advancing in her current position. She concentrated on enhancing her accounting skills, providing training to her team, and accepting additional speaking and teaching engagements.

Sanders, now running her own consulting firm for accounting professionals and teams, says that her experience taught her that career growth isn't just about moving "up." Instead, she learned that she could make a greater impact by moving forward in a direction that better aligned with her interests and strengths.

Not everyone wants to be a manager—right now

Not everyone desires to advance in their career or attain a managerial position.

"According to Zhao of Glassdoor, many individuals will attempt it but ultimately decide it's not suitable for them. Alternatively, some people may never try it because they recognize it's not something they're genuinely interested in."

Sherri Carpineto, a 48-year-old career coach and senior director of operations for a health-care company in Boston, advises being vocal about your career goals with your manager.

"She suggests that one may want to consider taking on more tasks or a new assignment to keep pushing oneself, but it's also acceptable to simply complete one's work and return home to earn a daily salary. Not everyone is driven to advance their career."

She notes that not moving up the ladder now is not a permanent decision.

Despite receiving offers for higher titles and pay outside the company, Carpineto remained with her employer for 15 years, receiving incremental pay raises and promotions.

""I remained in my current position because I had young children and my mother was ill. I was content to manage a team, assume some responsibility, and not seek a promotion or leave the company," she explains."

She concludes that rejecting a promotion due to caretaking responsibilities, relocation, marriage, or lack of readiness does not preclude the possibility of making that decision at a later time.

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