What is ‘career cushioning’ and why are more doing it?

(Photo by Christin Hume via Unsplash)

According to a new study, 48% of Americans are "career cushioning" — exploring what backup options they have if their current job didn't meet their expectations.

The new poll of 2,000 American office workers found 77% of them have started to prepare for their backup career, just in case something happens in their current career.

Workers said they'd be motivated to pursue their backup career if it allowed them to do something they actually enjoy (29%), allows for a better lifestyle or less stress, even at the same pay (29%) and if they lost their current job (29%).

Meanwhile, 52% of respondents haven't considered a backup career, with many of them stating they feel held back by not having the time (27%), worries over being too old to start over (26%) and fears about having to start at an entry-level position again (20%).

Although workers believe in preparing for a second career, the study commissioned by TripleTen and conducted by Talker Research, revealed 91% have stayed in their current job for the past two years.

Workers said they feel optimistic (27%), calm (20%), excited (19%) and hopeful (18%) about the stability of their jobs. And 54% believe there's low or no risk of them losing their current job or needing to find a new one within the next two years.

However, nearly half of those who have stayed put (46%) said their responsibilities and duties have significantly changed over the past two years. Those changes include learning new technologies (36%), facing economic shifts (24%), picking up extra work for peers (20%) and even layoffs (18%).

“Today’s workforce is changing quickly, and the ability to adapt has become an increasingly valuable career asset,” explains Victor Menin, Ed.D., Vice President of Enrollment at TripleTen. “Developing skills beyond the immediate requirements of your current position can create opportunities and provide a path forward when circumstances change. You don’t have to be planning a career change today to benefit from having skills that can open doors to one tomorrow.”

(Talker Research)

The poll found 79% have learned new skills for their current job that they didn't previously know — from using AI chatbots for everyday work tasks (34%) to using AI features built into their work software (33%) and keeping up with new technology and business lingo (30%).

As a result, many of them believe the skills they recently learned have given them more confidence (44%), a better sense of job security (36%) and led them to teach peers the same new skills (30%).

And most of those who learned new skills (87%) believe the skills will still be relevant two years from now.

To learn new work-related skills, respondents said they were provided training by their employer (47%), took online courses (32%), turned to free tutorials (30%), used an AI chatbot as a tutor (27%) or had a colleague teach them (21%).

Of those polled, 48% said they work in management positions. According to them, 82% would rather train their current employees to learn new skills for their job than hire someone new.

Similarly, 87% believe their organization would play a role in paying for their employee to retrain in a new role in the organization — 52% willing to fully fund it.

“The people moving fastest are learning from every direction — a course for the foundations, a colleague for the shortcuts, the AI itself for everyday work,” says Ana Riabova, AI Strategy and Enablement Lead at TripleTen. “Instead of quiet quitting, I'm seeing quiet delegating: routine tasks go to AI, and workers keep the parts that need their judgment. And the AI fluency they build that way makes the next move easier — whether it's a bigger role or a new one.”

Research methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 American full-time workers who have access to the internet; the survey was commissioned by TripleTen and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Sept. 4 and Sept. 11, 2026. A link to the questionnaire can be found here.

To view the complete methodology as part of AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative, please visit the Talker Research Process and Methodology page.