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- Many workers have seen work-life balance undergo massive upheavals since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
- Experts have tried to explain a changing feeling about work with phrases like "quiet quitting."
This has been the year of workplace buzzwords.
Many people have seen their work-life balance undergo a massive upheaval since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, leaving many workers and employees with whiplash.
"In the past, employers have had all of the cards. What's interesting now is salaries are going up, and benefits are going up," said S. Chris Edmonds, an executive consultant and CEO of the Purposeful Culture Group.
"Team members finally have a bit of power," he added.
However, in recent months, some of that power may have shifted back to employers, said Jessica Kriegel, chief scientist of workplace culture at Culture Partners.
Many workers are being asked to return to in-person work after years of working from home, while others fear impending layoffs. Experts say the wild swings in power dynamics have changed how employees feel about work in the US.
"One of the things I'm paying attention to is the ever-growing anti-work sentiment that seems to be happening," Kriegel said.
Experts and the press have tried to explain this changing feeling with alliterative phrases like "quiet quitting" and "career cushioning."
Kriegel said many phrases are "new ways of describing old dynamics."
Alexandra Levit, the author of "Deep Talent," echoed a similar idea.
"People have always been unhappy at work," she said. "But I think there has been an accelerated trend of burnout this year."
Here is a look back at some of the biggest workplace trends of 2022 and what experts say we should expect in 2023: