'Lazy girl jobs' put workers at risk of layoffs and sacrifice long-term job progression, career expert says

• Having a "lazy girl job" may put employees' longtime career progression at risk, an expert says.
• Marc Cenedella, a careers expert, told Insider that companies are on the lookout for the trend.

Having a "lazy girl job" may put employees' longtime career progression at risk, a careers expert says.

The new "lazy girl job" trend, which has been widely shared on TikTok, is workers' latest revolt against corporate America. The term generally refers to a low-stress job that still pays well and was popularized by TikToker Gabrielle Judge back in May.

However, as more workers took to the platform to brag about their low-key jobs, some started to worry about backlash from employers.

According to Marc Cenedella, a careers expert and founder of the job search site Ladders, companies are already wising up to the trend and on the lookout for workers in roles that are too lightweight.

"It was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal," he told Insider. "So emails and memos are going around corporate America right now saying, hey, let's make sure we don't have lazy girl jobs in our companies."

He added that supervisors are noticing the trend and could be looking more closely at teams: "Companies are getting smarter and they're measuring output and productivity."

Cenedella said the trend is likely a direct consequence of how employees have been treated over time.

"This idea of not having so much loyalty to your employer is the natural consequence of everything that American business has done the last 50 years," he said. "This is just a tit for tat."

But it's not just a company bottom line the TikTok life hack might be hurting, Cenedella said that workers could also be sacrificing their own futures.

"The problem with having the lazy girl job is that they're the first ones to get laid off when tough times come," he said, adding that these workers are also only "cheating themselves" because they're not developing skills at work, which then stunts career progression.

Instead, Cenedella advises committing to your job somewhat superficially and not giving or expecting too much loyalty from your employer.

"It's far better to say — I'm only going to give six hours a day to this company. And I'm going to be realistic about what that means for me in terms of how loyal they're going to be," he said.

"It's okay to be lazy in your heart and not make an emotional commitment to your employer," he added. "But you shouldn't be lazy on yourself, you should always be trying to make yourself better."