A growing number of American workers are turning down promotions and job offers that come with higher pay, as burnout and workplace stress drive a shift toward mental health and work-life balance.
The New York Post reported Tuesday, citing a survey of 1,028 workers conducted by AI-powered career platform Kickresume.
According to the survey, 80% of respondents said their mental health had deteriorated because of their job. Some 39% said they had actually quit a job due to mental health issues. Seventy percent of respondents said they would turn down a higher-paying job if it did not offer mental health benefits.
Workers are declining not only aggressive recruitment offers from outside companies but also internal promotions. The phenomenon is being called "job-dropping," referring to a trend in which workers deliberately choose roles with less pressure and responsibility rather than chasing higher titles and salaries.
"Excessive stress and high-pressure work environments are causing burnout, making job-dropping an attractive alternative," Kickresume CEO Peter Duris said. "More people are adjusting their career paths for child-rearing, family care, or better work-life balance."
He added, "We often compare careers to a 'ladder,' but personal growth doesn't always happen vertically. A decision made for one's mental health may look like a step backward on the surface, but it is ultimately an active decision to protect oneself."
Experts view this trend not as simply "giving up on promotion," but as workers redefining the standards of success. While higher titles and bigger paychecks were once seen as the primary indicators of career success, mental health, control over one's time, family care, and life sustainability are increasingly being weighed alongside them.
