"Don't Promote Me"…The Trend of 'Intentional Unboxing' Among Generation Z [News Terminology]

Refusal and Avoidance of Promotion to Mid-Level Management
Linked to Personal Stability, Work-Life Balance, and Job Security
Demanding Promotion Refusal Rights in Wage Negotiations

In the UK, among Generation Z (born in the late 1990s to early 2010s), there is a growing trend of 'conscious unbossing,' where individuals intentionally avoid promotion and refuse to become middle managers. Conscious unbossing refers to the tendency of young workers to deliberately reject or avoid promotion to middle management positions in the workplace.

According to a promotion-related survey conducted last month by global recruitment consulting firm Robert Walters, focusing on the UK Generation Z, 52% of respondents said they did not want to become middle managers. Among them, 69% perceived that "middle managers experience high stress but receive low compensation." In fact, 16% of respondents said they "want to completely avoid being middle managers."

[Photo by AI Image]

On the other hand, these individuals showed more interest in personal growth than workplace success. The proportion of respondents who preferred "spending time on personal growth and skill accumulation rather than managing subordinates" reached 72%. This indicates a desire to work freely without the burden of managing subordinates. Lucy Bissett, director at Robert Walters, said, “Generation Z is less loyal to companies,” adding, “Avoiding middle management roles could become a problem for employers in the future.”

Conscious unbossing can also be found domestically in South Korea. Among the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), there is a growing reluctance to seek promotion. According to a survey conducted last May by the employment platform JobKorea targeting 1,114 MZ generation workers, 54.8% of all respondents said they had no intention of being promoted to executive positions. The top reason was "the burden of being in a position with responsibility" (43.6%).

Other reasons included the perception that executive promotion is realistically difficult (20.0%), executives would not have work-life balance (13.3%), lack of desire to become an executive (11.1%), and not wanting to stay in the company for a long time (9.8%). This shows that the MZ generation values long and stable employment more than high salaries and promotion ambitions.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Union Counting Strike Vote Ballots in July [Photo by Yonhap News]

In fact, conscious unbossing is not a recent phenomenon. The demand for the right to refuse promotion in South Korea’s labor sector dates back eight years to the 2016 Hyundai Motor wage negotiations. At that time, a Hyundai Motor union official said, “When promoted to manager, members lose their union membership and are subject to a salary system, and the pressure from performance evaluations is severe, so many members do not want to be promoted to manager.” The intention was to give up promotion to the non-unionized manager rank and remain union members for life to enjoy benefits such as guaranteed retirement.

The HD Hyundai Heavy Industries union included the right to refuse promotion in this year’s wage and collective agreement. The production workers at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries are structured in eight levels: Grade 7 to 4 (14 years) - Assistant Foreman (6 years) - Foreman (6 years) - Senior Foreman (6 years) - Chief Foreman (no time limit), while office workers have three levels: Manager (4 years) - Senior Manager (4 years) - Responsible Manager (no time limit). If production workers are promoted beyond Senior Foreman or office workers beyond Responsible Manager, they automatically lose union membership, but they can exercise the right to refuse promotion at this point.

Similar to the recent issue of retirement age extension, the right to refuse promotion reflects a social atmosphere shaped by longer life cycles than in the past, combining factors such as personal stability, work-life balance, fear of old age, and retirement age extension.