Five new work formats

As the employment market looks shaky – KPMG/REC UK’s December 2025 Report on Jobs survey for the UK showed “another reduction in permanent staff appointments at the end of 2025, extending the current downturn to 39 months” – work trends are emerging that respond to this turbulent environment. From recruiting in bars through to TikToks that “romanticize” the nine-to-five, to employees staying loyal rather than scoping out new opportunities, here are five work trends to know.

1. The rise of WorkTok

How to make being in the office appear more appealing? Give it the TikTok treatment. As the Financial Times reports, social media posts that give a glimpse into the day-to-day of young employees, hashtagged #corporatelife or #9to5, are getting views as high as six million on TikTok and Instagram. Among this growing band of content creators, Londoner India Isabella (India_isabella0) posts videos captioned “Everything I did from 5am to 2pm on a day in the office,” or “A day in the life as a corporate girl working in finance,” that chronicle her commute, working at her desk, Pilates classes, swiping into the office, and buying lunch.

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India Isabella WorkTok video. Courtesy of India_isabella0

2. Microshifting

The concept of microshifting is on the rise, with Owl Labs’ 2025 State of Hybrid Work report, describing the concept as working in “short, non-linear blocks based on personal energy, responsibilities, or productivity patterns.” Owl Labs’ report found that 65% of employees are interested in taking up microshifting. Yet Fortune points out that “labor experts warn schedule autonomy can morph into expectation, with employees quietly stretching their work across 14 or 16 waking hours to stay responsive in different time zones.”

3. Gen Z retirement homes

Burned-out gen Zs in Malaysia now have somewhere they can go to tap out of the relentless grind. In the country’s Gopeng area, Namshan Wellness opened earlier this year as a calming space set amidst eight acres of land, where young adults can simply “be” rather than “do,” for the price of around US $430 for a month’s stay. The home’s 26-year-old founder said in an interview that “by doing nothing we’re actually doing something, we regain our energy.” He adds: “I hope that everyone that stays here can return to their normal life more fulfilled, [because] they are able to find their purpose after resting.” With the concept already established in China, it seems the need for such an escape is becoming universal.

4. Job-hugging

Amidst a rocky economy, workers are “job-hugging” rather than job-hopping. According to an October 2025 survey conducted for US job site Monster, 48% of employed US workers say they’re currently staying in their roles longer than they otherwise might, for “comfort, security, or stability.” And 75% expect to remain in the same job for at least two more years. Vicki Salemi, career expert at Monster, noted that “job security and stability have become emotional safety nets. The new loyalty is about survival, not necessarily satisfaction.” This is continuing into 2026, with Investopedia reporting that the expected US quit rate, which measures the probability of workers leaving their jobs voluntarily in the next year, “decreased by nearly 3 percentage points to 15.9% in February…the lowest level recorded in more than a decade.”

48% of employed US workers say they’re currently staying in their roles longer than they otherwise might, for “comfort, security, or stability.”

Monster's October 2025 survey

5. Recruitment bars

In a bid to make recruiting a more convivial process, Tenshoku Sodan Bar, which translates as “Job Change Consultation Bar”, has opened in the Japanese city of Yokohama. The brainchild of Shota Umemoto of recruitment company LIA Group, Umemoto invites prospective employees to discuss their career over drinks and snacks during a 90-minute appointment. Representing an alternative to cut-throat hiring processes, Umemoto told The Japan Times that he believes that recruitment is more effective in a “casual, pressure-free environment with no strings attached and [where] the facade [can] drop away.”

The Intelligence take

After the impact of Covid changed working patterns forever, work isn’t reverting to a single “norm.” Instead, employees and employers are wrestling with how to evolve work for a new future, where the threat isn’t just a pandemic but rather an unpredictable economy and the uncertainty of AI’s future impact on careers. These new interpretations of work illustrate that brands and companies shouldn’t assume there’s one shared work experience – instead, it’s becoming ever-more individualized.