There’s a new word for those who are apprehensive or outright uninterested in career advancement. 

Included in a new book of 100 Future Words, “ladderdodging” is defined as “declining or choosing not to seek out a promotion or high-level role in order to avoid the added pressure, risk, and loneliness that often comes with management positions.” And it coincides with a real trend unfolding in the workplace.

Declining a promotion was once almost unheard of, but recent studies suggest it’s now become the norm—especially among younger workers.

A July survey by emotional insight platform Hint App found that 58% of workers would reject a promotion if it required them to be available after hours. Similarly, a 2024 survey by recruitment firm Robert Walters found that 57% of Gen Z professionals have no interest in middle management, and Deloitte’s two most recent annual “Gen Z and Millennial” surveys both found that only 6% see leadership as a primary career goal.

“Ladderdodging is essentially people at work looking at the offer of a promotion and seeing the additional stress and additional responsibilities that come with it, and saying, ‘You know what? I’m good,’” explains Rohit Bhargava, coauthor of Future Words: A Non-Obvious Glossary of Terms That Don’t Exist (but Soon Will) and founder of the leadership training firm The Non-Obvious Company. 

Managing “not just work” but also “all of the human dynamics” of the people working for them “is not something that everyone’s ready to do,” he explains.

Bhargava says he and coauthor Henry Coutinho-Mason came up with each of the 100 words based on emerging research and anecdotal evidence from working with business leaders.

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