NewsMacroZillennials Embrace ‘Loud Working’: Young Workers Spend Five Hours a Week Self-Promoting as Annoyed Colleagues Quit

Zillennials Embrace ‘Loud Working’: Young Workers Spend Five Hours a Week Self-Promoting as Annoyed Colleagues Quit

Author: Fortune Crypto·

Key Takeaways

  • •U.K. workers spend an average of 131 hours a year, or 2.8 hours weekly, making their work visible through social media praise, Slack or Teams updates, and vocalizing wins in meetings, according to Tide's research.
  • •Nearly 70% of workers aged 25 to 34 engage in loud working, spending about five hours each week on self-promotion—the highest of any age group.
  • •The behavior appears to pay off, as 77% of loud workers secured at least one career opportunity in the past year, including pay rises, promotions, and new clients, while 17% landed new jobs after being poached.
  • •More than one in four workers (27%) have considered leaving a job because of a loud working culture, and one in 10 have already quit, signaling an attrition risk for employers.
  • •Zillennials post about their successes at more than three times the rate of workers over 55, yet nearly half of 25- to 34-year-olds have considered quitting over the trend and one in five already have.
Zillennials Embrace ‘Loud Working’: Young Workers Spend Five Hours a Week Self-Promoting as Annoyed Colleagues Quit

Quiet quitting and its angrier sibling, loud quitting, have dominated workplace conversation in recent years. Now the pendulum is swinging the other way, as workers embrace “loud working.” Instead of doing the bare minimum to get by or turning their frustration on their employers, they are pouring their energy into making their work as visible as possible—think of the colleague who posts every win on LinkedIn, or pings the whole team on Slack the second a task is complete.

New research from Tide, a U.K.-based finance platform serving small businesses, found that the average U.K. worker spends 131 hours a year—more than 17 working days, or 2.8 hours a week—making their work visible. That includes singing their own praises on social media, posting updates on Slack or Teams, speaking up in meetings, and vocalizing their wins to anyone who will listen.

The loudest of all are younger workers: nearly 70% of 25- to 34-year-olds are “loud working,” spending about five hours every week on self-promotion. The behavior is drawing attention from management and clients—and, increasingly, from irritated coworkers.

Does “loud working” actually work? Yes.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is not always the most competent worker who gets rewarded—it is the one who makes the most noise about it.

According to the research, 77% of “loud workers” secured at least one career opportunity in the past year alone, ranging from new customers or clients to pay rises and promotions. For 15% of respondents, getting vocal about their wins even earned them awards.

The noise around their success is also attracting attention from other employers: 17% say they have not only been poached, but have actually landed a new job because they were more vocal about their work. Worryingly for businesses, it is not just the loudest employees who are at risk of being snapped up.

Colleagues are sick of “loud workers”—and some are quitting over it

Not everyone is cheering. More than one in four workers (27%) have considered leaving a job because of a loud working culture, or because colleagues are too vocal about their own achievements. One in 10 have already walked out. For employers, that makes loud working more than an office irritant—it is already showing up in attrition.

Zillennials—the microgeneration born around the turn of the millennium, on the cusp of Generation Z and the millennial generation—are both the most likely to be guilty of “loud working” and the most likely to walk away over it. They post about their success at more than three times the rate of over-55s. Yet nearly half of 25- to 34-year-olds have considered quitting a job because of the trend—and one in five already have.

Some industries are more forgiving of office braggers than others. Workers in IT, telecoms, and finance are the most likely to have had enough of performative culture, while men are more likely than women to have already quit over it.

“Loudworking has mixed reactions in the workplace and it’s easy to understand that a colleague who turns every small win into an announcement might be off-putting,” said George Schmidt, Tide’s CEO for the U.K. and Europe. “But our research shows there’s a difference between being performative and backing yourself.”

Schmidt added that for small business owners, sharing their work, wins, and expertise is often the most effective marketing they have—and the same goes for anyone who has left an employer to go solo or is eyeing the exit.

Ultimately, many workers simply want to be at a business that rewards people for actually doing the hard work—not just shouting the loudest about it.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.