‘Career cushioning’ is a way of proactively protecting your employability while you are still in a job by quietly building your career options, skills and contacts so that a change or shock doesn’t leave you exposed.
What is ‘career cushioning’?
It means putting a career plan ‘B’ and ‘C’ in place in case of redundancy, restructuring, AI driven change or a values clash between you and your employer.
‘Career cushioning’ activities include: upskilling, expanding your network, updating your LinkedIn profile and CV, tracking the market and testing side income streams e.g. by setting up a ‘side gig’.
Why is ‘career cushioning’ a good idea in 2026?
Jobs are becoming more transient and portfolio careers more normal. Individuals who continuously future-proof their careers are in a better position for sustainable career success with the trends to skills-based hiring, flexibility and changes driven by AI.
10 practical tips to cushion your career
1) Clarify direction and risk
- Audit your current role security, industry trends and where off shoring or automation affect you
- Set short and long term S.M.A.R.T. career goals e.g. a narrower niche in a growing emerging specialism for sustainable success.
2) Invest in future-fit skills
- Identify 1-3 high value skills for your future career e.g. AI literacy, data use, leadership, client development and commit to specific courses or projects.
- Use online courses, certifications and stretch assignments, building evidence as you go.
3) Keep your market materials ready
- Refresh your CV and LinkedIn profile at least quarterly, making sure that you are up to date with key words, the changing LinkedIn algorithm and how Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) affect CV design.
- Set up/maintain an achievements log regularly.
4) Nurture and expand your network
- Create a regular clear networking rhythm, e.g. 1-2 on-line meetings a week and a monthly check-in with key contacts.
- Engage visibly on LinkedIn with key contacts, influencers and LinkedIn groups/professional networks – like, comment and share on posts.
- Creating specific times for these activities so that they become part of your routine is a good idea e.g. 7.45-8am on Mondays and Wednesdays for LinkedIn activity.
5) Monitor the market quietly
- Scan job boards and key employers in your industry quietly each week to see what skills and roles are in demand and adjust your CPD (Continual Professional and Personal Development) accordingly.
- Have alerts set up for roles or sectors that you could move into quickly if needed.
6) Strengthen your financial cushion
- Create a financial ‘cushion’ – savings of 6 months to cover all essential expenses, so that you have time to consider options, and invest in a career coach, rather than take the first non-ideal job or contract.
- Consider small low risk projects that build your skills and evidence of the value that you bring, and which increase your options for the future as part of a portfolio career.
7) Look after your well-being and mindset
- If you are feeling anxious about change and uncertainty, which is both common and normal, it is wise to get the appropriate support – an experienced coach, mentor or therapist, with the relevant expertise for your brief.
- Make looking after yourself a high priority – ‘put the oxygen on your own face first.’
8) Protect yourself from AI’s impact
- Define the value that you bring around judgement, client insight, creativity and problem solving in the ‘messy ambiguous situations’ common in our V.U.C.A. (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world, that still need a human.
- Learn the main AI tools used in your sector, and review these regular – AI intelligence is becoming more important and helps to differentiate you in a competitive market.
- Practice prompt crafting, iteration and the critical evaluation of AI outputs.
9) Human Centric skill excellence
- Invest in skills that are becoming more important as AI is introduced more widely: critical thinking, systems thinking, storytelling with data, relationship building and influencing.
- Monitor how AI is affecting the roles in business that interest you.
10) Strengthen your personal brand and opportunity flow
- Build a future focused career story showing that you are future oriented, AI literate and human centric.
- Create case studies and messaging soundbites to demonstrate the value that you uniquely bring.
- Nurture a strong network who understand the value that you bring and can articulate it to others so that you can access the unadvertised market.
Which of these 10 are your top 3 most important to focus on in the next 3 months?
Client examples
Some examples from our career coaching clients of how they are applying career cushioning principles:
• ‘C’ is doing an AI course to build their marketability and AI intelligence.
• ‘A’ regularly does certifications to keep her specialism up to date.
• ‘M’, who works in local government, is creating a long-term career plan for 2028 when streamlining is happening and a move to devolution and a unitary model.
• ‘S’ is creating a short, medium and long term plan to ensure that their career is future-proof.
What examples can you think of career cushioning from people that you know?
Personal examples
How have I applied ‘career cushioning’ as a business owner (Energise is 30 years old this year)?
• Consciously developing a portfolio career, and evolving it as trends change.
• I self-funded a 6-month CPD break to learn talent management, employer branding and employee engagement. It was a big investment that has borne fruit. It has given me more options to my portfolio career, a broader perspective to add value to my clients, seeing talent from both the individual’s and organisation’s perspective, and a wider network of decision makers. I had always done ‘people stuff’ intuitively at work, but my career heritage was in marketing and brand strategy and communications which didn’t cover this, although the key principles are similar.
• Doing a lot of both events and writing over the years has both maintained visibility and built my network consistently over time. Also a lot of networking.
• Trademarking my personal brand ‘The Talent Liberator’ ™ in 2025 has protected an asset with more competition.
What are your top 3 career cushioning priorities?
What actions will you take and when will you take them?