What is loud working and is it a new form of job protection?

Detailed summary

It’s a workplace dynamic that many professionals will be familiar with - that one colleague who needs to show off their productivity instead of just putting their head down to get…

It’s a workplace dynamic that many professionals will be familiar with - that one colleague who needs to show off their productivity, instead of just putting their head down to get the work done.

While this type of occurrence isn’t unique, it appears to become more commonplace, so much so that it’s been given a name – “loud working.” It can manifest in boastful posts on social media about what the employee has accomplished that day, or the person who updates in the Slack every time they’ve completed a task.

While this behaviour could be described as annoying at best — and distracting at worst — some professionals say it’s a reflection of a time when many younger people don’t feel a sense of security in their professional future.

Anil Verma is a professor emeritus at the Rotman School of Management and former director of the Centre for Industrial Relations & Human Resources at the University of Toronto.

In a phone interview with CTV News, he said while generation Z didn’t invent self-promotion, it becomes amplified, as a result of the reality that younger generations currently face.

“This generation is facing a lot of uncertainty and (an) uncertain future, there’s a lot of competition,” he said. “There’s a question of scarcity of jobs, and so this is their world that they inhabit. It wasn’t like this for us boomers, when the economy was expanding, and there were plenty of jobs.”

He added that the growth of social media may be a big part of what’s pushing this workplace trend, where ”you make your voice known, not just at the water cooler.”

Cal Jungwirth, director of permanent placement services at employment agency Robert Half, said that there’s no problem with making sure your contributions are recognized. However, it may depend on how that messaging is articulated.

“I would say that the distinction is whether someone is either communicating something meaningful around their accomplishments or just drawing attention to themselves,” he said.

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