Soon after Kay took on a new role at an e-commerce company in the fall of 2023, the responsibilities began to pile up.
Kay – who asked USA TODAY to not use her full name for fear of losing her job – was originally told she would oversee customer service agents as a team lead. But with the rapid advancements in AI chatbots like ChatGPT, her job shifted to a high-stakes position focused on automating customer support.
She said her new responsibilities affect the company at a much larger scale, and the job’s stress level has increased. The one thing that hasn’t changed: her pay.
While Kay got a bonus earlier this year, her salary hasn’t budged. She has since searched for job listings with similar responsibilities and said she found positions paying two to three times as much.
“I definitely would say I have felt burned out,” she told USA TODAY. “I’m looking and actively applying to other roles.”
As the red-hot, post-pandemic labor market begins to cool, some data suggests the number of workers taking on more responsibilities or a new title for the same pay – sometimes referred to as “dry promotions” or “quiet promotions” – is on the rise.
“Companies are getting more creative and strategic in how they reward or incentivize employees, and I think this is especially true with those operating under resource constraints,” said Eric Anicich, associate professor of management and organization at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. “These types of things can be motivating to certain types of employees, but over time organizations run the risk of burning out their employees.”
A “Now Hiring” sign.
Inflation, high interest rates and flat or sliding sales have more businesses looking to cut labor costs, as previously reported by USA TODAY.
Job openings and hirings have dropped roughly 35% from their pandemic-era peaks, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, leaving some companies to turn to existing staff to manage tasks after an employee leaves – sometimes without a pay bump, according to surveys.
Thirteen percent of surveyed companies said they were using new job titles to recognize or reward employees when funds for raises were limited, up from 8% in 2018, according to a 2023 survey from compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer. Rebecca Toman, vice president of the firm’s survey business unit, said those new titles may or may not come with more duties.
“Titles are a way to do many things – attract employees, retain them, provide job satisfaction. And it’s really interesting to see that titles are being used in lieu of pay increases,” Toman said.
From Gen Z to Boomers: How much money each generation thinks they need for success
Younger workers seem to experience this the most, with 33% of Gen Z workers and 18% of millennials offered a promotion without a raise within the last 12 months, compared with 7% of Gen X workers and just 3% of baby boomers, according to a March survey from staffing and recruiting firm Robert Half Inc.
“For so long, everybody’s been doing the job of more than one person. Post-COVID, though, there’s been a lot more other stressors,” said Janis Petrini, owner of an Express Employment Professionals franchise in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that helps match employees and companies. “Everybody is experiencing outside forces as well as demands at work. So you hear words like, ‘I’m overwhelmed,’ or ‘I’m exhausted,’ or ‘I need more support.’”
A spring Harris Poll survey for Express Employment Professionals found budget constraints are resulting in reduced or stagnated hiring plans, and 68% of hiring managers plan to cope with a more limited workforce by teaching employees new skills, either for their current role or to train for a new position, as previously reported by USA TODAY.
While dry promotions can save companies money, they can also lead to retention risks. A 2023 report from HR and payroll company ADP found within a month after their first promotion, 29% of employees had left their employers. Some of that may come from dry-promoted employees using their new title to find work willing to pay more.
“When do you these promotions, you’re making them more marketable in the external environment,” said Lauren Mason, U.S. career workforce solutions leader at consulting firm Mercer. “They have potentially a new title, new responsibilities, that will open them up to leverage in the external market and actually get that pay increase.”
Only 30% of American workers are highly satisfied with their pay, down from 34% last year, according to an October Pew Research Center survey of more than 5,000 employed adults.
Workers unhappy with their earnings say their pay is not keeping up with the cost of living (according to 80%), and their pay is too low for the quality of work they do (71%) or the amount of work they do (70%). Fifty-four percent say they don’t earn enough to pay their bills, according to Pew Research Center.
Anicich of the Marshall School of Business said it’s “understandable” for employees to turn down more responsibilities without a pay raise. But a dry promotion offer may be worth a discussion with a manager, especially if a boss indicates it could lead to a pay raise down the road.
“Get some sort of commitment, ideally in writing, to revisit compensation in three months or six months, whatever is appropriate, and get the organization’s perspective on why this is a quiet promotion instead of a more traditional promotion,” Anicich said.
If a pay raise or other perks such as more flexible hours are off the table, he said, the new job title could be a way to boost a resume to find a job willing to pay more.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is a ‘dry promotion?’ Responding to more work for same pay
Kaitlin Rogers is a writer, editor, and news junkie. She has been working in the media industry for over five years, and her work has appeared in dozens of publications.
Kaitlin graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor's degree in journalism and political science.
