5 Corporate Trends Every Leader Should Know in 2025

A plethora of trends are emerging in the workplace. Some seek to hold businesses accountable, others point to discreet practices on both employers’ and employees’ part, while the majority expose glaring issues in management. 

Leaders have witnessed subtle trends like "quiet thriving" and "resenteeism," as well as the more erratic "revenge quitting" and "career catfishing" trends in the past. In 2025, we're onto recurring trends like "Quittok" alongside newer phenomena like "quiet cutting" and "hushed hybrid policies."

These trends carry financial, reputational, and compliance risks, and company leaders must take note to improve workplace culture, sentiment, and economic health.

This article discusses corporate trends HR and leadership should ideally be aware of in 2025 to help them adapt their policies and practices to keep up with an evolving work world.

5 Workplace Trends Company Leaders Should Be Aware Of

Considering the degree of transformations workplaces have undergone in the past few years alone, it's no wonder employees and employers are experimenting with new ways to adapt. The following are key trends HR and leaders should closely follow as they prepare for the year ahead: 

    1. Hushed Hybrid Policies

The back-to-office mandates have spawned many workplace trends. We are all familiar with “coffee badging” (briefly popping into the coffee for face time), “NATO applying” (not attached to the outcome applications), and the more recent “task masking” (appearing to be busy at work). Perhaps the most risky and controversial of all are the “hushed hybrid” policies, also referred to as “shadow policies.”

The term refers to managers unofficially permitting some employees to work remotely, overruling in-person mandates. “Hushed hybrid” policies primarily aim to retain employees for whom hybrid work is a non-negotiable requirement. In addition, transitioning teams to in-office settings can be disruptive to workflows and teams’ collaboration efforts—something that managers may be keen on avoiding. Therefore, they create workarounds behind the organization’s back.

    Key Facts to Know About this Trend

• “Hushed hybrid” policies open companies to legal risks and lawsuits if employees feel remote work options are unfairly and impartially distributed across teams.

• Shadow policies can easily escalate into non-compliance issues and negatively impact careers (managers may face potential disciplinary action or even termination).

• There needs to be systems to prevent shadow policies. This starts with ensuring managers don't feel the need or pressure to resort to such controversial behaviors. Companies should show a clear purpose for mandating in-person work and support employees in the transition process. Leadership should also allow remote work options based on individual circumstances. Thirdly, managers who bypass formal return-to-office policies should be held accountable.

    2. “Sunday Scaries”

“Sunday Scaries” is another term that has found a place in the workplace lexicon. It refers to the anxiety or worrying thoughts that creep up in one's mind in anticipation of the workweek ahead. This Sunday evening discomfort often triggers a stress reaction. Employees feel restless and numb, and lose focus and interest in otherwise relaxing or enjoyable activities.

Key Facts to Know About this Trend

• Work-related stress and anxiety can lead to absenteeism and performance gaps. Companies should note this and help ease the experience of “Sunday Scaries” by ensuring manageable workloads and access to wellness programs.

• Managers should encourage employees to establish clear work-life boundaries. As a strict measure, employees should avoid going through emails or answering work calls on Sundays. 

• A fixed night routine can take one's mind off the week ahead. You could watch a show that relaxes you, create a to-do list, and prioritize tasks. Turning off social media, ideally a few hours before bedtime, can calm the mind. Other stress-releasing or mood-lifting activities like meditating, practicing mindfulness, perhaps dancing, working out, etc., can also help.

    3. “Quittok”

‘Quittok’ is a long-standing workplace trend, whereby employees take to TikTok to share their work tribulations. Specifically, “quittok” includes secretly recorded videos of employees’ resignations or terminations. Many employees even broadcast the events leading up to such posts, to point out unacceptable behaviors, a lack of empathy in the termination process, gaps in management, etc.

While “quittok” isn’t specifically a Gen-Z phenomenon, younger employees commonly turn to online platforms to decry their employers. In light of the recent layoffs, “quittok” has surfaced again, with workers posting non-anonymous videos of their termination stories. 

Key Facts to Know About this Trend

• The apparent damage to the employer brand of businesses is showcased in these TikTok posts.

• The “Quittok” trend can breed a culture of distrust within companies, hurting employee morale and motivation.

• If the subject of these covertly recorded meetings is sensitive (contains confidential or strategic information), it could expose organizations to cyber attacks and cause them to lose their competitive edge.

• Posting confessional videos on social media discourages opportunities from employers who fear they may become the subject of a similar viral video.

• Businesses need to be more accountable for how they handle terminations. They should take steps to humanize their offboarding processes and treat employees who are being laid off or terminated with empathy. Employees, on the other hand, should exercise caution when posting confessional videos lest they violate company policies or, worse, get flagged by recruiters.

    4. “Quiet Cutting”

There's no dearth of the subtle “quiet” trends. So far, we've heard of “Quiet Quitting,” “Quiet Thriving,” and even the more serious “Quiet Cracking.” A follow-up trend, “Quiet Cutting,” has entered the picture, whereby employees are reshuffled into less impactful roles with reduced pay and benefits. Employers may frame it as ‘restructuring’ or ‘realignment’, but “quiet cutting” is an alternative to layoffs and a means to reduce costs and reputational damage.

Key Facts to Know About this Trend

• Misrepresenting “quiet cutting” can breed distrust and resentment. It also raises ethical concerns and could spell trouble for an organization (backlash, legal liabilities, reputation damage).

• Companies should instead honestly and kindly explain the reason behind the reassignment. Perhaps the success metrics have changed, or AI deployment is a key driver—let the employees know so they can make an informed decision.  

• If an employee chooses to leave, companies would do well to set them up for success by offering career guidance and outplacement assistance.

    5. Progressive well-being policies

From flexible PTOs to digital detoxing, bereavement, miscarriage, and unhappy leaves, wellbeing has shot to the top of employers’ priority list, and with good reason. The figures surrounding engagement, stress, mental health, and burnout are nothing short of alarming. They urge employers to act urgently. Therefore, the trend of shaping company policies to focus more on employee well-being has boomed.

A few emerging progressive well-being policies include:

• “Digital Detox Policies”: Do you often look up emails or answer calls during personal time? Some companies have policies against that. “Digital Detox Policies” encourage employees to block digital communication channels outside their work hours to focus on their personal lives. This helps prevent burnout and productivity concerns.

• Menopause support policies: A few companies have adopted policies to support women navigating postpartum, but more need to follow suit. Menopausal women (aged 45 to 55 in India) constitute a sizable segment of the working population. Supporting them in managing associated symptoms (sleeping difficulty, concentration issues, mood swings, etc.) is a business responsibility.

• Flexible PTOs: Unlike rigid accrual PTOs, flexible PTOs allow employees to use their leave at their discretion without specifying the purpose. This is linked with higher job satisfaction, better work-life balance, and increased productivity.

In addition to this, companies also offer “Pawternity Leave,” “Eldercare Leave,” "Bereavement Leave,” “Heartbreak Leave,” and “Unhappy Leave,” to name a few. Leaders must assess their company's financial standing and weigh the perceived benefits of these new and improved policies before adopting them.

Conclusion

A series of corporate buzzwords and phenomena is sweeping offices in 2025. The implications of many of these trends can amount to hidden disengagement, operational, and reputational costs—and leaders at the forefront of financial and policy decisions must remain vigilant, be it HR, middle managers, or even C-suite leadership.