Many workers spend years chasing the next rung on the career ladder: a better title, a higher salary, more authority, and the sense that they are finally “moving up.”

But a promotion is not always the clear-cut reward it appears to be. For many employees, a step up can also mean longer hours, heavier workloads, more pressure, added management responsibilities and greater scrutiny from senior leaders. The pay raise may look appealing on paper, but once the extra stress is factored in, the trade-off can feel far less attractive.

That is why a new study set out to explore the rise of “promotion pushback” — workers saying “no thanks” to career advancement because the personal trade-offs no longer feel worth the professional reward. By surveying 3,017 employees, Careerminds, a global outplacement and career development firm, identified how many North Carolina workers have turned down a promotion in the past year, and where they are most likely to decide that moving up is simply not worth the added strain.

The research found that almost half (40%) turned it down. This means that, over the past year, 105,631 North Carolina employees have turned down promotions. The findings suggest promotion pushback is not simply about ambition fading. In many cases, employees are making a practical calculation about whether the next role will genuinely improve their life or just add pressure without enough reward.

When respondents who had turned down a promotion, or said they would seriously consider doing so, were asked for their main reason, work-life balance came out on top. Nearly 1 in 4 said they were happy with their current work-life balance and did not want to disrupt it.

Other common concerns included whether the pay increase would justify the extra responsibility, whether the role would create more stress, and whether the promotion would bring longer hours or people management responsibilities.

The pay question also revealed how much more employers may need to offer before employees view a stressful promotion as worthwhile. Only a small minority said they would seriously consider accepting a more stressful role for a pay increase of less than 10%. By contrast, more than half said they would need a raise of at least 20%.

For some employees, the concern is not hypothetical. More than a third said they had previously accepted a promotion and later regretted it. That finding suggests many workers may be drawing on personal experience when deciding whether the next step up is really worth taking.

The study also points to a newer workplace anxiety: increased monitoring. Nearly half of respondents said they would be less likely to accept a promotion if the role came with more AI-driven performance tracking or productivity monitoring. For employers, that could make certain advancement opportunities feel less like recognition and more like surveillance.

The appetite for climbing the career ladder also appears divided. Compared with five years ago, 35% of respondents said they are now more interested in moving up, while 33% said they are less interested. A further 32% said their interest is about the same.

But when employees were asked what would make them more likely to accept a promotion, the answers were revealing. The most attractive perk was not a flashy title or office status symbol, but a clear boundary around personal time. One in three said a guaranteed “no weekend work” rule would make them most likely to say yes.

“Promotions have traditionally been viewed as an automatic win for employees, but these findings suggest many workers are taking a much closer look at what that next step actually means for their day-to-day quality of life,” said Amanda Augustine, a certified professional career coach and resident career expert for Careerminds. 

“Employers who want workers to step into leadership roles may need to rethink how those opportunities are structured and communicated. Today’s employees are looking beyond salary and title; they also want realistic workloads, healthy boundaries, meaningful support and long-term career stability.”

Careerminds is a global workforce solutions provider specializing in outplacement, career transition, job architecture and talent development.

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