In an untypical moment of attempting to take my career seriously, I thought I would try to get ahead of the curve by Googling what were the predicted office-trends for 2026.  Admittedly, if I was really trying to get ahead of the curve, I would have made this search back in 2025, or 2020, or perhaps 1999, rather than at the start of 2026 itself, but better late than never.

It was while doing this web-surfing that I encountered an interesting bit of research carried out by a tech company called Deel, who had already identified the nine trends that would being revolutionising the office environment in 2026.  I read on, prepared to be an early adopter.

The nine trends were: The Great Flattening; Emotional Salary; Job Hugging; Keeper Test; Culture Rot; Microshifting; Conscious Unbossing; Resilience Sprints; and LinkedIn Envy.  They were all new concepts to me.  It made me wonder how was I ever going to be able to survive in this unfamiliar new 2026 workplace?

Would I feel a Great Flattening?  Would my salary by replaced by an emotion?  Would I have enough energy to keep up with the Resilience Sprint?  It was a worry.

One thing makes me think I will be okay, though.  Amidst all the unfamiliar terms, I recognised one workplace trend that I knew all about and which never seems to change from one year to the next: Bullshit Jargon.

© Simon Turner-Tree

Simon Turner-Tree limbers up for a new office year.