80K NJ Workers Rejected Job Promotions Last Year, Study Finds – Here’s Why

More than one in three New Jersey workers turned down a job promotion last year, a recent study found.

Many people 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 isn’t always the clear-cut reward it appears to be, according to a new study from Careerminds, an outplacement and job development firm.

“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 firm said. “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 held true for many employees in New Jersey, surveyors found:

“The research found that among employees who had been offered a promotion over the past year, over one in three (36%) turned it down. This means that, over the past year, 81,615 New Jersey employees have turned down promotions.”

The figures varied sharply across the country, researchers said.

In Nevada, for example, 54 percent of employees who were offered a promotion chose to decline it, which equates to 44,904 people. Workers in Iowa were the least likely to say no, at just 5 percent, or 4,097 people.

The top 5 nationally were:

1. Nevada: 54% (44,904)
2. New Hampshire: 49% (17,777)
3. Colorado: 44% (68,284)
4. California: 43% (408,750)
5. Washington: 43% (81,075)

Nationwide, key reasons workers gave for rejecting a promotion included:

• 23% said they were happy with their current work-life balance
• 16% said the pay increase would not be worth the extra responsibility
• 16% said they did not want more stress
• 9% said they did not want longer hours
• 9% said they did not want to manage other people
• 8% were concerned that the role would come with more performance tracking
• 7% said they were worried about burnout
• 7% said promotions are not as secure or rewarding as they used to be
• 4% said they did not want to become more visible to senior management

For some employees, the concern is not hypothetical. More than a third of respondents said they had previously accepted a promotion and later regretted it.

“On the surface, that sounds like a story about ambition cooling off,” researchers said. “But the deeper picture is more useful for employers. Many workers are not rejecting growth outright. They are rejecting the version of growth that comes with longer hours, heavier stress, people management, added scrutiny and only a modest pay bump to show for it.”

The report is based on an online survey of 3,017 workers done in May 2026. Survey findings were combined with labor force data to estimate where employees are most likely to reject promotions. See the full study and learn about its methodology here.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.