‘Loud working’ is the new workplace trend that makes sure your work gets noticed. From sharing wins on LinkedIn and in team chats to replying to messages the moment they land – it’s dividing the nation’s workforce.
New research from company registration provider Tide has found that more than one in four (27 per cent) UK workers have considered leaving a job because of a ‘loud working’ culture or because colleagues are particularly vocal about their own work and achievements. Nearly one in ten (10 per cent) workers have already walked out because of it.
But the trend might be here to stay: those who make their work more visible say it’s paying off, and for small business owners, being seen is one of the best ways to win new business.
Across the UK, workers spend an average of 2.8 hours a week making their work visible, whether that’s sharing successes on LinkedIn, posting updates on Slack or Teams, speaking up in meetings or responding to messages straight away. Over a year, that adds up to 131 hours, or more than 17 working days.
For those who do it, that time is an investment. More than three in four (77 per cent) who make their work visible say it has led to at least one career or business benefit in the last year alone. Among 18 to 24-year-olds, a third (34 per cent) say it has led to a pay rise.
Small business owners are among the most active loud workers: almost two thirds (65 per cent) spend time making their work visible, compared with 39 per cent of employees. And it’s working: nearly half (46 per cent) of business owners who share their work and successes say it has brought in more enquiries from potential customers, and 43 per cent have won new customers or clients as a result. That makes them more than three times as likely as employees to see more enquiries (14 per cent), and twice as likely to win new customers (21 per cent). Overall, 86 per cent of business owners who back themselves publicly say it has paid off in some way.
“Loud working has mixed reactions in the workplace and it’s easy to understand that a colleague who turns every small win into an announcement might be off-putting. But our research shows there’s a difference between being performative and backing yourself,” George Schmidt, CEO UK/Europe at Tide, says. ”For small business owners sharing your work, your wins and your expertise is often the most effective marketing you have, and almost half of the owners we spoke to say it’s bringing in new enquiries.
“For anyone who’s left a loud working culture to go it alone, the good news is that you get to do it on your own terms: shout about the work you’re proud of, in the places your customers are, and leave the performative actions behind.”
Younger workers are leading the charge, and ‘loud working’ looks set to dominate the workplace in 2027. More than two thirds (68 per cent) of 25 to 34 year-olds spend time each week making their work visible to others, more than three times the rate of over-55s (21 per cent). They also spend the most time on it: an average of five hours a week, or 234 hours a year.
Yet the same age group is also the most likely to be put off by it. Nearly half (46 per cent) of 25 to 34 year-olds have considered quitting a job because of ‘loud working’, and one in five (20 per cent) already have.
Men are more likely than women to have considered quitting over ‘loud working’ or already quit over it (32 per cent vs 21 per cent), while Londoners feel it most, with 44 per cent saying a ‘loud working’ culture has made them consider leaving a job. By sector, workers in IT and telecoms (46 per cent) and finance (45 per cent) are the most likely to have had enough.
