What’s Hot or Not in the 2025 Workplace
As a child of the 80’s I remember being a bit of a middle ground kid. You know a bit nerdy (I was a straight A student), I was OK at sport, not a complete stay in the library book daggy nerd. I sat in the middle of the “quad” and played handball, I put my hair in plaits at night so it looked cool and “crimped” the next day but was embarrassed by my slightly hairy legs (my mum wouldn’t let me shave them back then).
I was not one of the cool kids either that sat up the end of the quad rebelliously against a toilet block, tanning their legs and teasing their big hair higher and higher whilst their skirt waists were rolled up and their hemlines went higher and higher too.
From that middle ground I found a vantage point to look left and right and see what was hot and what was not.
Here's some of what was Hot and Not in the 80’s in the schoolyard:
80’s What was HOT:
🔥 Leg warmers, wearing “scungies” under your skirt and stirrup pants.
🔥 Having Nirvana or Pearl Jam posters on your school folder.
🔥 Mullets, mow hawks and teased-up hair.
🔥 Making a mixed tape to give to someone you liked on your tape deck (press play and record while listening to Barry Bissell’s Top 40). Of course I never 😉
🔥 Bragging about owning a Commodore 64 computer at home.
🔥 Having a crush on Val Kilmer’- "Iceman" from Top Gun.
80’s What was NOT:
🚫 Bell bottoms and tie-dyed shirts.
🚫 Having Cher or Whitney Houston posters on your school folder.
🚫 Afros and feathered hair.
🚫 Carrying your giant tape deck on your shoulder playing disco beats.
🚫 Admitting to owning an Apple Macintosh at home.
🚫 Having a crush on the Maths teacher.
Fast forward 40 years and I’m still kind of in the middle ground – as a leadership and culture consultant I sit betwixt being and employee and leading a company – I have the privilege to work with many organisations and agencies of varied industries and sizes, on the sidelines. I sit on the quad watching the interplay in front of me and I observe and study human behaviour and trends.
In 2025 here’s my observations of what’s Hot or Not in the workplace.
2025 What’s HOT:
🔥 Trusting people to do remote work.
🔥 Phones on silent and away for face-to-face meetings.
🔥 Communicating the necessary and the truth.
🔥 Bringing your whole, real self to work.
🔥 Hiring people who give a damn.
🔥 Quirky email sign offs (like sent by my carrier pigeon)
🔥 Asking deep questions to clarity.
🔥 Addressing poor behaviour immediately.
🔥 Smart use of AI powered tools.
🔥 Burnout prevention, mental health days and wellness encouragement.
🔥 Micro-learning, cross functional experience building.
2025 WHAT’S NOT:
🚫 Micromanaging and following up emails constantly.
🚫 Always having your camera off during teams meetings.
🚫 Eating tuna at your desk in the office (still not cool).
🚫 Asking questions you already know the answer to in order to show off.
🚫 Going into breakout rooms on zoom to “allow for team building”.
🚫 Tolerating BS and bad behaviour.
🚫 Mindless meetings.
🚫 Outdated clunky software systems.
🚫 Glorified overwork and excessive productivity.
🚫 Static roles and hierarchies.
What trends do you remember most or are seeing now? I’d love to hear.
AJ
Alexandra Joy
P.S. Let me know if you'd like to explore strategies for aligning with these trends because I am so cool (not!).