Is it time to say goodbye to the career ladder for good?

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" 

It’s the question we’re confronted with from the age we learn to speak. Right now my daughter (6) wants to be a chef, a dance teacher and a police officer. I'd love a world where she could explore all three, but conventional wisdom would tell her to pick one to become the full focus of her career energy.

We associate the career ladder with the economic booms of the mid-late 20th century. Shiny office buildings, new technology, billionaires. Power suits.

The first use of the term appears in 1835, almost two centuries ago. It described the relatively new Victorian career of the Office Clerk. We've been climbing those invisible rungs ever since. “Start at the bottom and work your way up” - the mantra we follow as we choose specialisms, sit exams and prepare to enter the world of work.

Up until relatively recently, the career ladder offered stability. A linear path from entry-level to leadership (sometimes within the same business) always with increasing levels of responsibility. We felt safe in the knowledge that ‘working our way up’ will lead to happiness, fulfilment, security and better outcomes in life.

Now the ladder is starting to fall apart. It's inflexible, unreliable and slow in a world full of options. It was also built for a time when there was always somebody at home raising the children and two incomes were not required - a world that no longer exists.

For me personally, when I got everything I wanted from my career of climbing the ladder for 18 years, I realised it wasn't actually what I wanted. At the very least, I didn't want it badly enough to allow it to take over the rest of my life.

So, is the career ladder still fit for purpose, or do we need a new path to find fulfilment in our work lives?

The millennials have left the building

The millennial generation, currently aged 30-45, is leading the charge when it comes to disillusionment with traditional career drudgery. Across all professions and walks of life, the millennials have had enough.

They graduated from university straight into the storm of the 2008 banking crisis. They raised toddlers and home-schooled during lockdown. They had their career progression knocked back by repeated layoffs and have seen the cost of living soar, during what should have been their best years. And even the oldest millennials are still at least 30 years away from retirement. I'm one of them.

The dream we were sold is unravelling fast - so we're taking matters into our own hands.

It's been widely reported that the generation is simply 'leaving the workforce' - with women more likely to opt-out after realising that 'having it all means doing it all', but Millennials are also more likely to find other ways to work.

Freelancing and entrepreneurship are highest among this group. It's hardly surprising. Millennials have the life and career experience needed to make such a leap, and are tech-savvy enough to sell their services.

According to Statista, in August 2024, there were around 4.23 million self-employed workers in the United Kingdom, accounting for workers across all sectors. When you look at the split by gender, though, the data tells an interesting story.

Number of self-employed workers in the United Kingdom from 2nd quarter 1992 to 2nd quarter 2024, by gender. Statista, 2024.

For men, the rate of self-employment drops back during 2020 due to Covid, falling back to 2003 levels. This hasn't yet recovered and tells a story of the pressure on men to keep earnings stable for their families.

Within this data, there will also be a subset of self-employed retirees who retired earlier than they might have done during the pandemic. The task of starting up operations again after such a protracted pause deemed unworthy of the effort.

For women, though, self-employment hasn't lost its allure. Despite numbers falling slightly during 2020, the number going it alone since then has been stable or growing. Frustrations with inflexible workplaces and the skyrocketing cost of childcare are likely contributors.

What's the alternative to the career ladder?

Generation Z (Gen Z), born between 1995 and 2002, is already seeing things differently.

The generation raised with access to all of humanity's collective wisdom (and stupidity) at their fingertips is breaking the mold.

Recent research by Deloitte suggests that Gen Z are rejecting the traditional career ladder format in favour of 'career lattices'. Organisations either need to adjust to this format, or accept that short-term job hops are likely to become the norm as workers search for more varied experiences.

Gen Z are far less likely to work for a company that doesn't align with their personal values, with inclusion and diversity also high up on their list (they're checking!) They're far more likely to have a side-hustle to build up a second income -and they're really good at it.

There are some who think we're foolish to expect too much from work. I recently read an article describing a woman's decision to walk away from her career at 39. Clever targeting by the publication in question, perhaps - but what fascinated me most were the reader comments at the end of the piece.

"Wake up: work is work and not fun." one reader opines "The more fun you have at work, the more lucky you are, but it’s not the norm." Others poke at her social status - lucky that she's able to walk away from a job she hates.

Along with it, the implication that this generation are lazy, entitled, over-privileged - perhaps put forward by those who were forced to climb the ladder against their will.

Finding your purpose

We spend so much of our time at work. What we do should be fulfilling, enjoyable even - or at the very least give us a sense of purpose. 

The key to finding the right work for you is to know what you want from it. That can take some time to figure out - and may change over time.

Even if you don't particularly care about the company or sector you work for - perhaps you care deeply about the people you work with. Maybe what matters to you at work is that you're good at it, well respected and that people come to you for help.

Equally, it's clear that the career ladder works well for some. If your dream is to become a top criminal lawer, there's really only one way. 

I'm convinced that figuring out what makes you tick at work, and knowing where you get your sense of purpose from is key to knocking down that career ladder.

The sooner we can all figure that out, the happier we'll be.