The death of the Career Ladder and what it means to be a “Slashie”

We’ve all heard the term “Career Ladder”. It’s that step-by-step checklist that starts with us gaining an entry-level job and — hopefully — winds up with a job, nay vocation, that a) we love, and b) pays fruitfully. Right?

Well, if trend forecasts are anything to go by, the this “career ladder” might be coming to an abrupt end.

Enter the Career Canvas.

Let’s compare the two working models: Ladder vs. Canvas. The first is singular, linear and vertical. It’s the Baby Boomer modus operandi: start small, learn from superiors and, ultimately, earn your stripes.

What about that canvas? Sarah Liu — founder of The Dream Collective and Gemini3 (a job share marketplace)—describes it as “lateral, personal, dynamic, multi-dimensional”. In short, the canvas is anything you want it to be.

And that, says Liu, is what many millennials or “Slashies” want: flexibility, creativity, passion, purpose and choice. She spoke at yesterday’s Future of Work conference in Melbourne, Australia, about this new generation of workers.

Generation Slashies fit into two demographics: distributed workers (who have multiple incomes from several employees) and moonlighters — those guys have one primary job, but they also earn an income through freelancing.

Despite what their parents might think, most “slashies” are in this work situation by choice, in fact Liu reports 88 per cent say they would continue freelancing even if they were offered a better paying full-time job.

And, let’s clear this up, slashies aren’t just millennials. It’s 18–35-year-olds AND the 55+ crowd who are most likely to start freelancing by choice. That is, utilising their skill sets, tapping into their values and living the lifestyle they desire.

We couldn’t talk about reframing the career model without bringing Sheryl Sandberg into the conversation. The Facebook CEO and author of Lean In — the title of which has become a 21st century concept in its own right — speaks not of a career ladder, or canvas for that matter, but a jungle gym. In the 2013 book she writes: “A jungle gym scramble is the best description of my career… I could never have connected the dots from where I started to where I am today.” This concept mightn’t bring certainty to our own career trajectories, but it is comforting to know that even a business woman as accomplished as Sandberg has experienced her share of ups, downs and “What am I doing?” moments. But, we digress…

Here’s what the future looks like:

1. Flexibility is no longer a perk, it’s a requirement that goes hand-in-hand with ambition.
2. We’re in a sharing economy of talent, meaning our time, resources, skills and knowledge are more fluid than ever before.
3. Job sharing is on the rise. Organisations will need to re-frame the hiring process. The future is not about head counts, but rather, utilising the skill sets and experience of employees to work together.

For more ideas on the Future of Work, check out the conference hashtag #FOW2016 or visit the conference page here. We’ll be posting our Wildwon take-homes on Medium, too!

Image from Anthony.