Empiricon - The “career” of the future

Patchwork careers and work portfolios

Employee loyalty is on the decline. Employees view their careers from a holistic perspective, and not primarily in relation to a specific company. This results in regular moves between sometimes very different roles, “patchwork careers” and work portfolios, an individual set of part-time activities tailored to the needs of the individual. As the significance of a person’s current activity in a specific company declines, developing skills and gaining experience – and personal development in particular – become more important than titles and status.

As a result, employees are choosing companies based on the following factors:

Purpose
Autonomy
Mastery (see Dan H. Pink, Drive)

They also have high expectations in terms of working and employment conditions as a whole (team, leadership, culture, forms of work, salary, etc.). Against the backdrop of agility and self-organisation, career paths based on a hierarchical approach (classic “linear” career paths) are giving way to specialist and project-based paths. These two forms can also be combined to create a “patchwork” career. A self-directed approach to career planning is becoming increasingly important.

Career changes and sabbaticals are on the rise, and with them the average number of jobs a person will have in their lifetime. Spending 40 years in more or less the same job or the same company is an unthinkable scenario for younger people today. The strong desire for autonomy and personal responsibility will mean a rise in the number of people becoming self-employed, and will place increased pressure on companies to break down hierarchical structures. It should also be possible in future to combine employment and self-employment (naturally in a way that neither competes with the other).

As the processes of digitalisation and industrialisation continue, existing ways of working are changing and new occupations and task-based portfolios are emerging. Progress towards gender equality in the world of work will accelerate as it becomes easier for women to establish a career. Experienced (older) employees want more flexibility in the later stages of their career, and phased retirement is one of the options available to them. The “career peak”, as traditionally understood, is shifting forwards. Flexibility, personal responsibility, curiosity, resilience and willingness to learn may well become valuable career boosters in the form of “meta-skills”.

What can companies do to meet these new expectations regarding careers and working lives?

The company should be seen as a permeable and dynamic portfolio of tasks that allows employees to develop independently (provide career maps).
Good leadership will always be essential. Coaching is becoming increasingly important.
Variable speeds of career progression should be possible. Those who are willing and able will undoubtedly develop more quickly.
Subject-related and role-based job descriptions should take precedence over hierarchy-based roles.
Career planning should be approached more holistically, and external development measures should be possible in addition to internal ones (cooperation with other companies, work placements in social institutions, internships, project-based external assignments, etc.).
Flexible forms of work should be encouraged (part-time work, sabbaticals, long-term accounts, job sharing, mobile working, return following parental leave, phased retirement, etc.).
A work-life balance should be achievable.