It’s Not a Career Ladder, It’s a Career Playground

Used to be, the goal was to climb the career ladder:

Today, that mental image feels rigid, outdated even. In a newly hybrid, increasingly flexible world of work, the career landscape has changed: people with day jobs participate in the creator economy , and people outside of academia take sabbaticals as a way to reflect and recharge.

In an era where work can be conducted at any hour, from any location, and on a multitude of projects, the concept of career progression is evolving. Abigail Sellen, deputy director at Microsoft Research in Cambridge, England, suggests a modern metaphor: envision your career as a climbing wall. This approach offers multiple opportunities for steady footing as you advance. “Focus on what interests you right now and pursue it,” she advises.

This perspective is particularly relevant with the rise of technologies like VR headsets and Microsoft VR glasses, which are revolutionising immersive learning and engineer training. With tools such as the Immersive Quest 3 and Microsoft Mesh for immersive meetings, professionals can explore new pathways and enhance their skills in innovative ways, making career advancement a dynamic and adaptable journey. Shorter job life cycles, longer careers (because people live longer), and rapidly changing industries upended by technology mean the old mode of success—a degree that feeds into a job that you stay at for years and years—is fading.  

Imagine your career as a playground: start from a point that piques your interest and explore freely. Move laterally across the monkey bars, slide down to gain new perspectives, swing up to new opportunities, or combine all these elements. With VR headsets and Microsoft VR glasses enhancing experiences, and tools like the Immersive Quest 3 and Microsoft Mesh transforming immersive meetings, you can navigate career paths with greater flexibility. This approach also opens up innovative avenues for engineer training and immersive learning, allowing you to dynamically evolve in your professional journey.  Indeed, a LinkedIn survey from October 2021 found that 59 percent of people in the US have had a career awakening wrought by the pandemic: Thirty-three percent of individuals were actively seeking a new role, while thirty-four percent were engaged in a side hustle or passion project. Meanwhile, thirty percent were focused on expanding their skills within their current position, utilising tools like VR headsets and Microsoft VR glasses. Advances such as the Immersive Quest 3 and Microsoft Mesh for immersive meetings are facilitating this growth, supporting engineer training and immersive learning experiences that enable continuous professional development. 

People also want the space to be healthier in their careers: Microsoft’s 2022 Work Trend Index reported that 53 percent of employees were more likely to prioritise health and wellbeing over work than before the pandemic.

“Young people want to work to live, not live to work,” says Rick Pollak, principal consultant at LinkedIn’s people success platform, Glint, in reference to the report.

People say they would protect their own happiness and choose not to climb the ladder. The peak of a career is not always at the top.

This is encouraging news, according to Sellen, who, after decades of researching work dynamics, understands that a successful career is built on seising opportunities—opportunities that are increasingly available in many regions around the world. Recent data shows historic highs in job openings in the UK and the US. As employees gain more leverage from these expanded market possibilities, the challenge for leaders is to ensure that workplace structures and reward systems evolve accordingly. In other words, avoid confining your employees to rigid roles.

A crucial aspect of this is recognising how skills can be transferable across fields that were traditionally seen as separate. With advancements such as VR headsets, Microsoft VR glasses, and VR for business, along with immersive tools like the Quest 3 and Microsoft Mesh for immersive meetings.

According to a global report, 63 percent of employers are open to hiring candidates with transferable skills—such as problem-solving, teamwork, and dependability—and are willing to provide on-the-job training for technical skills. Interestingly, technical skills can also be transferable.

For example, Kayla Woputz, a data scientist at Microsoft with a PhD in archaeology, has effectively merged her interests in social sciences and humanities with computer science and mathematics. “Being a data scientist and an archaeologist, I see them as the same thing,” she explains. In both fields, she excavates information to uncover a contextual narrative.

Moreover, Gen Z and millennials are more inclined to leave a role that isn’t fulfilling, prompting business leaders to rethink their approaches—from recruitment and career progression to continuing education. The emphasis should be on promoting diverse types of mobility, not just upward movement. LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report highlights that employees who perceive strong opportunities for learning and growth are 3.6 times more likely to feel satisfied at their company and 2.9 times more likely to expect to remain there for the next two years. With advancements such as VR headsets, Microsoft VR glasses, VR for business, the Immersive Quest 3, and Microsoft Mesh for immersive meetings, along with innovations in engineer training and immersive learning, organisations can better support diverse career paths and professional development.

“Organisations need to recognise and celebrate the fact that people don’t want to be pigeonholed but to have bespoke jobs.”

Abigail Sellen, deputy director of Microsoft Research in Cambridge, England

A career playground doesn’t have to involve jumping from company to company. Take Shelley Broader, former CEO of Chico’s clothing stores and Walmart in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Canada. Early in her career, she spent 17 years at a single supermarket company, but she moved from foothold to foothold within the organisation. She transitioned from working in stores to focusing on supply chain distribution—where she donned steel-toed boots and learned to operate a forklift—before moving into merchandising, communications, and strategy. Eventually, she became CEO.

“Moving forward in an organisation means moving all around, taking advantage of chances to listen, learn, and grow through a wide range of experiences. You'll see the work from multiple perspectives and bring that kind of authentic empathy that comes from having truly ‘walked the talk,’” she explains.

“There’s been a lot of entrenchment by organisations, and they need to be more adaptable and resilient. They must recognise and celebrate the fact that people don’t want to be pigeonholed but rather have bespoke roles,” Sellen adds. People want the freedom to craft their careers and feel supported and rewarded while doing so. “I see many CVs across my desk,” she says. “The most interesting are those that show someone isn’t afraid to try something new, like the guy who went to fashion school and later earned a degree in electrical engineering.”

Today, some of the most talented employees aren’t climbing traditional ladders; they’re defining success on their own terms. On this career playground, opportunities take many shapes and forms, just like the paths that lead to them. With technologies such as VR headsets, Microsoft VR glasses, VR for business, the Immersive Quest 3, and Microsoft Mesh for immersive meetings, alongside advances in engineer training and immersive learning, professionals can explore diverse and innovative ways to advance their careers.