{"id":7300,"date":"2025-10-02T05:19:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/?post_type=news&p=7300"},"modified":"2025-12-01T02:27:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T07:27:45","slug":"climbing-the-ladder","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/news\/climbing-the-ladder\/","title":{"rendered":"Climbing the ladder doesn\u2019t matter like it used to"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n
\n\n\n
\n

\u201cA new generation of top execs is redefining what ambition and leadership look like. The old picture of success \u2014 an expensive suit chained to a desk \u2014 is giving way to something very different: one where balance, rest and life outside of work count just as much as titles or corner offices,\u201d says Kevin Kliman, President of Canadian business at 91±¬ΑΟ.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We saw this firsthand when speaking with an HR Business Partner in London, ON. She\u2019s in her mid-thirties, sharp and successful by any measure. But when asked if she had her eye on an executive role, her response was immediate: “Not a chance. I like sleeping. I like weekends. I like my life.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s not alone. According to 91±¬ΑΟ’s 2025 Annual Jobs Report<\/a>, 53 per cent of Canadian workers now say they want a job without much pressure or responsibility. This is no fringe plea; it\u2019s the emerging norm. Quebec leads the shift, with 60 per cent preferring low-pressure roles, compared to 49 per cent in the Prairies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generational data makes it clear: workers in their late 20s and early 30s are the most likely to ease off the climb, choosing balance over constant hustle. After years of layoffs, shaky markets and running on empty, working eight days a week just doesn\u2019t land the same. Sure, 62 per cent of 18\u201324 year olds are still charging ahead \u2014 but you can already feel the weariness creeping in. Ambition seems to peak earlier now, and downtime is finally being seen as part of the plan, not a weakness<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she put it when we spoke, \u201cI like to think of a career lattice as more like a climbing wall than a single ladder. You don\u2019t just move straight up \u2014 sometimes you go sideways, or on a diagonal, or you pause on a new foothold to build some skills before moving again. For employees, that means more options and more ownership over how they grow. And for employers, it creates flexibility, because people can shift into the areas where they\u2019re needed most. It also keeps employees engaged, because they can see multiple ways forward, not just one narrow path.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic blurred boundaries between life and work; today\u2019s cost-of-living crisis makes financial stability feel perpetually out of reach. Housing, groceries, childcare: they\u2019re essentials, not extras. Grinding harder doesn\u2019t guarantee more each paycheque; it often just deepens exhaustion. Many workers are learning that constant motion isn\u2019t the same as meaningful progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t about laziness. It\u2019s about a necessary recalibration: hours logged no longer equate to success. It\u2019s about conserving energy in a burnout-plagued world. And it\u2019s about justice: younger workers witnessed parents pour decades into organizations only to be let go. They\u2019re done buying into that script. A new story is being written \u2014 one that prioritizes longevity, not burnout disguised as drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employers, take note. This is more than a challenge to the old career ladder; it\u2019s a creative invitation. If ambition no longer means climbing, how do we reward growth? How do we build progression paths that honour mastery and wellbeing? By redefining a vision of success that looks less like a ladder and more like a lattice.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sabine, a 25-year-old recruitment executive in Calgary, embodies this shift. She values progression, but only if it comes with fair pay and flexibility. Her leverage of a competing job offer to secure a sustainable salary highlights a broader generational demand: ambition, but only when employers invest in structural support, not lip service. She represents a cohort that wants to grow, but not at any cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To thrive, employers must rethink work: not stretching people thinner, but designing roles that fit real human lives. That means creating work environments where rest is not a reward, but a right; where ambition is measured by impact, not inboxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workplaces that adapt will be better poised to attract and retain talent in a shifting labour market. The talent equation has changed, and the companies that refuse to see it will be the ones left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globally, we\u2019re seeing a pushback against burnout, and in Canada, that repositioning has a distinct shape: pragmatic, balanced, quietly radical. Quebec may be leading the way, but from Vancouver to Halifax, Canadians are yearning for a new kind of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re witnessing an ambitious transformation. Not a lowering of standards, but a raising of expectations for what a good working life should actually look like.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More Canadians are choosing low-pressure roles over promotions. 91±¬ΑΟ\u2019s 2025 Annual Jobs Report reveals a major shift in how ambition is defined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":497,"featured_media":7301,"template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_visual_mode":"business","exclude_from_algolia":false,"author_id":0,"reading_time":"3 min read","display_reading_time":false,"homepage_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"learn_topic":[],"audience":[],"post_features":[],"class_list":["post-7300","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/7300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7300"},{"taxonomy":"learn_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/learn_topic?post=7300"},{"taxonomy":"audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience?post=7300"},{"taxonomy":"post_features","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_features?post=7300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}