The Career Lattice: Why Careers Are No Longer Linear

In my years leading HR functions, I have watched how professionals think about their careers change in ways that would have seemed unlikely a generation ago. The career ladder once defined professional ambition and promised a clear path upward, one promotion after another, until reaching the top.

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That model worked when organizations remained stable and employees expected to climb within a single company for decades.

That certainty has faded. Over the years, in conversations with employees, I hear a different aspiration. People no longer measure success solely by upward movement, what they seek is variety, purpose, and the freedom to shape their own trajectories.

Randstad’s Workmonitor research, which surveyed more than 27,000 workers globally, found that only 41% want to follow a traditional career path. This number reflects what I observe in my own work. Employees want opportunities to grow in ways that reflect their interests, strengths, and aspirations.

Organizations need talent that adapts, collaborates across functions, and responds to evolving needs. The career lattice recognizes that growth happens in multiple directions, not just upward. This is where career progression becomes lateral, cross-functional, project-based, and skill-driven.

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The lattice model places responsibility on individuals to direct their development instead of waiting for promotions that no longer suffice. I believe professionals must identify skill gaps, seek stretch assignments, and build cross-functional relationships. Curiosity becomes the biggest career asset when asking to join projects outside one’s core function as it signals engagement.

A multi-dimensional approach

Gen Z has embraced the “career lily pad” approach, moving laterally, diagonally, and sometimes across industries altogether to collect skills and experiences with every leap. This generation treats each position as an opportunity to acquire capabilities, build connections, and prepare for future moves rather than waiting for the next promotion.

We need to understand what drove this change. Automation and artificial intelligence eliminated routine tasks while creating new roles that did not exist five years ago. Due to the pandemic, remote work adoption accelerated, dissolving some traditional departmental boundaries. When younger workers entered the workforce, they came with different expectations about what career success means.

Interestingly, many companies are in tandem with this evolving landscape which can be better understood with Randstad’s research that found that 72% of employers now consider the linear career ladder outdated. Companies that encourage internal mobility see higher retention rates because employees get to explore different functions without leaving the organization, stay longer, and report higher engagement scores.

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Career Priorities: Gen Z and Millennials

Deloitte’s 2026 Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey, which gathered responses from more than 22,500 individuals across 44 countries, found that just 25% of Gen Zs and 21% of millennials prefer fast-paced career progression marked by rapid promotions.

Most favor gradual growth or are willing to make lateral moves to build experience that supports long-term success. Only 6% of Gen Zs and millennials say that achieving a leadership position is their primary career goal, consistent with findings from previous years.

This insight reflects a broader recalibration of what career success today means to younger workers who prioritize stability, skills development, and sustainable workloads over rapid advancement.

The Insight Edge

At Insight, we have a curated Career Framework that puts this approach into practice in a way that feels real for our people. I find it immensely productive to see role expectations consolidated into a single, clear view. It reduces the uncertainty, which so many teammates have shared with me, about which skills and experiences truly matter for their progression.

In my experience, learning and development opportunities support this structure since role-based learning journeys provide targeted skill building. As AI reshapes jobs and skills, continuous learning and adaptation have become essential.

When organizations invest in reskilling and upskilling, they create conditions where employees can navigate non-linear career journeys with confidence. AI-focused programs like the AI Flight Academy prepare teammates for emerging needs across the organization. These resources treat growth as continuous rather than episodic.

At Insight, I see this play out in real conversations and experiences. A teammate in sales might spend six months embedded with our solutions architecture team, then return with deeper technical fluency.

Another might lead a cross-functional project on AI adoption, gaining exposure to product, delivery, and customer success in a single engagement. These experiences do not fit neatly into a ladder but they build capability in ways that serve both the individual and the business.

Conclusion

As I look at how work is evolving, I believe companies must adapt their systems to support lattice-based careers. While individuals play an active role in shaping their careers, I also see it as our responsibility as organizations to create environments that make growth visible and accessible.

Clear career frameworks, learning opportunities, internal mobility programs, and transparent expectations help employees navigate their development with greater confidence.

Employees do not wait for annual review cycles to develop new capabilities, they seek challenges, build skills, and create value through varied experiences.

The career ladder served a different era. The career lattice fits the complexity of today’s workplace where success belongs to those who recognize that growth happens in multiple directions and who invest accordingly in their development.