Ep. 331 Five trends shaping the future of work in 2025

In this week’s episode, Anna explores the transformative shifts reshaping our professional landscapes. With a focus on redefining what success looks like today, this episode is essential listening for anyone contemplating leaving corporate life, exploring fractional work, or reevaluating personal and professional priorities. Tune in to gain insights into the future of work in 2025 that will empower you to build a meaningful career that aligns with your life goals.

Key moments:

[00:54] Introduction to Macro Trends and Their Impact

[02:37] The Shift from Corporate Life

[05:34] Economic Uncertainty and Layoffs

[06:17] Return to Office Mandates

[08:26] Shift in Values Post-Pandemic

[09:25] Rise of Fractional Work and Portfolio Careers

[10:17] The Role of AI and Technology

Resources mentioned:

• Nick Bloom, Stanford Professor on LinkedIn: Insights into remote work and office mandates
• McKinsey’s research on workforce disengagement
• PwC’s survey on flexible working preferences

Future of work in 2025

This episode is for you if you’ve been feeling that the way we work is fundamentally shifting and you’re wondering what that means for your career or your business. So whether you’re thinking about leaving corporate, exploring fractional work, or simply questioning what success even looks like anymore, this one’s for you. Welcome to Reimagining Success, the podcast that helps you build a profitable business as an independent expert, one that works for you and your lifestyle. I’m your host, Anna Lumbo, former corporate insider turned business mentor, executive coach and mum of two. Whether you’re a solopreneur, a coach, speaker, consultant, I’m here to guide you in creating a business that gives you freedom, flexibility, and the fulfilment you’re looking for, ready to redefine success and build a business that you love. Let’s get started.

There is a lot of change happening in the world. Some of it scary, some of it exciting, and all of it, I’d say, affecting how we’re thinking about things, what matters, how we’re showing up, how we’re owning our careers, what we’re prioritising in our lives. And so today I wanted to take a bit of a step back and look at some of those macro trends and how they’re affecting how we should, if I can use that word, be thinking about our careers, our businesses and our choices from a day to day perspective. So there’s a lot of talk of disengagement from the workforce and, oh, it’s Gen Z and these lazy youngsters coming out of the pandemic, et cetera, et cetera. But the reality is these are shifts we’re seeing across generations. It’s not just a question of young lazy people. We’ll dig into that in a moment. But it’s definitely more of a macro shift.

So that’s what I wanted to dig into today. What’s happening and how does it affect us? So the first question, I guess, and it’s one I’m asked often, is why are people leaving corporate? Right. This is really the crux of it. This is how my podcast started 10 years ago. And I said 10 years ago, I think 12 years ago, is when I left my career podcast. Six, seven years ago, I’m going to say off the top of my head, but it’s of course how I started escaping the nine to five. I’ve then been helping other people through that transition and there have been macro forces happening alongside. I think the general shift that I’ve always talked about is what happens not from a generational perspective, but rather from a seasonal perspective.

In my 20s I had no thought of all these different things about really work, life, balance. We did work hard, play hard. I did lots of amateur theatre in my spare time. We partied a lot. We just loved our work. It was great. Obviously no obligations. Then when I left I went through this phase of what I call redefining success which was all around prioritising freedom, flexibility and fulfilment.

And that’s taken various forms over the years. So this was not, I wouldn’t say a macro force in any way. It was a personal shift for me in terms of what was happening around me. I had friends who are marrying and settling down where I was not. I felt from a career perspective I’d kind of got what I wanted and needed from that company. And so those were very personal decisions for me. Right. That’s why I took my sabbatical to South America.

That’s how I ultimately quit and started working myself. Obviously over those years I’ve seen across the clients I’ve worked with again that pattern happening at a couple of different points. It happened when you hit your 30s, perhaps as a woman, but more and more as a man too. And you’ve been focusing single mindedly on your career. You haven’t really been thinking about maybe wanting to meet somebody or having children and the famous clock is ticking. If that’s on the car that begins to rear its head. Maybe you’ve had a health scare, maybe someone in your family. You know, these are kinds of things that, that prompt a rethinking redundancy of course, and that can happen at any age can come very unexpectedly and in no way linked to your worth or your performance.

Then there’s another moment which is rather the empty nesters. You know, your kids have moved out or you’re feeling pushed out of the corporate space even though you know you have so much more to give. You’re beginning to feel a little bit insec about what your company or how your company is going to value you. You’re seeing perhaps others around you not able to continue in their roles, perhaps facing redundancy. Perhaps you’ve even chosen to leave now because you really see this as the opportunity to have more balance, to spend time with your loved ones before it’s too late to take care of your health and to shape that next stage of your career. So all this to say that this has been happening throughout the past decade. Right. But of course we had the.

I Don’t say the dreaded C word anymore. But we had the COVID pandemic which prompted more people to rethink how they were looking at their careers. And we’re still feeling the repercussions of that as we speak now in March 2025. Have to get that right. There are, you know, hot off the press waves of layoffs happening across tech, finance, professional services. And so even the most secure, comfortable professionals are questioning the security of traditional employment. Right. So whether we’re in our 30s, 40s, 50s, we’re kind of rethinking that long game and realising that years of loyalty to one company doesn’t guarantee stability.

There are all the stats as well, as I hinted at before, around disengagement. I think McKinsey says around 21% of the workforce at the moment are quitters and disruptors. That is actively proactively wanting to leave or leaving and making really big career shifts, whether because of burnout, lack of purpose or personal reevaluation. That’s not even talking about the huge majority of people who are quietly quitting or disengaged. Right. So that’s, that’s one big trend I guess we’re seeing right now the layoffs and economic uncertainty. The job market is very tough as well in that context. The second one, of course, and it’s impossible, not to mention, is the return to office mandates.

So after the pandemic, you know, really normalised, I thought remote work. And so many companies realise it’s very possible, even desirable, to not force people back into the office. There’s cost savings, there’s productivity, there’s personal benefits, brings more people into workforce, etc. I’m not here to persuade you of this. I’m sure you know where I stand, if you know me at all. But despite this, some I’m going to say companies and if you’re not familiar with his work, Nick Bloom is a Stanford professor who’s really worth following on LinkedIn. He really puts out the, the real data of what’s happening. So he give insight behind the scenes of the kind of big headlines that we’re seeing in the press that don’t necessarily tell the story, but there are some companies that are pushing employees back to the office and having this forced return that really clashes with employees.

New values around flexibility and autonomy. Right. Especially for, but not exclusively for working parents, carers and those with perhaps non linear career paths. You know, this just feels really outdated and unnecessary, necessary and counterproductive. I’m hoping it’s a blip. I’m hoping that those companies are not going to do well as a result. They’re really missing the point if they think bringing people back in the office is going to solve their economic woes. And you know, again, so many surveys on this, but let’s pick this one.

PwC say that 61% of employees said flexible working is more important than a pay rise. So obviously depends what you’re earning, depends what your situation is. But a lot of us anecdotally as well, I can tell from parents around me, are really saying flexible working is top criterion for them. Now another one. And again, I hinted at that, you know, those shifting values post pandemic. We’re still feeling that the pandemic really triggered a deep reflection, I’d say, around what really matters. Of course I’m biassed, but I’ve just seen this explode in terms of how people are talking about more time with family, health, doing meaningful work. And I like to think that it’s led to a wave of people who are following the flag that I’ve been waving for over a decade of redefining success on their own terms.

Because of that, I suppose because of technology, because of a couple of these things in terms of layoffs, economic uncertainty, shifting values and so on. I’ve also seen this rise of, I mean, portfolio careers I’ve talked about for a long time, right. But also fractional work. There are so many different business models and of course it depends on what your own personal priorities and preferences and goals are. But so many different business models now that you can choose, you don’t have to follow that linear career path of progressing up the career ladder. We’re choosing flexibility over full time roles. Working as a fractional executive for a couple of companies, working as consultants, coaches and creating portfolio careers that really give us those multiple revenue streams, which really is more stable and secure from a financial perspective than working in one job where we can face redundancy. And I think, you know, this is really appealing hopefully for senior leaders who want to own their time, but they still want to leverage their expertise and earn a good salary.

Right. We don’t all want to quit our jobs to live in a van, although I had had many friends who did so. And some still want to and need to look after their kids and their partners and their houses and their nice holidays. And there’s no reason to sort of compromise on that up to a point. So the possibilities are, if not endless, at least many in terms of how you can design work that doesn’t follow the traditional Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, full time salary, right. And then finally, it’s a bit out of context of these other trends that I’ve talked about. So layoffs, economic uncertainty, return to office, mandates, shifting values, post pandemic, the rise of fractional work portfolio careers. But AI, it’s impossible not to mention it, right? It’s just exploded exponentially in every sense of the word.

And you know, it’s something I’m using now every day. So many simple uses for it, so many incredibly complex and game changing uses. It’s changing and reshaping not just entry level work, but mid to senior roles too, right? And tasks that may be were traditionally kind of considered safe, like analysis, research, even creative work unfortunately are increasingly becoming automated and it’s pretty unnerving for professionals. And also I think a positive in that a we can use AI and leverage it, right? I think the meme is that humans won’t be replaced by AI, but rather by humans who know how to use AI well. But it’s only opportunity to make sure that we’re future proofing, diversifying, looking ahead to the future, right? So recognising the need that we need to reskill, reposition ourselves or else get left behind. And again, to be honest, this is something I heard from clients years ago. You know, this idea of even had a client who springs to mind now who was in publishing and of course the move to digital, you know, you’ve built your whole career in traditional publishing and now especially, my goodness, the scene has changed so much. And if you’re not skilled and experienced in the digital space, that’s a real problem.

Even you know, back in my corporate days when digital marketing, would you believe it came along that was very different and unexpected to people marketers who built their careers in traditional tv, print, radio marketing. And so this is not new, right. I think it’s just happening on such a big scale. So those are the macro trends I guess that I really find interesting and that are resonating and contributing to this perfect storm in the space where I’m working. And just to reiterate that point that I said at the beginning, you know, a lot of my clients fall into this category of mid career, I guess we call it professional, senior professionals, highly skilled, successful people are recognising that, you know what, traditional corporate paths don’t align with my values anymore. They want more autonomy, more flexibility and to really make a difference, right? Do more meaningful work, have an impact, have that fulfilment in the next chapter of their careers. And they’re beginning to wake up to the possibility of, or even better, actively designing careers that work for their life rather than the other way around. Right.

So again, even senior leaders are able to and are considering and are actively leaving corporate roles, whether they’re starting advisories, consultancies, you know, fractional leadership gigs, more purpose driven ventures. So it’s an exciting time and it’s, it’s multi generational. That’s what’s important, right? Yes, we hear these headlines of Gen Z wanting better work, life balance and good for them. But Gen X boomers are also reassessing this kind of one job for life mentality, recognising that maybe they are going to work into their 60s and beyond and they want to have more control. So if we’re going to call this the great re evaluation, I’m sure there’s a word for it in the media. It’s spanning all generations, just for different reasons perhaps. So Gen Z want purpose and flexibility from the start. Millennials are correcting maybe the workaholic hustle of their twenties.

Gen X are preparing for career reinvention and later life freedom. So, you know, we’re seeing it across the board, just maybe being articulated in a different way. And of course with bigger pressures, if we have a mortgage and three children in private school and a certain lifestyle we’re used to, we don’t quite feel as hungry to take risks as we did in our 20s. So whether you’re an employee who’s rethinking your next career move, or a leader who’s trying to adapt your culture to this, or a business owner already trying to design your future. You know, these trends are really shaping work today and they’re affecting everybody. But the core theme for me is that success is personal. And it’s certainly not about fitting into an outdated mould. Either that society designed for factory work, you know, a century ago, or even that we as individuals designed for ourselves maybe 10, 20 years ago because we’ve changed and the world has changed.

So it’s about designing a work life model that works for you. If you’re feeling this shift in your career, if you’re worried, if you’re excited, you know, let’s continue this conversation, have a think about what this means for you. Maybe some, some actionable reflection questions might be what does success mean to you right now? And I know it’s a big question, what kind of flexibility and autonomy do you want to need and how might you go about beginning to future proof your career with skills, positioning, personal branding so I hope that was an interesting episode in terms of what’s happening in the world and how that’s potentially affecting you. Do let me know. You can message me of course on LinkedIn or on Instagram, wherever you’re active, to let me know what your thoughts are and how it’s affecting you. And you know where I am. If you’re ready to take the conversation further. Thanks so much for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Bye for now.

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