The future of work is multi-hyphenate
The one about rethinking how we view who we are and what we do
Over the last few decades we've seen a shift in how society views work.
What's my motivation?
When I was still at university and learning about organisational culture, we discussed the societal transition from a "live to work" paradigm, where one derives fulfilment from their work and career, to "work to live" where work is seen as a means to an end, a way to support finding meaningful existence in other ways.
They covered this because if you were going to be in a position of leadership, you needed to understand that employee motivations have changed. The idea of company loyalty and job security didn't hold as much weight as it used to, and no longer could an employer expect that a simple pay-raise or a promotion leading to the proverbial corner office would be enough to engender loyalty or lure someone away. Priorities changed.
A cultural revolution
In 2009, Netflix released their 125 page culture deck (archived version) emphasising values over controls, and making statements counter to tech and corporate culture at the time. It caused a bit of a stir.
Amongst these stirring statements were that Netflix is a "team, not a family", an idea in opposition to the 'dysfunctional corporate family' trope. Employees would be paid top of the market but not priced out of the market so they wouldn't feel trapped for financial reasons if they wanted out. Netflix also favoured performance and outcomes over hours clocked in and so had no 9am-5am work day, and no vacation tracking (colloquially, 'unlimited leave'), a particularly notable benefit considering the US, where Netflix was founded, has some of the least generous holiday laws in the world.
It wasn't a flawless model, but it demonstrated some understanding that people might have different ideas about what work-life might look like and that there were ways of supporting flexibility while still allowing the company to meet business objectives.
Meanwhile…
It's been 16 years since that deck was released, but how much changed in the corporate environment?
From personal experience, having been freelancing and consulting since 2008 with occasional bouts of contract work, attitudes towards non-conventional employment circumstances have been extremely conservative whether it's about telecommuting, or having what we describe now as a portfolio career. And don't get me started on banks and how they feel about someone contracting for a US-based company with no bricks-and-mortar premises, or business-related insurance as a remote knowledge worker with international clients.
COVID was certainly responsible for forcing businesses to adopt remote work policies that gave people a taste of flexibility not previously experienced by the majority of the workforce, including in the tech industry.
Even within six months prior to the first lockdown, a recruiter for an international tech company with offices in Australia approached me with an on-site role in a different state. When I enquired about telecommute (rather than relocation), they replied, "Oh no, we don't do that sort of thing." as though I was so bohemian to even suggest it. Yet not long after lockdown they were being touted as an exemplar of organisations with progressive remote work arrangements.
These were Interesting Times(TM) and the adoption of remote work had both advantages and disadvantages, but it also created opportunities. Employers could find talent from a broader pool geographically, people with chronic illness or disabilities that would have otherwise prevented having a rigid on-site 9-5 job were now able to find employment that allowed them to work with or around their needs, others still found avenues for plying their trade in an environment suddenly more accepting of virtual engagements across geographic borders.
With things mostly settling back down again, some employers have embraced remote work or a hybrid model, but many others have reverted back to what they had before with a fully on-site workforce and in some cases, an ultimatum to the remote talent whose use had come to an end.
However, people were made aware that we have choice, not just about where we're working, but how we're working. Priorities changed.
The illusion of job security
In the last few years, several people I've spoken to have been in workplaces where their employer let people go and expected the remaining already overworked staff to carry the additional load without commensurate compensation even if it meant working longer hours. A few were given more responsibilities, sometimes a promotion in name but not salary, and if they chose to walk away, their employers had the audacity to say "You want to quit? In this economy?" as though people could be held captive by the promise of job security.
But what is job security these days? Crunchbase reports that in 2023 there were 191,000 workers in US-based tech companies laid off. That was steep compared to just under 100,000 in both 2022 and 2024. Nevertheless, the numbers are not insignificant and they also don't account for layoffs in non-US-based and non-tech companies. In Australia, we've even made light of 'the redundabus' because of the frequency with which it makes a stop.
There are some who might say that employees have brought this upon themselves because of their progressive ways of thinking about work/life priorities that don't always put employers first anymore. The kind of attitude that justifies the implementation of performance management strategies like stack ranking which adds a hostile competitiveness to the workplace that will ultimately leave even your high-performing talent wondering "What's the point?" if they're expendable irrespective of how well they perform. Priorities changed.
Creating our own opportunities
When I first started freelancing, the majority of the work I did for my clients was related to their primary business. Currently, my client work is almost exclusively side-hustlers, portfolio careerists, and 10% entrepreneurs.
They are people with purpose. They are people with an idea. They are people who want to make a difference.
And they're not the only ones. Over the last ten years I've seen an increase in people who have realised they are more than their primary occupation. That they have a life's worth of accumulated knowledge, passions, and experiences to draw on and transferrable skillsets that they can apply to a whole range of scenarios.
"We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing — an actor, a writer — I am a person who does things — I write, I act — and I never know what I'm going to do next."
— Stephen Fry
We're in the age of the multi-hyphenate and we should embrace it. It's not only about giving yourself options about where and how you invest your time and abilities, it's also about building resilience into the life you have created.
Sometimes it's about wanting to apply your skills in other contexts or industries. Sometimes it's about recognising a gap in your industry or community. Sometimes it's about financial resilience and creating an alternative income stream in these uncertain times. Sometimes it's about your own personal resilience and giving yourself the space to be active in a cause, passion, or hobby that matters to you.
This also isn't to glorify busyness, the hustle, or productivity. Though for some it's still a badge of honour. Whatever you choose to do still has to be sustainable and you owe it to your future self and those around you to be honest with your present self about what your motivations are.
One of my STEAM Powered guests, Eleonora Moratto, specialises in plant biology and performs as a professional ballerina. Having multiple careers as a polymath gives her options that not only reflect who she is, but will also support her at different times and stages of her life.
Another guest, Jayashree Srinivasan, applies her expertise in biotechnology and microbial research as well as co-owns a business as a pastry chef because not only are they complementary skillsets, but they allow her to balance precision and creativity, characteristics in Jaya's work that bring her joy.
Many others, including myself, are similarly verbing our way through life and it's a model that is beneficial for us as the multi-hyphenate to be able to fully express who we are and what we can do, and also for others who benefit from our skills and breadth of experience.
Lives change, environments change, and priorities change. So it makes sense to seek options in how we make our living to be able to roll with these changes. Even in finance, we often hear about diversification as a common investment strategy to reduce risk and increase potential for higher returns. Aren't our careers a lifelong investment, too? Perhaps we should start treating them that way.
Stay curious,
— Michele