The death of jobs, or the jobpocalypse, due to AI has been greatly exaggerated but their redesign has not. The job-based model of work is increasingly obsolete as companies move from fixed long-term jobs to skills-based roles.
“Corporate practices such as renting talent, just-in-time staffing and the liquid workforce depict more modular work arrangements beyond employment as traditionally understood,” DCU Business School’s Dr Brian Harney and Prof Claire Gubbin write in the Advances in Developing Human Resources journal.
Decades of secure employment with one company, or even several, may be increasingly unlikely. Yet most of us expect to work for at least 30 to 40 years. Mortgages, pensions and life insurance terms are all designed around jobs that last for decades.
But what if secure, full-time employment only lasted 20 or even 10 years? What might that mean for your career design and financial stability?
READ MORE
“The implications for talent are profound and still contested, depending on the nature of the role, the sector and the perspective under consideration,” Harney and Gubbin state. “Those taking an optimistic view point to the opportunity for greater autonomy, choice and meaningful work engagements. Others caution about the transfer of risk, uncertainty and accountability from the firm to the individual, including the responsibility and costs of upskilling and development.”
The availability of white-collar jobs is shrinking at both the beginning and the end of the career cycle. The introduction of AI has possibly led to fewer entry-level job openings in the short term. And thousands of senior-level tech workers – among the mostly highly paid professionals – in Ireland and globally have found themselves unexpectedly unemployed in their 30s and 40s.
The jobs outlook for laid-off workers in their 50s is getting bleaker in some sectors too. In the US, almost a quarter of those over the age of 50 who are laid off never find another job. This is a reversal of every past recession-and-recovery cycle in which laid-off older workers returned to work faster than younger workers, according to a 2023 study by the Schwartz Center for Economic Analysis.
[ We need more over-65 workers, and companies need to get better at employing themOpens in new window ]
Employment rates in Europe also start to decline from the age of 50 and drop sharply after 60, according to the OECD Employment Outlook 2025.
“In this context, there is an urgent need to avoid skill declines and foster a culture of continuous learning, shifting to a career model where learning at work takes place throughout life,” the report states.
At the moment, we’re more insulated from these workplace changes in the European Union where there has been a steady increase in the expected duration of working life over the past few decades. In 2024, it was estimated at 37.2 years in Europe. The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Ireland had the longest expected working life, at more than 40 years.
Tenure in individual jobs in Europe is longer: Ireland averages 9.4 years versus the US average of 4.1 years.
Ireland’s employment and economic trends are currently positive too. Both foreign‑owned and Irish‑owned companies expanded their workforces in 2025, according to Enterprise Ireland. Foreign companies grew employment by 1.4 per cent, adding more than 4,500 jobs, while Irish‑owned businesses increased employment by 1.3 per cent, creating more than 3,000 roles. Regionally, the picture is equally strong: every region in Ireland has seen employment growth over the past decade.
But, when America sneezes, Europe catches a cold.
Should we all be preparing for this new world now? Are our employment laws and trade unions strong enough to ensure that work remains meaningful and not increasingly precarious, as it is in the United States?
Time will tell but we need to keep a close eye on what happens to those employees who are laid off in Ireland and the rest of Europe. If employees are made redundant and do succeed in getting another job, are they paid as much as they were or are they forced – or choosing – to enter the gig economy? Do we all need to learn the art of the hustle to ensure we have a sustainable career?
[ A mid-career life change: How I left my salaried job and struck out on my ownOpens in new window ]
And who is responsible for the retraining and re-employment of laid-off workers in Europe? Harney says this new corporate focus is putting more responsibility for security and skills development – such as digital literacy, critical thinking and resilience – on the individual instead of the employer.
“A key part of this is fragmented workplaces where the focus moves from acquiring (formal recruitment, long-term contracts) to accessing talent (short-term engagement based on need/demand/ access to certain skills),” he says.
Career assets
We need to start thinking differently about our careers, says innovator and educator Conor Lynch. Instead of considering what job roles and responsibilities might suit you, ask yourself instead: how can I position myself in the future?
People are living longer, changing jobs more frequently and facing stagnating incomes, while simultaneously seeking meaning, flexibility and financial security. Worker disengagement and burnout is another issue.
“For generations, the dominant career model for many has been simple: work more hours and earn more money. However, the career-ladder model is broken; it forces you to trade time for money without building real ownership. And safe careers are no longer safe,” says Lynch.
Lynch has written a book based on lessons from his own career transition from employee to digital entrepreneur. The book, Learn Earn Own, was written to help Irish workers to navigate the shifting workforce by developing a new mindset.
“The future of work is not a job. It is a portfolio. But this isn’t about quitting your job; it’s about not letting your job be your only plan. Jobs are temporary, assets are forever,” he says.
To protect your income and lengthen your career, Lynch says you need to start owning more by generating career assets: your brand, skills, relationship, networks, social media. Think about what’s in your career portfolio too in terms of ideas, tools, equipment, proprietary methodologies, frameworks, books, ebooks and podcasts.
You can upskill, diversify and build assets without quitting your job. In this model, you don’t have 10 jobs, you have a multilinear career. You have one job with learning projects on the side instead of just waiting around for Helen in HR to tell you what to do next, says Lynch.
Start to experiment too. It takes courage, but creating your own learning laboratories and side hustles ensures continuous learning, increased earning, and an openness to owning.
“What can you do right now? Upload your CV to an AI chatbot and say ‘I’d like to look for career opportunities based on my current skills.’ AI can be a good initial career coach as it can suggest three potential career options that may protect your career and income for the next 20 years.
“A good job is a great platform but don’t make it a ceiling to your potential. By creating career assets you can have a career that compounds rather than dies out.”
Margaret E Ward is chief executive of Clear Eye, a leadership consultancy. margaret@cleareye.ie
- If you have work-related questions, from how to deal with burnout to running your own business, The Irish Times Work Q&A column is here to help. You can use the form below to submit your question. Please limit your submissions to 400 words or less and please include a phone number. Your name and contact details will be confidential and only be used for verification purposes. Any details about your employer will also be anonymised.
