There are circumstances that force people to abandon the traditional concept of career loyalty amid the development of artificial intelligence and mass layoffs. For example, there are software developers who create new products on workdays, learn coding on weekends, and consult startups. Or designers who sell digital templates in addition to their main job and participate in freelance projects.
However, if you ask any of these specialists about their activities, their answer will most likely begin with their primary job. They view everything else merely as extra income or a side business. But the main question is why we still believe that our career should belong to only one employer?
For many generations, the ideal career trajectory was very simple and straightforward: get a good education, find stable employment, be loyal to the company, advance up the career ladder, and eventually retire. It was considered pride that the beginning and end of a career were in the same organization. Your position became your identity, and the years spent in the institution served as a measure of your professional competence.
Nevertheless, this old formula is being broken in the modern world. Recent layoffs at companies like Oracle and Adidas in India serve as a bitter reminder that even 'stable' corporate work can no longer be considered eternal protection. Industry is undergoing rapid changes, companies are restructuring, skills are becoming obsolete faster than ever, and all of this is overshadowed by the threat of AI.
Young professionals, including Generation Z, are starting to look beyond this traditional model and asking the most basic question: why should one employer be the center of my entire professional life? Perhaps it is time to become less 'monogamous' regarding workplaces. It is time to think about the future while maintaining loyalty to the workplace.
The career model we grew up with was created for a different world. We inherited a work culture based on the idea that one employer could provide an entire working life. There, stability meant staying in one place, loyalty meant long service, and ambition meant constant ascent up a single ladder.
But now the shelf life of professional skills has become shorter, and employment guarantees have an expiration date. According to the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 'Future of Jobs Report 2025', by 2030, 39% of employees worldwide may change or lose relevance of their current skills. Furthermore, structural changes will lead to the creation of 170 million new jobs and affect 92 million vacancies.
This does not mean that AI will take jobs from everyone. However, it certainly means that the value of certain skills and roles is being rapidly reassessed. You cannot count on what you learned in college to last until retirement; you might not even have that much time.
Suchita Datta, CEO of the Indian Staffing Federation (ISF), believes diversity is true career insurance. When skills begin to lose their significance, complete dependence on one role or competency becomes the biggest weakness. Choosing dependence on only one employer does not necessarily mean constantly changing jobs; it can also mean diversifying skills, income sources, and ways of creating value.
The more unique the combination of your skills and personal experience, the higher your market value as an individual brand.
There is often the opinion that young people do not want to work or do not want to stay in one place. However, reality is much more complex. A Deloitte 2025 'Gen Z and Millennials Survey' showed that only 6% of Gen Z respondents globally consider achieving top management as their main career goal. Their priorities are work-life balance, continuous learning, and constant career growth. The concept of 'career monogamy' is absent from their vocabulary.
In India, 85% of Gen Z respondents stated that they participate in new material learning events every week, and 94% believed that learning during work is extremely useful for career growth. AI has amplified this need for continuous learning. The Deloitte survey found that 85% of Gen Z and millennials in India used generative AI during work.
Thus, professional identity is shifting from 'I am this job' to 'What I know, what I can do, and what I am learning.'
Shashi Tiwari, HR Director at API Holdings, clearly sees these changes. He argues that young professionals view their career not as a straight path, but as a 'portfolio'. Skills, experience, opportunities, and connections travel with them in different roles. This should not be seen as a decrease in loyalty to companies. What has changed is what they expect in return.
