Myth 3: Jobs = Full‑Time Roles at Established Companies

By Al Adamsen | Future of Work Advisors

Myth 3: Jobs = Full‑Time Roles at Established Companies

Reality: Work is fracturing. Independent talent, project-based work, and flexible ecosystems define the modern organization. As George Lee, co-head of the Goldman Sachs Global Institute put it the other day on the GS Exchanges podcast:

“How do I (as the CEO) begin to streamline my enterprise so I can be more flexible and more adaptive, yet without harming our competitive edge?”  “Young employees for this period of time are a little bit the casualty of that.”

His colleague, Joseph Briggs, senior global economist at Goldman Sachs Research, followed added: 

“Over time, roughly 6% to 7% of all workers could lose their jobs because of automation from Ai.”  

Of course, this will vary industry to industry, job family to job family.  Even so, the net impact is not a hot debate: it will increase unemployment, at least the traditional measure of it.  Put another way, it will disrupt existing employment norms and require young people, those in career transition, and those exploring retirement to rethink how they earn a steady income over time.  Also, in line with the above, it’ll require executives to be more creative in terms of how they design their organizations to be adaptive, sustainable, and high-performing over time.

Even from a macro perspective here in the US, the recent jobs report showed that a meager 73,000 jobs were added, the weakest pace in months. Unemployment, meanwhile, ticked up to 4.2% even as layoffs remained modest. Underemployment – work that doesn’t utilize full skills or uses part-time roles involuntarily -- is rising, signaling widespread under‑utilization of human potential.

At the same time, independent‑contractor ecosystems are expanding. Consultants, contractors, and small-firms (including many in the “silver economy”) are stepping in as companies, both large and small, seek flexibility in their capabilities and capacity. The Department of Labor has reverted to the more relaxed 2019 classification standard for contractors, reducing regulatory friction in engaging flex talent.

Together, these trends indicate that the traditional full‑time job might soon be a relic of the past.  More creativity will thus have to be employed by individuals, educators, companies, policy makers, and others to deal with this new, rapidly evolving reality.

🕒  The Aging Workforce Is An Example

Those in retirement, or who are approaching retirement age, are reinventing the means in which they make an income. Extending careers – as lives, themselves, are getting extended – are creating a significant demographic of experienced professionals staying in the workforce.  They’re delivering fractional services independently or working through boutique firms:

• In Europe alone, the number of employees aged 55+ grew from 24 million in 2010 to over 40 million in 2024, with employment rates rising 20+ percentage points -- driven by pension reforms, increased longevity, and healthier aging populations. (Social Europe)
  
  
• U.S. Census and labor projections expect the share of adults 65+ in the labor force to increase from 6.6% in 2022 to 8.6% by 2032 -- comprising 57% of labor-force growth from 2022–2032. (Pew Research Center)
  
  
• Even among Americans aged 80 and older, nearly 550,000 remain employed in roles ranging from part-time consulting and education to executive and professional services. Many cite purpose and fulfillment, not just income, as motivators. (businessinsider.com)
  
  
• The American Enterprise Institute reports that about 20% of retired Americans engage in gig or platform work, especially tutoring, freelance services, or caregiving, often driven by financial planning or desire for meaningful engagement. Participation peaks in later retirement years. (en.wikipedia.org)

These data suggest a growing cohort of older professionals who choose, or need, to remain economically active, often opting for fractional, portfolio-based arrangements versus standard full-time employment.

🎓  What Students and Early-Career Professionals Can Do

In this fractured world of work, individuals must rethink how they pursue and design personal development experiences and, in parallel, how they make money. Platforms like Livelihood.io support that evolution through its Personal Assessment & Development (PAD) Framework.  This approach empowers students, early career professional, and those in career transition to:

• Clarify their strengths, values, skills, and interests
  
  
• Understand evolving work structures and where opportunities lie
  
  
• Craft a purpose-aligned personal vision and career roadmap
  
  
• Build a diversified work portfolio beyond full-time norms
  
  
• Develop confidence, agency, and community for experimentation and growth

By enabling self-awareness and strategic clarity, Livelihood.io, and other platforms like it, equips people with greater confidence and adaptability to navigate and prosper in today’s fragmented, yet opportunity-filled talent market.

💡 Organizationally: Create & Sustain the “Fractal Organization”

 …via Adaptive Workforce Planning:

• Build talent ecosystems: Proactively incorporate independent consultants, contractors, fractional professionals, and small firms, not just as stopgaps, but as strategic partners.
  
  
• Design onboarding and ongoing communication processes that include flex workers in project planning and execution, as well as organizational events -- treat them as members of the the interdependent ecosystem, not outsiders.
  
  
• Create financial & organizational elasticity: Mixing full-time and flexible talent buffers volatility, underemployment, inflation, and shifts in demand.
  
  
• Audit organizational underutilization: Identify roles where internal employees are underemployed or in transition and consider external specialists to optimize outcomes.
  
  
• Stay compliant amid regulation shifts: As classification and contractor standards evolve, ensure engagements are structured correctly to mitigate legal risk.

In summary:

Myth 3 falls apart under scrutiny. Traditional full-time roles at established firms no longer dominate the future of work and income generation. Rising underemployment, tech-sector pullbacks (especially for roles historically filled by young people), extended working lives among older professionals, and the rise of flexible talent signal a systemic shift. Organizations must adopt fractal, elastic workforce strategies, strategies that integrate freelance, fractional, contractor, and small-firm talent into workforce planning and delivery.  In turn, this provides the flexible capacity, capability, and cost to adapt at speed and scale over time. 

For individuals, embracing this new reality is a must.  Yes, it’ll require more ongoing creativity, resourcefulness, and relationships, and all these will be predicated on one knowing themselves very well, and being able to articulate their needs, desires, strengths, ideas, and more consistently, clearly, and confidently.  

The fractal way of work is here. Are you and your organization ready?

To learn more about the other Myths click here.  And to learn how to assess your organization’s adaptive readiness and, in turn, build executive decision-making processes rooted in timely, relevant, and actionable insight, follow and connect with me here on LinkedIn.  Finally, be sure to subscribe to the Future of Work Advisors Newsletter.