Rewrite Your Route: Squiggly Careers Unleashed
In 2026, UK workers face rising redundancy risks and AI-driven restructuring that make rigid career ladders obsolete, forcing millions to navigate squiggly paths or risk stagnation.
Key takeaways
- •Recent forecasts highlight 2026 trends like widespread restructures, redundancies becoming normalised, and a shift where continuous learning overtakes traditional promotions as the primary marker of progress.
- •The UK job market remains soft with vacancies below pre-pandemic levels and cautious hiring, amplifying the need for adaptable, non-linear careers as economic pressures and tech changes eliminate predictable routes.
- •Non-obvious tension exists between employer demands for accountability and employee desires for autonomy, while skills-based approaches open doors for diverse backgrounds but heighten competition in high-demand areas like tech and data.
The Rise of Squiggly Careers
The concept of squiggly careers captures the reality that modern professional lives rarely follow straight upward trajectories. Instead, they zigzag through lateral moves, industry switches, skill pivots, and periods of reinvention, driven by rapid technological change, economic uncertainty, and evolving organisational needs.
In the UK, this shift has intensified heading into 2026. The labour market weakened through late 2025, with job postings remaining 19% below pre-pandemic levels and vacancies broadly flat or slightly up from recent lows but still subdued. Employers, facing rising costs from employment legislation and cautious outlooks, have slowed hiring significantly. This environment makes traditional linear progression harder to sustain, as roles disappear or transform faster than before.
Technology, particularly AI, plays a central role. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 indicated that 39% of core skills will change by 2030, with workers and organisations adapting through upskilling. In banking and finance—relevant given Lloyds Banking Group's involvement—digital transformation has accelerated branch closures and role reductions, pushing emphasis toward data, tech, and adaptable skills over specialised silos.
The stakes are tangible. Redundancies and restructures, once exceptional, now appear as recurring features of careers, especially in sectors hit by automation and efficiency drives. Workers who cling to outdated ladder models face prolonged unemployment or underemployment in a selective market where entry-level and lower-skilled roles decline while high-skilled positions grow more competitive. Conversely, those embracing squiggly paths—building portfolios of experiences and visible learning—gain resilience, though this requires proactive effort amid disconnection trends and blurred work-life boundaries.
A key non-obvious angle lies in the trade-off between autonomy and accountability. Employers seek greater flexibility from staff while enforcing clearer performance expectations, creating friction for individuals who value self-direction. Another under-discussed point: learning itself is emerging as a form of progression, with recognition shifting from titles to demonstrable skill growth, yet many organisations still undervalue it compared to promotions.
These dynamics affect broad swathes of the workforce, from early-career entrants competing in shrinking pools to mid-level professionals navigating pivots in uncertain times, and extend to sectors beyond finance as AI agents and digital shifts permeate industries.
Sources
- https://www.amazingif.com/listen/part-2-6-squiggly-careers-trends-in-2026-redundancy-accountability-why-learning-matters-more-than-promotions
- https://www.amazingif.com/listen/6-trends-for-squiggly-careers-in-2026-ai-agents-disconnection-employee-influencers-part-1
- https://www.hiringlab.org/uk/blog/2025/12/09/indeed-2026-uk-jobs-hiring-trends-report
- https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/insights/what-are-the-new-skills-that-people-will-need-for-the-future-of-work.html
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/february2026
- https://www.amazingif.com/