This is the weekly Work Life newsletter. If you are interested in more careers-related content, sign up to receive it in your inbox.
 
 

The tech dream job once sold itself.
 
 

High pay, prestige, purpose and the idea that you could help build the future.

 
 

For years, that narrative drew some of the world’s most ambitious workers into the industry. But according to Phanish Puranam, a professor of organizational behaviour at global business school INSEAD, that era is over.
 
 

What has replaced it is something far less stable and far more demanding. What broke it, he says, are structural shifts inside tech companies. Constant restructuring, rapid experimentation and intense competition have reshaped how work gets done. Roles evolve quickly and disappear even faster.
 
 

“Job security is much lower than it used to be, so constructing careers with portable and constantly upgradable skills has become essential,” he says.
 
 
 

That pressure is compounded by how quickly technical skills are becoming obsolete, particularly those tied to specific technologies or coding paradigms. These paradigms shape how developers structure and organize code and determine how logic is implemented, but their shelf life is shrinking.
 
 

In other words, what got you hired may not keep you employed.
 
 

So what can be done?
 
 

“The skills needed to rapidly acquire new skills, what we call ‘meta-skills’ have never been more important,” Mr. Puranam says.
 
 

Meta-skills are defined as abilities that enable individuals to learn, amplify and manage other skills. That can include negotiating and building trust, decision-making under uncertainty and self-awareness.
 
 

These skills may not be as visible as technical expertise, but they are increasingly what separates workers who can adapt from those who struggle to keep up.
 
 

That shift also requires a different way of thinking about career planning.
 
 

“It’s better to think in terms of career trajectories rather than careers,” Mr. Puranam says, urging people to treat their work as a series of evolving experiments, not a destination, and embracing adaptability as the new job security.
 
 

However, the responsibility does not fall solely on workers. Mr. Puranam says companies must also rethink how they are structured in an environment where change is constant and predictability is low.
 
 

Companies must create “designs that can adapt through local design,” he says. “In other words, an overall architecture to bind different teams together, but considerable autonomy and scope for local variation in designs across teams.”

 
 

This kind of flexibility at the organizational level mirrors what is now expected from employees.
 
 

As for artificial intelligence, Mr. Puranam says companies should be cautious about how they deploy it.

 
 

“The urge to use new technology like AI to automate to cut costs and reduce headcount is tempting, but this at most creates cost parity, not strategic differentiation,” he says.
 
 

Instead, he says companies should equally focus on how it allows them to do things they could not do before, rather than simply replicating tasks humans can already handle.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

50 per cent

 
 

That’s how many employees say that their company hires externally for skills that already exist in-house, according to new research from employee training platform TalentLMS
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Candidates are submitting more applications than ever, while hiring managers are flooded with responses, making cold applications increasingly ineffective.
 
 

This article explores how building visibility on LinkedIn can help job seekers land more referrals and show recruiters more than just their job history, including how they think and what they care about.
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

“So yes, I can see myself working, but definitely not more than part-time. I think my ideal day in retirement would definitely be something involving being at home, hanging out with friends, spending time with family, time outside, moving my body, and then maybe something fun to look forward to, like a comedy show or something, and nothing super scheduled. It really ruins my day to have stuff scheduled,” says 33-year-old Rebecca Howardson who lives in Halifax on an episode of the Stress Test podcast.

 
 

This episode explores why so many younger Canadians feel behind before they’ve even begun, and what a more realistic path to retirement can look like.