Job satisfaction | Many people don't want to be a manager or CEO and that's OK

There was a time when promotion and climbing the career ladder was the be-all and end-all of job progression.

It might seem tongue-in-cheek to say that everyone wished to become a manager, a boss and the CEO before getting their carriage clock and heading happily and proudly into retirement, but that is the learned process for many.

But it seems that in 2024, people are coveting happiness and contentment in a current role over that next rung on the ladder.

Randstad’s latest Work monitor surveyed 27,000 workers in 34 markets across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas, and found that that while over half (56%) of workers consider themselves to be ambitious, rising to 69% for Gen Z, still 47% of workers are not focused on progression at all, and the same proportion are willing to stay in a role that they like, even if there’s no room to progress or develop. Meanwhile, a third (34%) of workers never want to take on any managerial roles.