If recent job posts we’ve seen are any indication, we’re not in Kansas anymore.
The soft pitches about “flexibility” and “balance” are fading from corporate speak. Some companies are getting more blunt. Much more blunt: “If you’re looking for work-life balance, this isn’t it.” Or “Please don’t join unless you’re eager to work 70 hours a week.”
Not subtle. The post-2020 era of employee-first recruiting is giving way to something much more direct. And in a softening hiring market, some employers are confident enough to say exactly what they want.
Before you throw your laptop out the window, please note we aren’t saying this is good. Or that ‘hustle culture’ is the only way to succeed. In fact, we’re pretty firm believers that career decisions are deeply personal. Different people, different places, different trades-offs.
But there is one thing we advise when it comes to careers: don’t extrapolate to infinity.
Careers are long. There are chapters. And there are moments when it makes sense to lean in: to stretch, to learn, to take something on that feels big. That doesn’t mean signing up to grind forever.
I started my career at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm known in part for the long hours expected of associates. There were definitely some late nights where I questioned my life choices (usually somewhere around slide 47). But I wouldn’t be where I am today without that experience. It shaped how I think, how I lead, and how I work with clients. It was hard, and it was worth it.
Maybe it’s the beginning of your career.
Maybe it’s a one-time shot at a stretch assignment.
Maybe it’s the biggest technological shift in a generation (hello, AI).
Whatever the case, it’s worth remembering that careers are made up of seasons. You don’t have to wear the same thing every day. You don’t have to make every decision for the rest of your life.
But sometimes? Sometimes it makes sense to say yes to the challenge.
Until next time,
Your Spherion South Central WI & Northern IL team