Climbing the ladder doesn’t matter like it used to

“A new generation of top execs is redefining what ambition and leadership look like. The old picture of success — an expensive suit chained to a desk — is giving way to something very different: one where balance, rest and life outside of work count just as much as titles or corner offices,” says Kevin Kliman, President of Canadian business at Employment Hero.

We saw this firsthand when speaking with Megan Balestrini, an HR Business Partner at Alimentiv in London, ON. She’s in her mid-thirties, sharp and successful by any measure. But when asked if she had her eye on an executive role, her response was immediate: “Not a chance. I like sleeping. I like weekends. I like my life.” 

She’s not alone. According to Employment Hero’s 2025 Annual Jobs Report, 53 per cent of Canadian workers now say they want a job without much pressure or responsibility. This is no fringe plea; it’s the emerging norm. Quebec leads the shift, with 60 per cent preferring low-pressure roles, compared to 49 per cent in the Prairies.

Generational data makes it clear: workers in their late 20s and early 30s are the most likely to ease off the climb, choosing balance over constant hustle. After years of layoffs, shaky markets and running on empty, working eight days a week just doesn’t land the same. Sure, 62 per cent of 18–24 year olds are still charging ahead — but you can already feel the weariness creeping in. Ambition seems to peak earlier now, and downtime is finally being seen as part of the plan, not a weakness

As Megan put it when we spoke, “I like to think of a career lattice as more like a climbing wall than a single ladder. You don’t just move straight up — sometimes you go sideways, or on a diagonal, or you pause on a new foothold to build some skills before moving again. For employees, that means more options and more ownership over how they grow. And for employers, it creates flexibility, because people can shift into the areas where they’re needed most. It also keeps employees engaged, because they can see multiple ways forward, not just one narrow path.”

The pandemic blurred boundaries between life and work; today’s cost-of-living crisis makes financial stability feel perpetually out of reach. Housing, groceries, childcare: they’re essentials, not extras. Grinding harder doesn’t guarantee more each paycheque; it often just deepens exhaustion. Many workers are learning that constant motion isn’t the same as meaningful progress.

This isn’t about laziness. It’s about a necessary recalibration: hours logged no longer equate to success. It’s about conserving energy in a burnout-plagued world. And it’s about justice: younger workers witnessed parents pour decades into organizations only to be let go. They’re done buying into that script. A new story is being written — one that prioritizes longevity, not burnout disguised as drive.

Employers, take note. This is more than a challenge to the old career ladder; it’s a creative invitation. If ambition no longer means climbing, how do we reward growth? How do we build progression paths that honour mastery and wellbeing? By redefining a vision of success that looks less like a ladder and more like a lattice.  

Sabine, a 25-year-old recruitment executive in Calgary, embodies this shift. She values progression, but only if it comes with fair pay and flexibility. Her leverage of a competing job offer to secure a sustainable salary highlights a broader generational demand: ambition, but only when employers invest in structural support, not lip service. She represents a cohort that wants to grow, but not at any cost.

To thrive, employers must rethink work: not stretching people thinner, but designing roles that fit real human lives. That means creating work environments where rest is not a reward, but a right; where ambition is measured by impact, not inboxes.

Workplaces that adapt will be better poised to attract and retain talent in a shifting labour market. The talent equation has changed, and the companies that refuse to see it will be the ones left behind.

Globally, we’re seeing a pushback against burnout, and in Canada, that repositioning has a distinct shape: pragmatic, balanced, quietly radical. Quebec may be leading the way, but from Vancouver to Halifax, Canadians are yearning for a new kind of success.

We’re witnessing an ambitious transformation. Not a lowering of standards, but a raising of expectations for what a good working life should actually look like.