The workplace environment is changing, and the concept of a traditional job for life is being assigned to history. As the internet transforms how business operates and opens up opportunities that were unheard of a decade ago, so the workplace is transforming to meet these new demands. A work–life balance is a priority for millennial workers, making flexible hours and jobs attractive. This means that portfolio careers are becoming popular and attractive to those people looking to blend their skills and abilities. Here’s why the portfolio career concept is on the rise.
A Changing Working Environment
Recruiting highly skilled workers is an increasing problemOpens a new window and a challenge to business sustainability. There are also niche skills required on some programs that are not needed on a daily basis. This leads to a growth in contract jobs, flexible working and fewer permanent positions. The internet is changing the way people work, with many posts becoming obsolete as digital technologies transform businessOpens a new window processes. In the 1990s management guru Charles HandyOpens a new window predicted that workers would be more in control of their careers than before, giving rise to portfolio working. At one time workers had a job in a single company for life, but this is no longer the case, with professionals now working in several different job roles until retirement. The volatility of the economy means there is no security on jobs, which can disappear as businesses collapse. This means workers will have a variety of skills to offer employers and not a single skill set. Work conceptsOpens a new window are also changing, with a focus on work–life balance, competencies and continuous learning in place of an employer relationship through a contract. Having side hustles that grow into viable career options is an effective way of addressing career stagnation and of developing new skills. All this signals that workers need to adapt to the new working environment, and one of those adaptations is a portfolio career.
What Is a Portfolio Career?
Portfolio careers have arisen from having side hustles alongside a regular job. They are jobs which combine a number of rolesOpens a new window , enabling flexibility and a blending of skills. Usually they blend a range of interests. Instead of being an add-on to the gig economy, a true portfolio career enables a worker to operate across different organizations and using a variety of skills. As a portfolio career evolves, it becomes less of a side hustle to a regular job but a creative way of working. This is beneficial in a number of ways. A portfolio worker has the breadth of abilities that are not seen in someone operating in a single job. This makes them versatile in the workforce, and it also offers some security in a volatile working environment where jobs disappear overnight. If one job is lost, a portfolio careerist can increase some of their other work to make up for the shortfall or branch into another area.
Benefits of Portfolio Working
Portfolio working is a versatile way to manage shifting priorities such as caring for an older relative or having children. It allows for that flexibility in a job plan not seen in a regular job. One job is unlikely to provide all the aspects needed for complete satisfaction such as growth, work–life balance and opportunities. But change that to portfolio working and a world of opportunities opens up through blending skills, work on custom projects and more. In the changing working environment, specializing in one thing is risky these days, but combining skills provides more security in a volatile work climate. Diversification is an effective way of staying agile in this type of working environment. Portfolio workers spotting emerging trends in business can adapt to that changing context.
The Rise in Portfolio Career Opportunities
UK’s Energy and Utilities Skills PartnershipOpens a new window recently identified that 20 percent of its workforce will retire in the next decade, leaving potential skills gaps. Some of these technical skills can be filled by portfolio workers who want to work in a more flexible way. While the industry sector has embarked on recruiting talented workers to address its shortfall, there are opportunities for contractors to fill the gaps through portfolio working. This includes work to roll out new technology and project management. In primary health care, recruitment of general practitioners is another challenge, where up to 50 percent of doctors in some regions plan to retire in the next 5 years. Portfolio careers in medicineOpens a new window offer opportunities to people managing childcare and for those who do not want the standard full-time contract. Combining development work with clinical time is an option that is increasingly popular. Although portfolio careers have some limits such as an uncertain income, they offer that flexibility and creativity that appeals to those who want something more than the standard 9–5 job.
Portfolio careers are on the rise, with a world of opportunities to consider, from working online to operating in a variety of roles in one specialty. As the workplace changes and people look for solutions to improve their work–life balance, portfolio careers are likely to become the norm.