In conversation with struggling strategists.

Key themes I'm hearing from strategists who are out of work right now.

In the last 12 months, I’ve spoken to... probably close to 50-60 strategists who have lost their jobs, have been freelancing for a while but all wind has been let out of their sails in a very quiet market, or are new to the role and wondering how to make progress.

I listen to each individual situation, because no-one is alike, yet there are some common themes, and I thought I’d share what I’m hearing - in the hope that a few more feel seen, heard, and less like they’re the only one experiencing this.

This isn’t a reflection on how strategy works (or doesn’t work) at the moment - there are plenty of those here already.

This is more about the human experience of people working (or not working) in the roles, and what people are feeling.

1. Age/Experience - so many folk feel like they’re “aging out” of work, perhaps they’re no longer able to find roles because their experience goes against them, i.e. too expensive, too senior, just fewer roles at that level, even accused of no longer understanding culture.

2. Inexperience - at the other end of the age spectrum, it’s proving to be even harder to get into junior roles, and there’s an expectation that you already should have the skills, in order to get the job.

3. Generalism vs Specialism - lots of senior folk have built broader careers, with no clear throughline of one deep specialism, but a toolbox of skills (the T-shape or M-shape). Yet much hiring is looking for deep focus over broad applicability.

4. Stability - so many businesses are moving to FTC models, over perm employment, which is removing any sense of stability or loyalty - whilst increasing anxiety and churn (and letting organisational knowledge walk out the door).

5. Expanded responsibilities - job descriptions and requirements are ballooning, expectation on an individual looks more like what a team’s job, not just one person. And it’s burning people out. And remuneration doesn’t match.

6. AI - a belief that AI is an amazing tool to accelerate strategy, not replace it - yet at the same time, a concern that the tools are providing “good enough”, and an excuse to reduce headcount.

7. Lost Passion - a split here, many say they still love the job, the industry, and want to get back to having that passion for the work again - and the other half more just fed up, and looking outside of the industry to do something completely different.

8. Diversification/Repositioning - lots of people recognising/actively redefining their work, their role, to be something different or adjacent. Some proactively, some enforced.

9. Confidence - every day that passes, every “thanks but no”, every ghosting - leads to a little bit of confidence being chipped away at, and self-questioning.

10. Connection - Most just want to have a chat, to feel some reassurance that it’s not just them - yet, it doesn’t make the situation any less challenging. I’ve heard some of the darkest stories about where people are financially and emotionally.

What does this mean, and what can we do about it?

This is just one tiny slice of the overall population, but in conversations with others in the industry - the overwhelming feeling for many is anxiety.

There’s a bigger conversation that needs to happen around how we treat people we hire, and how we treat them once they leave our businesses. There’s a systemic issue around how respected talent are in the creative industries generally.

There’s clearly a need to for better horizontal support - not at an employee level, but at a sector and capability level, perhaps provided by communities, by charities, by industry bodies - which invests in career long support, not just whilst you’re on “contract”.

And looking towards organisations like NABS, they already do a huge amount in the role of support function. But we also know how stretched charities are in terms of funding.

Communities play a role too - but often don’t have capacity to go beyond resources and peer-connection. Part of the work around the Community Coalition aims to maximise the small amount of resources we have to a wider group.

But that’s for freelancers, and the above conversations are not just with the self-employed.

Perhaps another coalition between strategy communities such as

Mark Pollard, Strategy Friend

’s Sweathead, Kim Mackenzie’s Ladies who Strategize,

Graeme Douglas

new whatsapp group,

Jasmine Bina

’s collective, Julian Cole’s group,

Baiba Matisone

‘s following, etc. etc. etc. could connect in a meaningful way to provide some sort of shared pastoral support and resources for those who need it. There are lots of us, and collectively we can probably have greater impact.

At the very least though, being open to listen and converse with colleagues, I hope, offers some small form of support, making people feel a little less isolated as they go through a challenging period in their work, and life.