Can't work our way out?

For years the deal was simple: things get tight, you knuckle down, you earn more. That deal has expired.

There's one bit of advice every British worker has had drummed into them. If money's tight, work harder. Push for the rise, change jobs, make yourself worth more. For a long time it held. Back in 2022, when the cost-of-living crisis bit, that's exactly what we did. Employers were struggling to recruit so workers held some cards, a little effort, and cha-ching, a surprising proportion of us got a 5% pay rise.

Now the lever's come off in our hands. The share of us getting a decent pay rise has been sliding since 2023. The recruitment squeeze that gave us our leverage has eased, and our bargaining power went with it.

That's not all folks. This recruitment pressure won't return anytime soon, there's an infinite, energetic, skilled "yes, right away" brigade cheap as chips at our bosses' hands: AI. Standard Chartered put it more plainly than most, announcing it would swap "lower-value human capital" for software while cutting 8,000 jobs. There are noticeably fewer entry-level roles than there were in 2022. The bottom rung of the ladder is being sawn off while everyone's still being told to climb.

The thing we were all told to do when life got hard has stopped doing anything.

When the one move you've always relied on stops paying out, of course you stop believing things get better. Trying doesn't move the dial, like it once did.

It's a problem for every brand still selling the climb. The invest-in-yourself, level-up, you've-got-this promise was built for a world where pushing got you somewhere, and it grates on people who've pushed and stood still. The opening now isn't aspiration, it's footing. Stop selling the summit to people worried about slipping. Sell them the thing that helps them hold their ground.