12/06/2026
Employees often tell me:
"Employers have all the power."
They control the hiring process, set the salaries, determine promotions, approve flexibility, and decide who stays and who goes.
Yet when I speak with executives and business leaders, I hear something very different:
"Skilled employees have all the power."
They can leave at any time. They have more choices than ever before. Critical talent is difficult to find, expensive to attract, and even harder to retain.
So who is right?
Both. And neither.
What I've observed across industries, countries, and career levels is that each side tends to view the relationship through a distorted lens.
Employees often underestimate the pressures employers face: skills shortages, economic uncertainty, technological disruption, regulatory requirements, shareholder expectations, and the constant challenge of remaining competitive.
Employers often underestimate the uncertainty employees face: rising living costs, career insecurity, rapid skill obsolescence, restructuring, automation, and the need to continually reinvent themselves.
Each side sees the challenges on its own side of the glass more clearly than the challenges on the other side.
This is why one of the concepts I discuss in The Future of Careers is:
"The Glass Is Cleaner on the Other Side."
The reality is that neither side holds all the power.
The future belongs to organizations and individuals who understand that careers are becoming increasingly inter-dependent. Employers need adaptable, capable people. People need organizations that create meaningful opportunities to learn, contribute, and grow.
Both sides are looking through imperfect glass.
The question is:
What might change if we spent less time focusing on who has the power and more time understanding what the other side is actually seeing?
I'll be exploring ideas like this during my free webinar:
The Future of Careers: How to Adapt and Thrive in a Disruptive Age
📅 Thursday 18 June 2026
⏰ 7:00 PM AEST
If you're interested in navigating career disruption, AI, workforce transformation, and the skills that will matter most in the years ahead, I'd love to see you there. Reserve your seat:
👉 https://lnkd.in/ghh5pf7c