New Delhi: Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how people choose their career paths. A linear career—sticking to one role or industry—is rapidly becoming irrelevant; careers today are becoming far more dynamic. Job seekers are increasingly “zigzagging” through their careers, in the latest reinvention to keep up with the AI boom.
Lifestyle Asia has coined a new term, zigzag career, where individuals are opting for diverse roles, switching fields and continuously adapting new skills for their growth. To put it in simple words, people are becoming multitaskers.
In linear jobs, a person climbs the stairs and gets promoted, but the work remains more or less similar. Lateral movement makes a person more valuable, and multiple skills get added to their portfolio, making them more desirable to companies. Young workers are thus moving across roles, picking up new skills and building a range that will be in demand when AI automates most work and roles keep shifting.
A zigzagger is a Jack of all trades, master of none.
An engineer can now be a journalist, strategist and also a writer. A corporate employee is now a YouTube creator, and a fitness trainer is also a cab driver.
Zig Zag is future
AI has changed the way we look at jobs. It is automating tasks, and job roles are constantly evolving at an unimaginable pace. And AI first targeted the experts, who have at least five years of experience. Since January 2024, AI has already wiped out 29 per cent of entry-level jobs globally, states a study by Randstad Enterprise.
According to a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), 39 per cent of core job skills will change by 2030. In another study, Dell Technologies stated that 85 per cent of jobs that will exist five years later do not exist today.
Additionally, AI also dismantled the middle layer. According to Gartner, 20 per cent of global organisations will use AI to flatten their organisational structure, eliminating more than half of current middle management positions.
Loyalty that costs mental health led to exits, sometimes silent quitting.
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India’s gig economy
With modularity becoming the demand of the hour, the Indian economy is demanding people who can serve multiple roles.
The gig economy in India has witnessed a year-on-year growth of 21 per cent, states a NITI Aayog report. It highlights that gig and freelance work is moving beyond simple side hustles to become a core part of the workforce.
The report confirms that companies are increasingly shifting toward project-based hiring and engaging independent contractors instead of traditional full-time employees to maintain business flexibility and cost-effectiveness.
Indian youth are now choosy about jobs that might be replaced by AI in the future; they prefer multiple freelancing or project-based gigs to focus more on their personal lives.
Meanwhile, the India Skills Report points out that project-based hiring has increased by 38 per cent in 2025. The definition of stability has changed.
The WEF report states that the labour market is going through a change; 22 per cent will witness structural change by 2030. As the environment shifts, the path has to be chosen wisely.
However, to wrap it up, zigzag careers are uncertain. There is no stability or certain growth, but it is the need of hour, and is being rewarded.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)