EP 288 - The 2026 Workforce Shift Every Marketer Needs to Understand

Fab: One of the things that I was most excited to discuss and explore with Jazz was the role of contract work and fractional roles different kinds of opportunities that are not just the conventional roles. And this my influence, the way that marketers go about their career, not just from a starting point, but how they are evolving, what skills they might be focusing on and what priorities they might have. And she brings an incredibly interesting perspective that comes from working with individuals.

Hello Rebels and welcome back to Alt Marketing School. The school that helps you make marketing more impactful, human and fun. My name is Fab, I'm your Fairy Godmother and her teacher at this school. And as always, we're here to keep up with marketing so that you don't have to.

But right now we're actually here to share with you some of the off-record conversations that we've had at Summer School. And while you can, catch up with the full conversations we're going to have inside Summer School, which is a free... that is just one the lessons, what I deem to be the most practical nugget that you can take on today. But there's so much more that we talked about in this conversation, going all the way to breaking down actually the different skill sets and the support that we can ask for.

And we can encourage to bring within an organization, but also the role of AI ⁓ in ⁓ the career journey and in the career growth. because AI will not take your job, but understanding how to use it could give you the upper end. And this is what Jaz and I talk about in our different perspectives, bringing in also our personal experiences as well. So if you want to catch up with the whole conversation as well, don't forget to head to allmarketingschool.

com. Don't forget to head to amschool.click slash summer school. series of conversations dropped every single week over summer.

We wanted to give you one core lesson. wanted to give you the one thing to reflect upon and maybe even act upon based on each conversation. So each time you're going to get one of my favorite nuggets of wisdom. And I'm starting with the opening session.

when it came to choosing who to have for our opening session, I wanted conversation that could be for anyone. instead of the work that we do, which is mainly with students and from a training provider perspective. So she not only talks about the expectations and the organizations and the way that that works internally, but also how people perceive their own career these days and the journey they're going to undertake. was felt the ground shifting and the marketing lately because it is.

We're seeing more contract work, more fractional roles, more do it all expectations, plus AI is changing the pace and job descriptions every five minutes. So I brought with me the incredible Jas Marfa, who is a good friend of mine and an incredible career coach, as well as a professional who has worked in this side of the industry for a very long time. She is the kind of person that can zoom out. amschool.

click slash summer school to tune in with a full on conversation and many more that are dropped every single week. And if you miss a drop, you don't have to worry because the replays then will be available from that day on. So you can either watch as you go or joyfully binge on the whole thing. Thank you so much for joining us for today.

Let us know what you think about these shorter, more to the conversations and episodes. We would love to hear how these are landing with you. tell the truth about what's happening in the industry and still bringing back to what you can actually do next. As always, don't forget to be kind to yourself and others and never stop learning because practice makes progress.

But until next time, class is dismissed. I thought I would start my conversation with Jazz by asking her bit about her journey to frame how she came about what she calls a squiggly career. ⁓ going to start off by actually having us hear a bit more about her journey before we get into the lesson for this week. And before we go, don't forget to find out more about Jazz.

In one second, she will let us know where you can connect with her and find out more about her work. Jaz: So I took a squiggly to what I describe as a two-sided career. So I'm a career coach, I've been doing that work for eight years, ⁓ and I also am a senior community manager. That side of things I've been doing for maybe, I'm gonna say four, prior to that background in customer success, so tech environments and things like that.

⁓ I am the girly for fast-paced peeps. ⁓ person who's always learning something, the person who's always up-skilling and in that way also the teams that are facing that direction, the teams that understand that without people we can't hit those figures, we can't hit those targets, we can't create the change that we want to see in the world. So that's the kind of work that excites me and that's the work that I've been really lucky to do for the past eight years as a career coach.

Fab: Now understand why she is our girlie, right? You get that? You get that? I never ever lie.

Yeah, of course we get that. Truths and lies. I have to guess this one too because I don't think I am 100 % sure about this one. Jazz, can you share them with us?

What did you pick? Jaz: Yeah, so ⁓ first one that I picked was that I have a diploma in real estate. ⁓ I did mention a squiggly career, ⁓ I put that one on there. ⁓ second one is speaking three languages, ⁓ always been obsessed with travel and new cultures and things like that.

⁓ then the last one, ⁓ ⁓ my first invoice ⁓ four. I thought for the biz folks, for the just proof of ambition I'd put in there that it's a lifelong thing, you know? So those were the two truths, let me lie. Fab: Can I guess?

Jaz: Yes please. Fab: I'm gonna say that... You don't have a diploma in real estate. That's what I'm going to say.

Let's see what everybody else thought. Let's see if everybody was with me or somewhere else. Please tell her. Jaz: The lie is that I speak three languages.

I have the squiggly career with a almost degree to prove it. ⁓ I... I got into property after university, working into hospitality didn't work out. So I transitioned into property and I did that thing that you do where you go, what is the career pathway here?

Like I was working as a state agent, best time of my life. So I started to do a degree so that I could become a surveyor, but that didn't pan out and I shifted into tech and I was like, I do not want to do a dissertation. My ADHD will not allow it. I also don't fancy, like I was self-funding this course so I was like why am I paying to torture myself and I sent off that email and I said what happens if I don't do a dissertation and they were like you end up with a postgraduate diploma like a postgraduate certification so I have a PG tip dip in PG tips that's the T.

⁓ which I love. But anyway, side quest over. I have a postgraduate diploma in Real Estate and Property Management and I did send my first on voice age 14. I DJed for the Mayor of Wandsworth at a community event.

I'm with the people who are like I want to do my own thing. So that mid-career point where it's like if leadership isn't for me, if specialism isn't available, ⁓ if I'm somewhat jaded with where I'm at be it industry, it specific organization, ⁓ could I go out and fractional, could I go out and be... ⁓ a consultant, be a consultant, be an extension of someone else's team. ⁓ And it's in many ways it's a really interesting conversation to have because although people would look at that and think okay that is the pursuit of diversifying revenue streams and stuff like that, they're actually doing it to sharpen skills.

And for me that exposes a huge gap that we have in organizations where training, and when I say training I'm going to split between interpersonal and technical. So for a typical marketer, I'm going to say a technical skill is paid ads, right? Whereas an interpersonal skill is stakeholder management, right? Organizations will say, Here you go.

Here's some presentation skills training. Here's some confidence training. Here's a talk on imposter syndrome. But when it comes to actually the technical skills and folks upskilling that falls flat beyond an onboarding, which you're lucky if you get.

And actually those onboardings and the quality of them rest a lot on the laurels of the people who believe in continuing the industry and passing on the knowledge. I.e. it might not even be your direct manager.

It's a senior that you're working with who takes the time explain the why to the what, who takes the time to explain the philosophy, the theory, to give you access to the data from behind to inform future campaigns. The people who believe in it, so from a values-based point of view, are upskilling, but the organizations are still, they've got that gaping hole that's getting filled by these types of individuals. And so That's where I see people go, I want to go out on my own. I want to explore different environments and I want to just learn by doing.

There's holes there's gaps and whether we'll feel the brunt of that sooner or later, we will feel it. Because ⁓ my philosophy is that when you leave a role that's not for you open up space for someone else to step in that space. With my clients I talk about, I think, all the SST, your skills, strengths and talents, and we're on screen, so I'm going to do it this way. Think of a triangle folks, triangle.

Skills, loads of them. loads of them overlap. if me and fab wrote our skills there'd be a bunch that overlapped but then we get into strengths and then fab and i will start to differ because she's going to get into her lane and i'm going to get into mine and then when we say talents which i say you should have maybe one to three true talents they come with ease you could do it at the drop of a hat it's been there throughout your whole career like i do this exceptionally well at that point fab and i are in completely different lanes you only get to know what those are through that experience right?

That's the that's almost what you harvest from like the lemons of those poor experiences but also the lemonade of those really great work experiences. And then that means that whether it's in a freelance or fractional container, it doesn't make any difference. Fab: So what are some of the things that came to mind when it comes to what's next? the way that people get into work, the way that people look for work, or even just stay in work?

Jaz: Mmm. There are things that you get one, I'm gonna call it a career format. Right? So when we think about the industry, I think about the work.

think about the innovation, I think the groundbreaking campaigns and pieces and even down to the theory because that was part of our chat where I was like one day somebody invented a funnel and somebody called it a funnel. Well they didn't invent the funnel, the thing had already existed right, we've been to sales and marketing for eons, but somebody coined funnel, somebody coined flywheel, someone coined omni-channel, all of that sort of stuff. Somebody coined it. Who is coining this now?

Who is bringing in the next wave of theory? Because if we can have a conversation, and I think we will, so I'm not gonna go too far, but yeah, we have the conversation about the recycling of AI, right? It sits on top of layers of decades and decades and decades of insight, and then there's nothing new to come, then. what then happens, right?

I think about what then happens for the organizations that don't have any homegrown talent left because they've left. And then also, and this is probably a different angle to take it, but what of the contractor, the freelancer that brought that genius, but it's just a secret, right? think about the theater world. You've got the person on stage, but you've got the people who do the lighting and sound.

true marketing superstars are getting tucked away, it's like lighting and sound. you know and I think there's something about being able to work together better to create great work bodies of work but you know great marketing theory marketing exemplars and case studies and things like that whereas there seems to be a bit there's going to be a bit of a polarization some people are either going to have it or not have it So yeah, it's tough to kind of like put my finger in the air and go what it means, but all I know is that the bottom line is there's going to be an incongruence.

There's going to be people who wake up and go, I feel like I've wasted X years of my life because also we're talking about the very sexy fractional work. We're talking about the sexy consultancy in our brains, but what about the one where you're just being paid to just do glorified admin? right? And you left to do that and that's the work that is available so you do that to keep the lights on and then five years go by and you start to feel rusty and you start to feel disillusioned.

I think ultimately on both ends we'll lose talent from the field of marketing. because it will feel too difficult, it will feel too difficult in an intrapreneurial state, but also it will feel very difficult for various reasons in an organisational state. Or like I said, you'll find the intrapreneurial side of things lacking, the true ability to be creative. When I work with clients who work in marketing, is their bag.

You can see it, it's palpable, you feel it. And then the quote unquote top ⁓ are so overwhelmingly corporate. that it makes them go, this for me? Right?

So I just see more disillusionment. Whereas actually, if the industry would just pay attention to human nature and shift according to that, then we wouldn't need to see that. People's needs can be met equally on either side. And we could have a cleaner view that it isn't a grass is greener on one or the other.

It's a trade off. And the question that you should ask is, where am I right now? And what do I want from my career right now? website has everything so justjazz.

co and then I spend some time over on Instagram justjazz.co or linkedin, jazmofo of those three places you will find me chatting and connecting and you also check out my podcast after the hustle and my newsletter series, that's what I'm gonna call it. No I don't like newsletters, email. It's a bit more, it's a bit like Dear Diary meets strategy type vibes as opposed to, every time I think of a newsletter I think of a bulletin like, you know, go here for your window cleaning and go here for your lunchtime meal deal, it's not that.

We're talking about some of the, ⁓ stuff that I maybe don't talk about on Instagram and LinkedIn can come into your inbox.