What does the term ‘career advancement’ mean to you?
Our survey asked low-wage frontline employees and job seekers in the United States about their perspectives on career advancement. Here is a sampling of their responses.
¹ Adverse experiences include addiction, involvement in the criminal justice system, domestic violence, and homelessness. Source: McKinsey and Cara Plus Frontline Employee Survey (n = 2,154)
Career advancement means more knowledge, new skills, and additional responsibility—a step toward my ultimate goal.
It means moving forward and taking on further responsibilities in a field of choice.
It is an opportunity to make more money for more hours and responsibility.
Career advancement means to be successful in your life and to learn a lot more than what you know now.
Parents
Employees skilled through alternative routes (STARs)
Employees with adverse experiences¹
Black and/or Hispanic employees
Career advancement to me means I can advance to a higher position within my current company.
Career advancement is the ability to take advantage of job training (on the job, off-site training, etc.) and coaching to effectively pursue higher positions within the organization I work for.
The term career advancement means to achieve higher goals in your career.
It means moving up the career chain to a higher level of responsibility and financial compensation.
Career development can effectively improve my life. It'll make my life better for me and my family.
Career advancement to me means getting better at what I do so I can move up and become a supervisor.
It means gaining responsibility and new knowledge and training to be able to handle more work and gain more pay.
It is when you get to move up the ladder in the career you have been in and get a higher position and higher pay. It means being rewarded for the work that you have done for your company.
To me, that means furthering my education. I had taken time out of the workforce to raise children, and I need to get back into a career that is not just a job.
It means to be given the opportunity to grow and expand your knowledge in a career.
It means that I step up into a higher role at my job, such as management.
It means to use available training offered at your job to move up in the company.
Career development for me means the improvement of my personal ability and also more jobs to choose from.
Adverse experiences
Black and Hispanic
