Salary growth: How to reach your earning peak in a changing world

Tuesday, 14 October 2025

Knowing when to leave a job can be as important as taking a new opportunity.

Conventional wisdom will tell you your peak earning years usually fall between the ages of 45 and 54. The promise is that careers are meant to take a linear path, punctuated by promotions and steps up the corporate ladder.

My uncle was a diesel mechanic who worked hard for the same employer for decades, pulling on his blue overalls every morning and returning home to his family in the evening, the thick smell of engine grease hanging in the air. He was loyal to his employer and was rewarded with modest incremental increases over his career. He was a case study in how careers used to progress from start to finish. Loyalty to a single employer (or maybe a handful) was a solid strategy for a decent career, whereas job-hopping was seen as a sign of unreliability or even flakiness.

Long-term roles like these do still exist, but Colleen Ryan, the head of strategy at insights firm TRA, tells me that the nature of work is evolving quickly.

“The days of baby boomers having two or three jobs throughout their lives are gone,” she says.

“Estimates are that Gen Z will have more than 20 jobs over the course of their careers.”

The simple, linear career trajectory that ran from start to finish is no longer as applicable as it once was and this has major implications for those looking to increase their earning potential.

Your career and the choices that you make during that career are fundamentally linked to your ability to build wealth over the long term. An annual salary is the single biggest income source that most of us will have over our working lives. It’s the coal fed into the furnaces of your KiwiSaver, mortgage and retirement investments.

Every career move should be seen not just for its immediate pay cheque, but for its potential to maximise your future earning power. This requires a strategic mindset that prioritises long-term growth and understanding of when the time is right to move.

How much job experience do you have?

In his book The Speed of Trust, writer Stephen Covey tells the story of a middle manager who walks into an interview and confidently proclaims he has 15 years of experience.

Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent the interviewee does indeed have 15 years of experience, but this has been dedicated to the same role for the entire period.

The point Covey makes in telling this anecdote comes in the form of a simple question: does the worker really have 15 years of experience, or does he have one year repeated 15 times?

Careers no longer run from A to B in a straight line. Movement is often necessary to acquire the skills that command higher future salaries.

HR expert Sharon Spence, co-founder of consultancy Amp’d, says people often take too narrow a view, 'looking at the bonnet of the car, rather than considering where they're heading.'

Sharon Spence (left) and Suzie Marsden, co-founders of Amp'd.

She suggests viewing a career in phases: what will success look like in the next one to two years, in three to five years, and beyond?

If a new role offers a substantial opportunity to learn new, in-demand skills, then the move should at least be considered, even if it doesn’t come with an immediate pay bump.

A strategic career move can also be viewed as an investment in your future self, similar to paying for an MBA.

You may temporarily accept a lower immediate return (a similar or lower salary) because it gives you access to opportunities that significantly improve your long-term earning potential.

Ask three strategic questions

Before making any significant career transition, you need a framework to assess the move's overall wisdom. Spence suggests asking three simple questions:

Desirability: How much do you genuinely want the role? Does it align with your personal career goals and what you seek from your work?

Feasibility: Can you actually do the job? Given your current skills, energy levels, and personal commitments (family or time), is it realistic that you can succeed without burning out or failing? Honest reflection is vital here.

Viability: Can you afford the change? You must seriously consider whether the financial reality of the new role allows you to meet all your expenses: mortgage, bills, and essential living costs, without undue financial stress. If the move threatens your basic financial security, no matter how desirable or feasible, it is not viable.

Weighing these three factors helps determine if the decision is a strategic step forward or a high-risk gamble.

Knowing when to jump and when to stay

None of this is to say that you should jump from one job to the next every few months. Numerous workplace studies have shown that it can take at least three to six months for a new employee to become productive – and once you’ve settled in, you still need to give yourself enough time to put what you’re learning into practice.

With that in mind, a series of consecutive stints under 18 months will still raise a few questions even in the modern context.

A long tenure at one company may not be enough to prove varied competency.

You need to get the balance right between giving yourself enough time to learn on the job while showing a diverse range of skills applicable to a changing world.

As TRA’s Ryan notes, CVs are increasingly valued for a mix of different skills and experiences rather than simply for a long tenure in a single company. This means salary progression is no longer a smooth, upward line; it's about building a versatile, cross-disciplinary skillset that can be applied widely across industries and job functions as they evolve.

The biggest mistake workers (or even businesses, for that matter) can make is assuming that because things have been done a certain way for decades, it will stay that way indefinitely. History is replete with industries that have come and gone, the cruel hand of technology acting with impunity and giving little regard for the opinions of those opposed to change.

The arrival of AI will only add impetus to that destructive efficiency, and today’s workers understand that their careers will be built in different places than the routine of going to the same place of work every morning.

Your ability to earn will hinge on your willingness to learn, pivot, and acquire new competencies. Your focus should be on transferable skills that will be relevant when economic conditions improve and the door for opportunity and higher salaries open.

The ultimate goal is to build a skillset that delivers career longevity and higher financial rewards in the future. In a world where careers no longer move in straight lines, the ability to strategically manage your skillset is the most effective way to ensure you can continually fuel your long-term wealth.