Is the job market for testers over a century out of date?

Testers are building their careers in a job market that many experience as difficult. Our ancestors from the early years of the twentieth century would have recognised today’s job market. 

One of my relatives has researched the family tree. He found that when he researched individuals, they had different jobs each time they appeared in documentation. They changed jobs often, so, like many jobs today,  their jobs were probably insecure. 

However, there was a constant at the beginning of the twentieth century, just as there is today. My ancestors were always working with horses. They would, for example, be ostlers, grooms, jockeys, farriers or managing teams of horses. Today, there is also a constant: our LinkedIn profiles list many different job titles that relate to testing. Our skill is with testing; my ancestors’ skill was with horses.

The world has changed in the last hundred years, but our early twentieth-century ancestors would recognise today’s job market for testers, in which people have a core skill, change jobs regularly, and many jobs are insecure.

Today’s job market has so much in common with the job market of over one hundred years ago, which is sad. It makes me wonder if there is a better way.

Toyota’s model offers a successful alternative. Toyota rose from the ruins of post World War Two Japan to be the largest car manufacturer in the world. It recruits people at 18 or 22 years and has a 30-year plan for them[1]. Toyota’s model shows that there is a better way, and that way is successful.

My ancestors from over one hundred years ago would recognise today’s job market for testers. We can learn from Toyota and, in doing so, improve work.

References

[1] Lean Has Failed (or Has It?) with James Womack – Katie Anderson’s podcast (19 February 2025)

Further reading about Toyota:

• The Toyota Way by Jeffrey Liker 
• The Machine That Changed the World by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos 
• Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn by Katie Anderson and Isao Yoshino