going plural

(goh.ing PLOOR.ul; OO as in foot)

n.

Taking on a number of different projects or jobs rather than a career within a single company or industry. — go plural, verb. To structure one's working life in such a way.

Example Citation:

Going plural is a trendy way for successful middle-aged directors to downshift. Instead of doing one full-time executive job, pluralists take on several non-exec posts.

— Joanne Hart, "Plural peril," The Evening Standard, October 26, 2001

Earliest Citation:

Peter Parker's offering falls into none of those categories, but perhaps this is not surprising since he is very much a one-off. 'Going plural' is a phrase I first heard from his lips, some 20 years ago, to describe his intention to seek a portfolio of different interests rather than a single career.

— Richard Marsh, review of For Starters: The Business of Life, by Sir Peter Parker, Management Today, January, 1990

Notes:

Of the nearly 100 citations that the media databases turn up for this phrase, all but a handful occur in 2000 or later. (This is mostly because a company called Going Plural was created recently.) However, the earliest citation hints that the phrase is quite a bit older.

Related Words:

go captive

go commando

go postal

hedgehog concept

multi-skilling

portfolio worker

Category:

Employees