corporate ladder

American  

noun

1. the hierarchical order of position, title, or rank, as in a large corporation.

   to work one's way up the corporate ladder.

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Example Sentences

The corporate ladder feels more like a slide to people whose roles are being devalued in today’s cooler job market, writes Callum Borchers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

But AI’s advance has raised bigger questions about what company org charts might look like in the future, and how mid-level, mid-career employees might move up the corporate ladder.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 1, 2026

"By the end of it, I really felt like I'd worked an office job and climbed the corporate ladder," Turner says.

From BBC • Jan. 20, 2026

If you're considering leaving your current employer to start your own business, for example, the years spent climbing the corporate ladder are not necessarily wasted.

From Salon • Dec. 15, 2024

He also believes that employees further up the corporate ladder cheat more than those down below.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

Related Words

• food chain
• hierarchy
• power structure
• social structure