going plural
n. Taking on a number of different projects or jobs rather than a career within a single company or industry.
Other Forms
go plural v.
Examples
2001
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
1990 (earliest)
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,” Management Today, January 01, 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.
Filed Under
employees
Posted: April 02, 2002