corporate ladder

English

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Noun

corporate ladder (plural corporate ladders)

1. (idiomatic, figurative) The hierarchy or ranking system of employment positions within a business organization; especially, such a hierarchy viewed as a ladder to be climbed (to successive higher-ranking positions) while one is pursuing a career path.
   • 1960 July 4, “Time Listings”, in Time:

     The Apartment. Producer-Director Billy Wilder tells of a sweet-natured schnook (brilliantly played by Jack Lemmon) who shoots up the corporate ladder.

   • 1991 September 29, Nancy Marx Better, “The Executive Life: A Gender Switch In Grooming Rituals”, in New York Times, retrieved 14 April 2013:

     "Good grooming is increasingly important as you move up the corporate ladder," said Camille Lavington, a New York image consultant.

   • 2012 August 23, Petrina Gentile, “All business about his off-road vehicle”, in Globe and Mail, Canada, retrieved 14 April 2013:

     He's climbing the corporate ladder fast and is moving from New York City to CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

Related terms

• social ladder

 

See also

• economic mobility
• social climber
• social mobility
• upwardly mobile
• upward mobility

 

References

• “corporate ladder”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.