Riding the Fire Horse: Why Lunar New Year and 2026 Employment Trends Feel Deeply Aligned

I’ve always loved this time of year in Asia.

There’s an energy that’s hard to describe unless you’ve experienced it firsthand – the build-up of anticipation, the spring cleaning and new sheets, the red and gold, the ang bao and the yusheng. I’ve been fortunate to experience Lunar New Year in Singapore, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Kuala Lumpur. This year, I’ve loved seeing displays of red across Melbourne’s CBD from our office near Chinatown through, to Collins Square and David Jones.

In Chinese astrology, the Horse represents momentum, independence, and drive. Add the Fire element, and that energy becomes amplified, bold, transformative, and unapologetically fast-moving. If I had to choose a single metaphor for the 2026 workforce, this would be it – and interestingly, it isn’t AI.

Skills Are Overtaking Job Titles

One of the biggest shifts I’m seeing is the move away from hiring purely based on roles toward hiring for capability. Organisations want people who can evolve as fast as the market demands.

AI literacy, data fluency, and digital transformation experience are no longer “nice to have.” But equally, human skills – communication, stakeholder management, adaptability – are what differentiate truly high-value talent.

Much like the Fire Horse, professionals who keep moving, learning, and stretching themselves are the ones gaining traction.

The Freedom of Portfolio Careers

The Horse is also a symbol of independence, and this couldn’t feel more relevant right now.

We’re deep into the era of fractional leadership, consulting, and portfolio careers. I’m seeing senior executives step away from traditional employment into advisory and project-based models – gaining flexibility and enjoying the learning that comes from experiencing a different kind of 9-5.

For businesses, it offers agility. For individuals, autonomy.

AI: Transformation, Not Replacement

Fire brings disruption, and AI is undoubtedly the flame reshaping work.

But what’s become clear in 2026 is that AI works best as a co-pilot. Organisations are redesigning roles rather than removing them – automating process work so humans can focus on strategy, relationships, and innovation.

The most in-demand professionals aren’t resisting AI, they’re harnessing it.

They’re riding the horse, not standing in its path.

Global Work Is the Default

Spending Lunar New Year in Asia always reminds me how interconnected business has become.

Distributed teams, cross-border hiring, and remote project delivery are now standard practice. Employers are far more comfortable engaging talent regardless of geography, and professionals are structuring careers that aren’t tied to a single location. Even in traditional sectors like insurance and superannuation, we’re seeing C-suite leaders distributed across multiple geographies rather than tied to a single HQ model.

Cultural intelligence – understanding how to operate across markets – has become a genuine commercial advantage.

Redefining Prosperity

Lunar New Year centres on prosperity, but prosperity means something different in today’s workforce.

Yes, remuneration matters, but so does flexibility, wellbeing, and purpose. Candidates are assessing employers as much as employers assess them.

Organisations that offer autonomy, values alignment, and growth are winning the talent race.

Moving Forward with Fire Horse Energy

What I love most about Lunar New Year is the intentional reset it offers. The permission to move forward with clarity and courage.

The Year of the Fire Horse feels like a call to action for both businesses and professionals: move faster, think bolder, and don’t be afraid to redefine the path.

Because if the employment trends of 2026 tell us anything, it’s this:

Standing still isn’t an option – you need to ride the energy of the horse.

Maidlin Mistry

Divisional Manager, Finance