Learning Screenwriting for Salaryman Career Choices from a 'Sequel That Doesn't Provide the Right Answer'
I'll be honest.
After watching 'The Devil Wears Prada 2', I couldn't do anything for about two hours.
“...Isn't this about more than just a movie?”
Andy is on stage giving an award speech on screen. A notification pops up on her smartphone. One text message: 'The company is downsizing. Everyone is fired.' Under the glamorous spotlight, her expression freezes in slow motion.
They probably wanted me to laugh, but I couldn't.
Because I, too, have imagined something similar.
“What if my current department disappears? What if the company suddenly changes its policy? If I get fired, what can I do next?”
In Japan, news of layoffs at major corporations, voluntary retirement, and organizational restructuring due to DX has been increasing over the last two or three years. Even though people have been saying 'lifetime employment is over' for more than a decade, when you think about it as your own situation, your thinking stops.
So, this time, using the entertainment movie 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' as an entry point, I will delve into 'how salarymen should design their careers in the era of AI and industry downsizing.' I hope you find it useful.
What kind of movie is 'The Devil Wears Prada 2'?
The biggest hit of 2026, a sequel 20 years in the making
'The Devil Wears Prada 2', released in Japan on May 1, 2026, is a story set 20 years after the 2006 blockbuster movie. With a score of 4.1 on Filmarks (over 55,000 reviews) and a 79% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it has become a work that 'hits home for those who love it.'
The story begins with Andy (Anne Hathaway), who experienced being Miranda's assistant in the previous film and has built a career as a journalist, suddenly getting fired due to downsizing. The plot then unfolds with her returning to the Runway editorial department, which she should have escaped 20 years ago, this time as someone on the 'defending side'.
“Trying to protect the tradition she opposed in the previous film, 20 years later.”
This is the core of the film, and it is also a composition that overlaps directly with a salaryman's career.
Understanding the structural differences from the previous film
The structure of the previous film (2006) was simple; it was a classic Cinderella story where 'if you stick to your ideals, the path will open.' Andy left due to her opposition to tradition and authority, and that choice was the right one.
The 2026 sequel is different. What Andy faces is not a simple conflict of 'tradition vs. innovation,' but the reality that 'both tradition and innovation are being swallowed by the same wave of downsizing.' The common enemies are digitalization, AI, and corporate consolidation. The script that 'you can win if you stand on the right side,' which worked 20 years ago, is no longer valid in this era.
[Core] The 'True Career Choice' Depicted by an Ending That Doesn't Provide the Right Answer
Deciphering the Relationship Between Andy and Miranda Through Dialectics
There is a concept in philosophy called 'dialectics.' It is a method of reasoning where a thesis (a claim) and an antithesis (a counter-argument) collide to produce a synthesis (integration).
This film applies that dialectic to career choices.
The previous film's thesis: Miranda = traditional magazine culture, power-harassment-style hierarchy, and artisanal dedication.
The previous film's antithesis: Andy = journalism-oriented, egalitarianism, and an external critical perspective.
In the previous film, the two clashed and ended in 'continued opposition.' In this film, 20 years later, they join forces in the face of a common enemy (digitalization and AI). In Japanese, we might call this 'learning from the past to create the new.' It depicts the moment when the old and the new produce a synthesis in the face of the reality of contraction.
'Tradition and innovation join forces in the face of a common contraction. A fragile yet sincere hope.'
This sentiment can be applied directly to a salaryman's job changes and career choices.
The shift from 'hierarchy to network' shown in the final scene
The final scene of the film. The three of them—Miranda, Nigel, and Andy—are working in an office of the same scale. This is not just a stylistic choice. It visually demonstrates that the top-down structure (hierarchy) of the past has been replaced by horizontal cooperation (a network).
Something similar is happening in Japanese companies. Management positions are decreasing, cross-departmental project-based organizations are increasing, and the era of 'feeling safe under a powerful boss' is coming to an end. The final scene of Runway anticipates the reality of the office in 2026.
Career design through screenwriting techniques: Lessons from Andy's three decisions
1. The decisiveness to 'act in a place where there is no right answer'
Andy chose to return to Runway without a guaranteed answer. This is a decision to stop 'searching for the right answer' in one's career and instead 'act on what can be done now.'
When salarymen worry about their careers, the thing they do most often is 'wait for the perfect timing.' Whether changing jobs or aiming for an internal transfer, they procrastinate by saying, 'I'll do it after I've built up a bit more of a track record' or 'once I'm better prepared.'
This is because they cannot act when they cannot see the right answer.
However, Andy acted without seeing the right answer. It is a bittersweet conclusion: 'I had an intuition that there was a way to change the world from Runway. But I don't know how long I'll be able to do it.' She is acting not on certainty, but on intuition and resolve.
2. The new strategy of 'coexisting with a former enemy'
Twenty years ago, Andy left, rebelling against the 'traditional authority' that Miranda symbolized. Twenty years later, Andy stands on the side of protecting that tradition.
Whether you see this as a 'betrayal' or an 'evolution' is up to you.
In the context of a career, this is a strategy of 'utilizing the methods or organizations one once rejected from a different angle.' It is similar to the shift in thinking where someone who thought 'big companies are a dead end' in their 20s re-evaluates them in their 30s as 'places where I can leverage the resources and network of a large corporation.'
You don't have to deny your past choices to take a new approach. That is what Andy 20 years later teaches us.
3. Surviving by 'Having Your Own Story'
What I felt strongly in this work is that Andy continues to hold onto the story of 'why I am here.' She is not completely steeped in tradition, nor is she only chasing innovation. She has her own storyline.
This is directly linked to one's career. What recruitment agents say resonates most with interviewers is a 'consistent career story.' People who can connect the dots, explain why they are here now, and where they are heading next are strong.
Conversely, people who only have a history of 'changing jobs for no particular reason' or 'escaping because the company was toxic' will face the same struggles in their next interview. This is because they have no 'script' for their career.
[Reality] Runway and salarymen are both in the same era of 'contraction'
Real-world numbers more extreme than the movie
The real-world background of this work is even more brutal than the movie.
The Runway depicted in the film is modeled after Vogue, and its parent company is Condé Nast. In reality, Condé Nast announced a layoff of approximately 5% of its total workforce, or 270 people, in November 2023. The reasons were 'pressure from digital advertising, a decline in social media traffic, and a shift in viewing behavior toward short-form video.'
In August 2024, Condé signed a multi-year contract with OpenAI, allowing articles from Vogue, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair to be used for training ChatGPT. They sold their content to the enemy. There were events more poignant than the movie.
The global magazine market revenue is projected to be $32.7 billion in 2025, shrinking at an average annual rate of -2.38%. It is expected to decrease to $29 billion by 2030. The pie for the entire industry is definitely shrinking every year.
Hollywood also turned its own contraction into a movie
Another irony of this work is that while it depicts the contraction of journalism and the magazine industry, it is actually a story about Hollywood itself.
In the last three years, 41,000 film and TV-related jobs have been lost in Los Angeles. This is equivalent to one-quarter of the county's entertainment workforce. Between 2022 and 2025, there was a decrease of approximately 30% in the film, TV, and sound sector in California, and about 34% in traditional media.
In other words, the wave of contraction is engulfing the entire creative industry, regardless of whether it is the fashion, journalism, or film industry. And there is the reality that entry-level jobs, once considered the 'first step in a career,' are never coming back due to AI.
This is seriously no laughing matter. The movie and the industry are both shrinking.
Japanese salarymen are no exception
The same structural changes are happening in Japanese companies. In the 2026 labor market, we are reaching a turning point where AI shifts from 'destruction' to 'reconstruction.' While AI automates simple tasks, a 'new role to properly guide AI and optimize collaboration with humans' has become necessary.
The impact on entry-level jobs for young people and new graduates is particularly dual-structured. On one hand, new positions are increasing that expect the skills of digital natives who can master AI. On the other hand, traditional entry-level jobs replaced by AI are disappearing.
The issue has shifted from the question of 'whether AI will take my job' to 'how can I increase my value by making AI my ally.'
The "Personal Script" Every Salaryman Should Write Right Now
3 Steps to Designing Your Career as a Narrative
Andy's career functions as a 20-year story because she has a central theme: "I want to change society as a journalist." Even if the dots seem disconnected, a theme acts as the warp thread that turns them into a story.
Here are three steps for a salaryman to write their own career script.
1. Articulate your theme (subject)
Start by writing down "why you work" and "what you are building your career for." "Increasing my annual income" is a goal, not a theme. Put into words what you are fighting for, such as "I want to bring digitalization to small and medium-sized local businesses" or "I want to change how working parents work."
2. Take inventory of past "conflict structures"
Just like in the previous film and this one, write down "things your past self rebelled against" or "career choices you once rejected." Things your 20-year-old self thought were "lame" or jobs you "didn't want to do." How do those look to your current self from a different angle? Sometimes, things that started as a rejection become a synthesis 20 years later.
3. Decide your next move on the premise that "there is no right answer"
Just as Andy acted without certainty, stop waiting for the perfect answer. Organize your current self using the three axes of "Will, Can, Must" (what you want to do, what you can do, and what you should do), and start from whichever area you can move in. If you wait for everything to align, you will never move.
In an "Era of Contraction," Lateral Moves Are Effective
As the Harvard Business Review has pointed out, while promotions may be limited during periods when companies are downsizing, lateral transfers can be an opportunity to gain new skills and experience.
When your current industry or organization is shrinking, many salarymen get stuck in a binary choice: "Should I run or should I stay?" But in reality, there is a third option: "moving laterally within a shrinking industry." From sales to product development, from editing to digital marketing. By broadening your range of skills, you will be able to tell a unique story in your next job search.
To repeat, what matters is not "running away" but moving with an awareness of "what I want to gain next." Whether or not you have that awareness will completely change your career three years from now.
Applying the Meaning of "The Cerulean Blue Andy Wore" to Yourself
In the final scene of this film, there is a moment where Andy wears a cerulean blue sweater. This is the color that appeared in the previous film when Miranda spoke about the influence of fashion. Twenty years later, Andy chooses to wear the color she once dismissed as "just blue."
This isn't just a simple story of "accepting Miranda's influence." It is a directorial choice showing that Andy has "consciously made it a part of herself, fully aware of the influence she received."
When applied to your career, it means this:
What you learned at an old job, what you actually stole from a boss you didn't respect, the skills you cultivated at a company you left. Don't cut these off as "dark history," but "integrate them as part of your own story." That process adds depth to your career.
"The experience of running away back then is also a part of who I am now."
Summary: In an Era Without Right Answers, Live Like a Story
To repeat, what this film depicts is not "which side is right." In the face of the reality of contraction, both tradition and innovation are equally fragile, which is precisely why they have no choice but to join hands. And in the process of joining hands, each side changes.
A salaryman's career is the same.
"Should I change jobs or stay?" "Does my current industry have a future?"—there are no perfect answers to these questions. However, people who have a theme of "Why am I here?" and "Where am I heading next?" can take action in any situation.
To summarize, here is who I want to read this.
Salarymen who feel anxious about the future of their current company or industry
People who "want to change jobs but don't know where to start"
People who want to have a single, cohesive story for their career
People who are thinking about how to leverage "human strengths" in the AI era
I intend to keep "writing my own script" from here on out. Even without a right answer, if you have a theme, you can move forward. I believe that is what Andy taught me over the course of 20 years.
I hope this is helpful. The end.