Some years ago, an acquaintance felt that corporate life was getting to her and decided to change tack. She would retrain as a pre-school teacher. She loved children and thought nurturing young minds would bring greater meaning and purpose. The change of pace might do her good, even if it required a pay cut.

In her 40s, she was realistic about her chances of being chief executive – zero – and did not relish the idea of spending her remaining years being moved laterally around the company. Worse, what if she outlived her usefulness – would her company counsel her out at some stage? Scrambling to find a job would be a nightmare.