In addition, the status also had the aspect of serving as a career stepping stone such as when capable individuals who were appointed from among ordinary citizens were temporarily be enrolled with the domain as ashigaru before their subsequent promotion, and what were once gangs of villains during the middle ages took on the identity of low-level public servants.
加えて、有能な人材を民間から登用する際、一時的に足軽として藩に在籍させ、その後昇進させる等の、ステップとしての一面もあり、中世の無頼の輩は、近世では下級公務員的性格へと変化していった。