Bloomberg nails it. Since August 2020, 2.7 million jobs have been created and filled by those under-55. During the same time, only 28,000 55 and over landed work. Overall, about 2 million of those 55 and older have given looking for work.
Some of them have legitimate reasons for dropping out.
They may have feared contacting COVID - and dying.
They may have had it with the pressures of getting, holding and moving on to better work.
Perhaps they have to take care of a parent, spouse or offspring.
Or, they have just needed a nudge to take a retirement package.
But most, I know from my coaching, just ran low on hope. After overcoming myriad obstacles in their career they assumed they could no longer jump through hoops. Not again. And what for. After all, as ProPublica documents, after losing those good job only 1 in 10 will move on to another which pays comparable compensation.
Where hope can take root, even after severe disappointments, is where mindsets are open to a fresh start. There is that old adage which is on the money: Nothing gets you a job like a job. Here the aging have to shift from the traditional notion of a career path to the more simple concept of working for income.
That kind of pivot liberates the 55 and over from the past. They can welcome new experiences, including learning new skills.
That aligns with the Future of Work vision of Willis Towers Watson: Careers are anachronisms. They are being replaced by putting together portfolios of experiences and skills. That process is unlikely to be linear. The security guard could parachute into being a leasing agent for a residential complex. Related? Maybe. But it doesn't represent the expected progression in what used to be career paths. What counts is that there is movement to better-paying, more enjoyable work.
So, how can the aging loop into hope?
What I hammer is this: Get work, any work. That's articulated, along with the how-to, in this book, a free download Download Outwitting ageism.
The next step is: Don't settle in.
That work experience is simply a bridge to the Next. This is really nothing that new. In the ultimate job guide "What Color Is Your Parachute?" has documented since The Great Recession the shorter and shorter time any human being will be in any work situation. That is, reinforces the book, there will be a search for work from the get-go in high school or earlier to the day when permanent retirement is selected.
So, it can comfort the aging that they aren't not the only ones who are caught in the nonstop search for work that brings income. The focus of the new reality is to be heading toward better-paying and a better fit of work.
The Future is already underway. Ghostwriting/Marketing Communications and coaching on those issues. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)
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