Ageism is a plague on the workplace. I see it everywhere.
So… over 50s are starting to face the reality that under-50s have been dealing with since the over-50s were hunting for their first job?
I love how quickly an issue gen-x was experiencing is suddenly about someone else.
Thing is, Gen-X has always felt invisible and under appreciated. And for good reason. This shouldn’t be a new realization.
When some of your work skills are no longer relevant so they start treating you the way they treat young people just stepping into the work force. Next they’ll start saying that they don’t deserve a living wage (or are they already saying that?).
This is why worker solidarity is a must. They’ll make you starve for their bottom line.
Boomers centering themselves when job market is just cooked period. Plus they already had full employment and savings through their prime earning years…
“But Jimmy has two boats… I WANT TWO BOATS TOO!!!”
Anyone 50-60 is not a boomer
Headline only limits to “over 50” and boomers range extends out to 1964 - Making the youngest boomers in their early 60s today.
I hope you felt good interjecting yourself while being confidently incorrect though?
They need to learn how to game the AI reviewer systems. Find someone that advertises resumes and AI knowledge, even better if they are elder genz.
If your job experience is anywhere near the digital field, look into satisfying a need by building a digital product that can earn money for you. Customers don’t care how old you are, they just want to span a needs gap with your product. Bonus if it solves a real business need, as companies can be much more open to spending obscene amounts to save a few pennies. Downside to this is you may have to rely on “spray and pray” - actively developing 10, 20, or even more ideas until either one in particular takes off or until the aggregate income across all is sufficient.
Edit: people, the digital field has the very lowest barrier to entrance other than ditch-diggers. All you need is a free, second-hand computer and a hosting package that costs a few bucks a month.
I’m not talking about firing up a 50+ person startup that makes you stupidly wealthy when it’s sold to private equity for millions. If this is what you thought, you’ve got SFB.
I’m talking about building a stable of 10-30 digital products that, over a year or three of steady visibility, each of them will eventually bring you in a few hundred to a thousand or two dollars of income per month on a consistent basis, especially if it’s a product that has a legitimate server/online component that demands an ongoing subscription.
Down that second path you have the opportunity to make a comfortable and very liveable wage by NOT putting all your eggs (effort, resources) into one bag, thereby diversifying your income in ways that doesn’t demand daily, ongoing, persistent labour.
Will it make you wealthy? Almost assuredly not. But it will put food on your table, a roof over your head, and give you a reasonably comfortable life without wearing the shackles of needing to be wildly profitable to someone else.
imagine you are 55vyo, jobless. pehaps you have almost enough savings to retire. now contemplate investing your remaining money into a startup, knowing the odds of success are low.
taking that chance could land you homeless with greater probability than being moderately successful.
Who said anything about a startup?
Tech is one of those industries where one can stand up a digital product with almost no resources aside from time and effort, a computer, and maybe a few bucks in hosting per month.
And so what if a product gets you only a few hundred in recurring income per month… if you have a dozen or two wildly different ideas working for you, that adds up to several thousand a month.
