older workers …??!? time for a revolt

this is a severe situation...those of us who changed the world in the 60s & 70s are now too old to work??? we don’t have technical skills (like Excel!!!) the truth is out:

from a NYTimes article

Workers ages 45 and over form a disproportionate share of the hard-luck recession category, the long-term unemployed — those who have been out of work for six months or longer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

the issues seem to revolve around what I consider to be seriously harmful myths:

1. Supervisors worry about how to manage older subordinates: ‘How can I supervise someone who has more experience than I have?’
2. Older workers, who have a lifetime of preferences and skills, are essentially unique-shaped pegs that can fit into a limited number of holes.

I cannot express enough my outrage. I am nearing 60, have worked since I’m 15, raised a child, have technical skills born in the inception of the ‘computer revolution’, know how to build my own system, in addition to advanced technical skills, can speak and write English with accuracy, can work 60+ hours a week without blinking, can train, inspire and entertain younger workers in my field with well-delivered and humorous tales, have no savings, and am now out of a job. My job(s) are sent to a junior in India who can’t spell.

In looking for work, I can be adaptable, resourceful, and positive, to a point. I will accept less money than I have earned in the past…It was never really about the money – I love what I do, so if I can paid at all, I’m happy.

So, now, what to do? I can’t pay my insurance (have been carrying my own for years), can’t get even a low-level job because they think I’ll leave, and explore other business models for products and services that are not in my existing skill set, BUT I am game for acquiring new skills, and think of my experience as something valuable and useful.

I am out-sourced, out-of-work, and not able to think that I’ll magically find ‘my love’ around the next corner, probably because I have enough experience to know it isn’t there.

Should I be depressed? you bet. Should I be angry at the injustice of it all? you bet. Should I start or stop complaining? no way.

This issue is truly disturbing…I saw a blog on “‘we should just wait for the old people to die so we can have free drugs, gay marriage and no rules”. This was from a 20 yr old at MIT…whose parents were paying for his education…

If the younger generation had some galvanising issue, like we did in the 60s, they might have some clue, but they don’t, and so all the reasons cited above for age/gender/cultural discrimination are accurate, but I don’t see them challenged, with any authority or fire. We need to get our fire up, oldsters…just like we did before, providing the stage on which these vacuous young people are now standing.