Layoffs at 50

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work for a firm of approximately 3,000 employees and it's employee owned and one reason why I'm never leaving my job is because the firm does not push people out the door when they hit a certain age. At all. The only downside to my firm is that we don't have the best salaries but our benefits are excellent, and I'm not taking the risk in jumping to another firm for a higher salary only to face ageism.

Very, very smart! You're a lucky one!

[Anonymous]

Happened to my mom at 60. Thankfully due to being very experienced in a desirable field (IT), she had another job and a mountain of interviews lined up within a couple of months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Happened to my mom at 60. Thankfully due to being very experienced in a desirable field (IT), she had another job and a mountain of interviews lined up within a couple of months.

Did the job pay the same or more? That's the trend that happened to my relatives, they got laid off at 55, and were able to find another job (because they were skilled) but had to take a pay cut.

[Anonymous]

I'm seeing it among tons of friends and neighbors. Age discrimination is real. What's worse is that this is the age when your kids are about to go to college, so it is the most expensive phase of life.

[Anonymous]

Happens all of the time OP. It starts younger in some industries. It starts getting challenging at 40+

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a Fed family and locally know mostly either other Federal employees or BigLaw/lobbyist employees.

We have some family in friends in a variety of fields, such as hardware tech companies, biochem, health insurance, etc and all of them seem to be going through rocky careers transitions in their 50s.

Many have been laid off after being there for 20 years, then getting a new job for less money at a smaller company, rinse and repeat. Or they are just laid off and desperately trying to re-tool their careers and get back to work.

Is it really that common to be laid off in your 50s, or is it just our skewed sample size with our friends and family? Obviously we don't encounter that at our workplace, but at same time we haven't sen the soaring stock values in an EPP so there are obvious tradeoffs.

yes....and it does not matter much on your qualifications, skills, effectiveness, sex, or even race. Business must reduce costs to maximize profits and labor costs represent a significant component. If they don't, they will perish. The best organization will always keep a few senior folks around, but the majority of the workforce will be younger.

[Anonymous]

Yep, I am 46 and this is my biggest fear.

I work for a govt. contractor (on the internal side though). My company is awesome, and they don't to this as a policy, and things on the internal side are always more stable, but if you're on a program, they have to keep the rates low, or lose the contract, so there is a fair amount of turnover, with less expensive people replacing the more expensive ones. Eventually it will also catch up with the back office folks, because indirect rates also need to be kept under control. I am about at the limit of what I can make salary wise.

We have two kids in middle school and aging parents that also need some support on both sides, so we still have to work for at least 10 years to get through this sandwich stage.

I am grateful for every single year that both DH and I are gainfully employed, and we do try to save as much as possible to hopefully prevent the worst from happening, but we are average earners (for this area at least), so we're not talking a huge budget here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Happened to my mom at 60. Thankfully due to being very experienced in a desirable field (IT), she had another job and a mountain of interviews lined up within a couple of months.

Became a CPA at 49 and earned a masters in information management at 59 - both also desirable. If you are looking for a 27 year old with nerd glasses who wants to bring their dog to work and sit in a beanbag chair all day, you're not going to hire me. But other people benefit from my experience and problem solving.

[Anonymous]

This happened to my father in law back in 1991 at the age of 50. It’s been a thing for a long time. Companies don’t give a damn about their employees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happened to my mom at 60. Thankfully due to being very experienced in a desirable field (IT), she had another job and a mountain of interviews lined up within a couple of months.

Became a CPA at 49 and earned a masters in information management at 59 - both also desirable. If you are looking for a 27 year old with nerd glasses who wants to bring their dog to work and sit in a beanbag chair all day, you're not going to hire me. But other people benefit from my experience and problem solving.

Where did you get the masters? It is something I have always been interested in and am considering it, early 50's. Thought tech was super ageist which?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happened to my mom at 60. Thankfully due to being very experienced in a desirable field (IT), she had another job and a mountain of interviews lined up within a couple of months.

Became a CPA at 49 and earned a masters in information management at 59 - both also desirable. If you are looking for a 27 year old with nerd glasses who wants to bring their dog to work and sit in a beanbag chair all day, you're not going to hire me. But other people benefit from my experience and problem solving.

You sound awesome!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happened to my mom at 60. Thankfully due to being very experienced in a desirable field (IT), she had another job and a mountain of interviews lined up within a couple of months.

Became a CPA at 49 and earned a masters in information management at 59 - both also desirable. If you are looking for a 27 year old with nerd glasses who wants to bring their dog to work and sit in a beanbag chair all day, you're not going to hire me. But other people benefit from my experience and problem solving.

Were you already an accountant and passed CPA? And quit work to get masters?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happened to my mom at 60. Thankfully due to being very experienced in a desirable field (IT), she had another job and a mountain of interviews lined up within a couple of months.

Became a CPA at 49 and earned a masters in information management at 59 - both also desirable. If you are looking for a 27 year old with nerd glasses who wants to bring their dog to work and sit in a beanbag chair all day, you're not going to hire me. But other people benefit from my experience and problem solving.

Were you already an accountant and passed CPA? And quit work to get masters?

Did not quit to get the masters. Had enough flexibility at work to take one day course and one night course during the semester. There is a need for CPAs to know more about data and systems and I really enjoyed the coursework. For the PP who asked about the school, think of a UVA or slightly higher rated school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happened to my mom at 60. Thankfully due to being very experienced in a desirable field (IT), she had another job and a mountain of interviews lined up within a couple of months.

Became a CPA at 49 and earned a masters in information management at 59 - both also desirable. If you are looking for a 27 year old with nerd glasses who wants to bring their dog to work and sit in a beanbag chair all day, you're not going to hire me. But other people benefit from my experience and problem solving.

Where did you get the masters? It is something I have always been interested in and am considering it, early 50's. Thought tech was super ageist which?

Not looking to be in tech. What I learned can be applied almost anywhere.

[Anonymous]

I'm 42 and have seen my mid 50s colleagues fired left and right. One finally landed a decent job about 3 years later. One became a real estate agent. One retired and is trying to write books. I've considered getting an IT related degree myself to stay employable.