The Gen X Career Meltdown

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most Gen Xers have Boomer parents and even fewer, Silent Generationers.

I’m one. Born 1970 to parents born in 1934 and 1937.

DH has parents a full decade younger.

Yep. I was born in 77 and have parents from 42 and 46–one Silent, one Boomer.

77 is literally right up to the millennial boundary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We also dealt with rapidly rising house prices (as did Millenials but they had much much richer parents who could help them out).

Layoffs were the norm for our generation, as our parents were the first to experience them and being unemployable at middle age and the fall out from that.

My husband and I are millennials and received zero help from our parents to buy a house.

Who paid for your colleges?

[Anonymous]

The article was so depressing, with points that could be extrapolated to so many other industries. Gen X is stuck behind intransigent Boomers and squeezed by entitled, performative Millennials on the other end. We're all exhausted because most of us have been working since age 14, if not earlier (under the table) but we can't retire yet, if ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The article was so depressing, with points that could be extrapolated to so many other industries. Gen X is stuck behind intransigent Boomers and squeezed by entitled, performative Millennials on the other end. We're all exhausted because most of us have been working since age 14, if not earlier (under the table) but we can't retire yet, if ever.

You not be able to retire at your age is your fault with the explosive market growth. Leave it to a Gen X to sit with their thumb up their hiney on the sidelines then whine when the world passes them by.

[Anonymous]

Gen x poster- born in 1970, left my fun advertising job and got an accounting degree in my late twenties- best decision ever….. made my kids get degrees that would lead to jobs. They both have good jobs and mostly self sufficient. I will be able to retire in 4 years and have a good stream of income.

I see a lot of my high school and college friends struggle financially due to creative career choices.

[Anonymous]

Maybe Gen X and their Gen Z kids shouldn’t have disproportionately voted for the guy who decided to dismantle the economy yesterday. Even with all the lead poisoning, you should have known better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished reading this article two minutes ago.

I think we need to go back to when people had their own businesses. It wasn’t so long ago! The trouble is that America is optimized for large corporations and it’s hard to survive as a mom n pop operation.

Single payer health care would boost entrepreneurship by helping people untether from wage slave jobs where employer-paid health insurance is a big part of compensation.

[Anonymous]

I see this actually. Born early 70's, I grew up in the Silicon Valley, using a borrowed laptop to program in basic. Many of my friends went into dot.com careers - I left for a more international career. When I look around, my women friends are all either stay at home moms, pushing Rodan and Fields, or they are working in retail or something. My men friends - some of them made it big early on and retired early or are living in Idaho, calling themselves outdoorsmen. One friend made a facebook-like program, sold it and disappeared, one made it big, and the rest of us, nothing.

This was at one of the best schools in the Silicon Valley graduating 1990. Strange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing I thought was odd about the article is that while it was discussing careers/jobs “disappearing” today, many of the examples made it clear that the fields were already reducing in scope when the Gen-X subjects were in their mid-late 20’s/early 30’s.

E.g., the guy who was working for Spin in the early 2000’s in NYC making $31K a year. Which would have been quite challenging to live on by then and he was in his early 30’s. My first real job in 1990 in the Midwest paid $22,500 and that was considered a pretty low salary.

The article content seemed relevant in, say 2005-2010, not 2025.

Spot on! The NYT had become so thin and weak in the past decade itself but i was still hoping for something meatier here and closer to, well, the truth - and it did get close. But the Gen X creatives, which I used to be part of, have been $&); out of luck since 2009-2012. The vast majority of us spent the 2010s getting out of our creative career tracks. The ones who didn’t either couldn’t find a way out, stayed because they were a well meaning but delusional holdout, or because they were supported by family wealth. That AI is now undermining what little is left of these roles is a new piece, and AI is changing the career path landscape for new grads in their 20s wondering what to pursue, but the end of these jobs at a meaningful level hasn’t been a surprise to creative Gen Xers for 15 years. It was depressing and grim in 2012. Weird article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We also dealt with rapidly rising house prices (as did Millenials but they had much much richer parents who could help them out).

Layoffs were the norm for our generation, as our parents were the first to experience them and being unemployable at middle age and the fall out from that.

My husband and I are millennials and received zero help from our parents to buy a house.

Who paid for your colleges?

Dp. We did, 0 parent help

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend was a graphic designer. She’s now a bartender.

I was a graphic designer, started my first job in 1999 making $48,000. I'm now a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We also dealt with rapidly rising house prices (as did Millenials but they had much much richer parents who could help them out).

Layoffs were the norm for our generation, as our parents were the first to experience them and being unemployable at middle age and the fall out from that.

My husband and I are millennials and received zero help from our parents to buy a house.

Who paid for your colleges?

My scholarship I earned because I studied and worked very hard in high school while my parents were at work. We were kicked out of the house at 18. I was able to get summer housing at the state school I went to. I worked about 30 hours a week in college to pay for living expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The article was so depressing, with points that could be extrapolated to so many other industries. Gen X is stuck behind intransigent Boomers and squeezed by entitled, performative Millennials on the other end. We're all exhausted because most of us have been working since age 14, if not earlier (under the table) but we can't retire yet, if ever.

You not be able to retire at your age is your fault with the explosive market growth. Leave it to a Gen X to sit with their thumb up their hiney on the sidelines then whine when the world passes them by.

NP. Are you the same Millennial being defensive about not getting money from your parents? Why so unpleasant so early in the morning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We also dealt with rapidly rising house prices (as did Millenials but they had much much richer parents who could help them out).

Layoffs were the norm for our generation, as our parents were the first to experience them and being unemployable at middle age and the fall out from that.

True. Our parents suffered terrible economic times and were unable to save much. Now most of them live on SS, which is about to be wiped out. We will be supporting three generations.

[Anonymous]

My career is in meltdown because I’m 50 and am having a difficult time moving to a different position outside of my current employer. It’s less of a creative field problem and more of an age plus salary plus experience (a lot) problem.