Layoffs at 50

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Isn’t IT ageist? Even if you have a fresh degree they will pass you buy.

I’m 45 and in Fed IT, and I wish I could leave and make more money but it seems kinda dicey if long term it would pay off if I’m laid off in 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

This is it, OP.

I went back to school at 49 and finally finished a related-degree at 55 to retool my career. It's been great and I'm glad I did it, but of course hard on both me and my family and not plausible for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Isn’t IT ageist? Even if you have a fresh degree they will pass you buy.

I’m 45 and in Fed IT, and I wish I could leave and make more money but it seems kinda dicey if long term it would pay off if I’m laid off in 5 years.

If your plan is to work for a start-up or big tech company, then yes, ageism can be rampant. But many organizations need people with technical knowledge.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I are in our late 40s and I fear this. I hope and pray one of can stay consistently stay employed for the next 10 years when the kids are through college.

We bought a very inexpensive house to help alleviate the worry. We might be eating cat food but we won’t be homeless!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This is it, OP.

I went back to school at 49 and finally finished a related-degree at 55 to retool my career. It's been great and I'm glad I did it, but of course hard on both me and my family and not plausible for everyone.

What field was the degree in?

[Anonymous]

It’s something that everyone should prepare for. If you’re making $350k, they can easily replace you with someone younger for far less. Live below your means, and bank half your salary.

Having at least one stable job helps (think: fed/govt, state/local govt, teacher, etc.). Great benefits and security.

I’m 45 and worried, but my spouse has a good govt job.

There’s always nursing/healthcare. I know someone who went into nursing in her late 40s. Because she had a professional background, she quickly rose in the ranks and became the equivalent of the manager. Great money.

I know another woman who was laid off at 50. She took an admin job for county government for the benefits.

[Anonymous]

My colleague was laid off at 62 and she went to seminars that help ppl in placement and she said almost everyone there was in her age group and gotten laid off. Ageism is real. She heard testimonies of ppl applying for over 100 jobs and maybe went for 1 interview.

[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.

Hi! If you get this message, I wish to speak to you. I started my career late due to a variety of reasons. I am on the track now but feel like needing certifications and another degree. I would appreciate if you could contact me at six four six seven 0 six one nine seven 8, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s something that everyone should prepare for. If you’re making $350k, they can easily replace you with someone younger for far less. Live below your means, and bank half your salary.

Having at least one stable job helps (think: fed/govt, state/local govt, teacher, etc.). Great benefits and security.

I’m 45 and worried, but my spouse has a good govt job.

There’s always nursing/healthcare. I know someone who went into nursing in her late 40s. Because she had a professional background, she quickly rose in the ranks and became the equivalent of the manager. Great money.

I know another woman who was laid off at 50. She took an admin job for county government for the benefits.

I would do this, too, but I feel like those are even hard to get.

[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.

In Rockville?

[Anonymous]

I would highly encourage people 40+ to think twice before throwing more money at getting more education towards a degree in a white-collar field.

Competition will continue to be stiff and it's ALWAYS easier for companies to hire younger, hungrier and cheaper employees.

My advice is to look at trade-related options which will always be in high demand. Electricians, plumbers, mechanics, HVAC, construction manager, carpenter, welder, etc.

Also look at options in health-care related fields.

With a bit of experience under your belt you can be your own boss. If you demonstrate to just a few clients that you are competent, honest and fair priced you won't believe how many referrals you will get and the kind of income you can generate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would highly encourage people 40+ to think twice before throwing more money at getting more education towards a degree in a white-collar field.

Competition will continue to be stiff and it's ALWAYS easier for companies to hire younger, hungrier and cheaper employees.

My advice is to look at trade-related options which will always be in high demand. Electricians, plumbers, mechanics, HVAC, construction manager, carpenter, welder, etc.

Also look at options in health-care related fields.

With a bit of experience under your belt you can be your own boss. If you demonstrate to just a few clients that you are competent, honest and fair priced you won't believe how many referrals you will get and the kind of income you can generate.

electrician, definitely. The electrician who worked on our house was an older guy who wanted to semi-retire. He was looking to hire more people, but the younger guys he would hire either were unreliable or didn't know whether 1/4 was bigger or smaller than 1/8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would highly encourage people 40+ to think twice before throwing more money at getting more education towards a degree in a white-collar field.

Competition will continue to be stiff and it's ALWAYS easier for companies to hire younger, hungrier and cheaper employees.

My advice is to look at trade-related options which will always be in high demand. Electricians, plumbers, mechanics, HVAC, construction manager, carpenter, welder, etc.

Also look at options in health-care related fields.

With a bit of experience under your belt you can be your own boss. If you demonstrate to just a few clients that you are competent, honest and fair priced you won't believe how many referrals you will get and the kind of income you can generate.

electrician, definitely. The electrician who worked on our house was an older guy who wanted to semi-retire. He was looking to hire more people, but the younger guys he would hire either were unreliable or didn't know whether 1/4 was bigger or smaller than 1/8.

PP here.. I think electrician is good for older folks, but I am not sure whether most folks over 50 can handle carpentry and some of the heavier lifting manual jobs like that. Maybe small home projects. My DH who is 56 replaced our bathroom vanity/sink. Did all the plumbing himself. The only thing he had done professionally was the installation of the counter top we ordered. If you're handy, you could do small handyman type projects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would highly encourage people 40+ to think twice before throwing more money at getting more education towards a degree in a white-collar field.

Competition will continue to be stiff and it's ALWAYS easier for companies to hire younger, hungrier and cheaper employees.

My advice is to look at trade-related options which will always be in high demand. Electricians, plumbers, mechanics, HVAC, construction manager, carpenter, welder, etc.

Also look at options in health-care related fields.

With a bit of experience under your belt you can be your own boss. If you demonstrate to just a few clients that you are competent, honest and fair priced you won't believe how many referrals you will get and the kind of income you can generate.

This is really, really, really good advice. There is giant demand for people in the trades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would highly encourage people 40+ to think twice before throwing more money at getting more education towards a degree in a white-collar field.

Competition will continue to be stiff and it's ALWAYS easier for companies to hire younger, hungrier and cheaper employees.

My advice is to look at trade-related options which will always be in high demand. Electricians, plumbers, mechanics, HVAC, construction manager, carpenter, welder, etc.

Also look at options in health-care related fields.

With a bit of experience under your belt you can be your own boss. If you demonstrate to just a few clients that you are competent, honest and fair priced you won't believe how many referrals you will get and the kind of income you can generate.

The trades guys that I've had at my house are all smart, smart, smart and really on the ball. They are all driving the brand new big pickup trucks. I'm guessing they cost around
$70,000.

There is huge demand in the trades.