In my 50s, crazy worried about losing my job

[Anonymous]

I was you OP but a little younger. By the time you approach 50 in a F500 you are near your expiration date unless you are in some old style patriarchy like insurance where people regularly stay for 35 years. I promise you that if you haven’t been promoted in the last 3 years, you are earmarked for getting laid off. No you will not make anywhere close to what you are making now. I make a third of what I made and I’m still well into the six figures if that gives you a clue about the pay cut I had to take. You can either wait it out if you still enjoy your job, or you can take the matter into your own hands and start looking now. If I were you with your tenure, you have to stay for the severance package. Start upskilling or retooling now. Just know there are roles for you and your experience out here but yes, there will be a massive tradeoff

[Anonymous]

What skills and industry, do you ai

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was you OP but a little younger. By the time you approach 50 in a F500 you are near your expiration date unless you are in some old style patriarchy like insurance where people regularly stay for 35 years. I promise you that if you haven’t been promoted in the last 3 years, you are earmarked for getting laid off. No you will not make anywhere close to what you are making now. I make a third of what I made and I’m still well into the six figures if that gives you a clue about the pay cut I had to take. You can either wait it out if you still enjoy your job, or you can take the matter into your own hands and start looking now. If I were you with your tenure, you have to stay for the severance package. Start upskilling or retooling now. Just know there are roles for you and your experience out here but yes, there will be a massive tradeoff

You made nearly $1M or more. I’m sure you are fine no matter what.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been at my large, Fortune 500 company for almost 20 years, in 4-5 different roles moving up over time.

My role is highly correlated to this industry, meaning it would be hard for me to translate what I do to another industry or a smaller company.

I almost irrationally can’t stop thinking about what if I was laid off in the next few years. I plan it to work about another eight years or so.

I felt like this before, pre-Covid and went to a career coach, which was helpful. Also Covid changes helped me get a new role within the company. But I’m starting to have the same fears again.

Is anyone else constantly thinking about what would happen if they got laid off? Basically the career options look terrible for me in my 50s and I can’t figure out where to even start looking outside the company even if I wanted to.

This was me and the worst happened. DH and I both lost our jobs (late 40s). We have 2 school aged children and some savings. Health care/insurance is the main thing that's going to kill us. We cannot find jobs despite looking for them as a full-time job. We will have to uproot out kids who both have learning needs and are high anxiety. They will leave their nurturing private school for public school. We will need to move to a smaller home thay we don't pay a mortgage on, so they will leave their friends. Basically we see how this is their childhood trauma and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. I've applied for 50 roles with one interview. DH has applied for 30 roles with 4 interviews.

My college senior DS applied to 250 jobs in 6 months to get one job. This was on top of a full course load. If you’re job hunting full time, can you be more strategic about time? It’s a numbers game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been at my large, Fortune 500 company for almost 20 years, in 4-5 different roles moving up over time.

My role is highly correlated to this industry, meaning it would be hard for me to translate what I do to another industry or a smaller company.

I almost irrationally can’t stop thinking about what if I was laid off in the next few years. I plan it to work about another eight years or so.

I felt like this before, pre-Covid and went to a career coach, which was helpful. Also Covid changes helped me get a new role within the company. But I’m starting to have the same fears again.

Is anyone else constantly thinking about what would happen if they got laid off? Basically the career options look terrible for me in my 50s and I can’t figure out where to even start looking outside the company even if I wanted to.

This was me and the worst happened. DH and I both lost our jobs (late 40s). We have 2 school aged children and some savings. Health care/insurance is the main thing that's going to kill us. We cannot find jobs despite looking for them as a full-time job. We will have to uproot out kids who both have learning needs and are high anxiety. They will leave their nurturing private school for public school. We will need to move to a smaller home thay we don't pay a mortgage on, so they will leave their friends. Basically we see how this is their childhood trauma and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. I've applied for 50 roles with one interview. DH has applied for 30 roles with 4 interviews.

Was this recent? Are you still unemployed?

DH lost his job last fall. I lost mine in March. Yes both still unemployed.

DP here. This happened to my neighbor. He’s been unemployed for over a year and a half now. He is the sole earner in his household.

What people don't realize is that one has to network each and every job. The "take any job" mentality means taking something that won't be able to support a family without significant life altering changes - i.e., low salary. It also means taking something that doesn't use the skills you spent 20-30years acquiring or perhaps is so far away from your area of expertise that you're basically like a new hire out of college, except you will be judged negatively for being old.

But in your 50, you're transitioning to being an empty nester and don't need to support a family. SAHMs can also go back to work now that kids are out of the house.

I do think there will be a move to less pay in your 50s and 60s while people downshift into retirement. Where you can't expect to keep getting salary increases yearly. A lot of salaries will peak at 40 and stay constant until retirement, otherwise many will risk pricing themselves out of jobs.

I and a lot of moms I know had kids around 40 and some after 40. This is far from being close to an empty nest. Come on.

Okay but if you have kids at 40, you have 15-18 years working. The 30s are typically when you have the highest jumps in salaries and those women would have the best leg up on retirement savings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been at my large, Fortune 500 company for almost 20 years, in 4-5 different roles moving up over time.

My role is highly correlated to this industry, meaning it would be hard for me to translate what I do to another industry or a smaller company.

I almost irrationally can’t stop thinking about what if I was laid off in the next few years. I plan it to work about another eight years or so.

I felt like this before, pre-Covid and went to a career coach, which was helpful. Also Covid changes helped me get a new role within the company. But I’m starting to have the same fears again.

Is anyone else constantly thinking about what would happen if they got laid off? Basically the career options look terrible for me in my 50s and I can’t figure out where to even start looking outside the company even if I wanted to.

This was me and the worst happened. DH and I both lost our jobs (late 40s). We have 2 school aged children and some savings. Health care/insurance is the main thing that's going to kill us. We cannot find jobs despite looking for them as a full-time job. We will have to uproot out kids who both have learning needs and are high anxiety. They will leave their nurturing private school for public school. We will need to move to a smaller home thay we don't pay a mortgage on, so they will leave their friends. Basically we see how this is their childhood trauma and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. I've applied for 50 roles with one interview. DH has applied for 30 roles with 4 interviews.

Was this recent? Are you still unemployed?

DH lost his job last fall. I lost mine in March. Yes both still unemployed.

DP here. This happened to my neighbor. He’s been unemployed for over a year and a half now. He is the sole earner in his household.

What people don't realize is that one has to network each and every job. The "take any job" mentality means taking something that won't be able to support a family without significant life altering changes - i.e., low salary. It also means taking something that doesn't use the skills you spent 20-30years acquiring or perhaps is so far away from your area of expertise that you're basically like a new hire out of college, except you will be judged negatively for being old.

But in your 50, you're transitioning to being an empty nester and don't need to support a family. SAHMs can also go back to work now that kids are out of the house.

I do think there will be a move to less pay in your 50s and 60s while people downshift into retirement. Where you can't expect to keep getting salary increases yearly. A lot of salaries will peak at 40 and stay constant until retirement, otherwise many will risk pricing themselves out of jobs.

Good points, but I don’t think this is always true for men in managerial/executive roles. I see a lot of older men appointing other older men to high-level, high-paying roles in their 50s and 60s. Seems like women are expected to take a step or two back as they age while the men keep helping each other move up the ranks or at least move laterally into good roles. Some of these men I’ve seen can most definitely retire but alas, they don’t. They’re ready for a new high paying adventure at 60, even with a healthy pension or 401k.

Don’t make this about men vs women. I see a lot of washed up older men at my job. They just can’t keep their skills sharp and are woefully out of date. Women have a lot more soft skills and have kept their relevancy more at my job. Even when women’s skills decline due to aging, they are excellent supervisors and can manage the talent underneath them better.

Our top management is definitely 50/50 men and women.

[Anonymous]

I'm a couple levels below and never made $100k. I was working for a large company at 50 and was nervous. I was not wrong; I got laid off and it took a while to find something new. Even then, it took some adjusting to go from $94k to $63k. Almost 10 years later, my income is not quite back to my old income but am somewhat less stressed.

My recommendation to the OP (and everyone) is to never stop looking for your next job.

[Anonymous]

Yes, OP here. I think the reality is I need to start looking. I don’t anticipate getting laid off in the next year or two, but it could definitely happen or I could get re-orged out in the next 8-10 years.

Our finances are in good shape and we don’t have things like credit card debt, and we have saved enough for the teen kids to go to in state schools or oos w merit. But we could and should save more, beyond what we are doing today so will do that.

It’s more like, it takes a lot of effort to replace what I have today in a job before I need to, but anyway, I will start actively interviewing, just to put my mind at ease.

[Anonymous]

I feel the same way. The sector I am in is very vulnerable to layoffs once the economy starts to take a downturn. Our clients are already not spending as much because of all the trepidation with tariffs and the uncertainty.

There really are no jobs that exist in the DC area for what I do. I work remotely for a company that is headquartered elsewhere. I have been doing the same job since the late 1990s.

Trying to stay hopeful I can transition into another field. The good news is my salary is already on the lower side, compared to typical DC salaries. I am not even at 6 figures.

I won’t even know where to start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been at my large, Fortune 500 company for almost 20 years, in 4-5 different roles moving up over time.

My role is highly correlated to this industry, meaning it would be hard for me to translate what I do to another industry or a smaller company.

I almost irrationally can’t stop thinking about what if I was laid off in the next few years. I plan it to work about another eight years or so.

I felt like this before, pre-Covid and went to a career coach, which was helpful. Also Covid changes helped me get a new role within the company. But I’m starting to have the same fears again.

Is anyone else constantly thinking about what would happen if they got laid off? Basically the career options look terrible for me in my 50s and I can’t figure out where to even start looking outside the company even if I wanted to.

This was me and the worst happened. DH and I both lost our jobs (late 40s). We have 2 school aged children and some savings. Health care/insurance is the main thing that's going to kill us. We cannot find jobs despite looking for them as a full-time job. We will have to uproot out kids who both have learning needs and are high anxiety. They will leave their nurturing private school for public school. We will need to move to a smaller home thay we don't pay a mortgage on, so they will leave their friends. Basically we see how this is their childhood trauma and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. I've applied for 50 roles with one interview. DH has applied for 30 roles with 4 interviews.

Was this recent? Are you still unemployed?

DH lost his job last fall. I lost mine in March. Yes both still unemployed.

DP here. This happened to my neighbor. He’s been unemployed for over a year and a half now. He is the sole earner in his household.

What people don't realize is that one has to network each and every job. The "take any job" mentality means taking something that won't be able to support a family without significant life altering changes - i.e., low salary. It also means taking something that doesn't use the skills you spent 20-30years acquiring or perhaps is so far away from your area of expertise that you're basically like a new hire out of college, except you will be judged negatively for being old.

But in your 50, you're transitioning to being an empty nester and don't need to support a family. SAHMs can also go back to work now that kids are out of the house.

I do think there will be a move to less pay in your 50s and 60s while people downshift into retirement. Where you can't expect to keep getting salary increases yearly. A lot of salaries will peak at 40 and stay constant until retirement, otherwise many will risk pricing themselves out of jobs.

I and a lot of moms I know had kids around 40 and some after 40. This is far from being close to an empty nest. Come on.

Okay but if you have kids at 40, you have 15-18 years working. The 30s are typically when you have the highest jumps in salaries and those women would have the best leg up on retirement savings.

Yep. We have a leg up in retirement savings. But we still have a mortgage and health insurance needs that go on for 20 years, so I don't get your point. We dont have a need to get a job in your eyes because we have more in the bank? That doesn't make any sense. Our kids still need to live somewhere, go to school, get Healthcare, etc...