It will happen to you some day.
You spend years in school and night school taking classes and getting advanced degrees, years in an industry giving it everything. Then the whole industry has no use for you. Just because you’re approaching 60 years old.
This post resonated with me because I agree because layoffs are a virtue at this point.
Best to accept and plan ahead.
Somethings to consider:
Getting caught flat footed is the worst thing that can happen.
Run away from Du+she's and du+sh+ bags. My advise. Shove it to them.
I disagree, A man without a job, is a man with opportunity. Find out what your passion is and enjoy the work. Maybe for a lower paycheck, but happiness abounds.
I woke up one morning after a dream and decided to write a book. 4 months later, the first draft is done. 80K words. Will it sell? I don't know. Will it propel me into a new career? Maybe. Bottom line, if you don't go after what drives you (no pun intended) then yes...you will be that man. I never stop learning. I never stop exploring. I never stop pushing the boundaries of what I am capable of doing.
I totally agree, and isn't it interesting, the termination of older workers with experience, history, and knowledge base -- directly coincides with the dramatic increase in recalls.
I would agree this is much more seen in automotive especially lately. In the defense industry they tend to value experience and age especially where trustworthiness and integrity is concerned. Defense has it's share of woke-ness and DEI but now that the new administration has declared no joy with that they are relaxing that a bit. They only did it in the 1st place to fall in line, they really didn't feel that was a good policy direction and they just wanted to keep getting the contracts.
@OP This seems to be the case in the AUTOMOTIVE industry more so than any other industry. In many others, they actually value engineering experience without looking at people like an expense.
if you define your life based on your job... then sure you should feel insecure when you lost your job... perhaps you should define your life more than the 8 hours you spend at work then you might find more meaning than what your boss or someone tell your worth. only the insecure has to find validation based on what they do...just liked defining your manhood based on your di-k....10,000 years of evolution and still no better than an ape.
So reinvent yourself. Or should have found a niche where you will always be in demand. I am. There are not that many that can do circuit board layouts these days. Its a dying art being tought by mentors. So I will have work until I decide I no longer need it. I turn away outside work all the time.
"If you don’t retire voluntarily, it doesn’t matter even if you have the money.
You feel useless."
That must su-k. I'm sorry you feel that way and adopt this irrational attitude.
The retirement age is 67 now.
If you can't get another engineering job even at 55, that means 12 years of being a greeter at Walmart.
60? That was then, now it is 50, maybe even less. Going to get worse.
Darwin is everywhere. If you were a good dinosaur, maybe people will at least read about you in a book, but most likely you are dead and forgotten.
This universal truth seems to be scaring the young pups.
But a man’s only value is what he can do.
You’ll learn… when you gain some life experience.
"You spend years in school and night school taking classes and getting advanced degrees, years in an industry giving it everything."
This is true.
I worked almost 35 years in the automotive industry at several companies, including 3 OEMs and a handful of suppliers.
I was 22 when I started. But now the whole automotive industry doesn’t want anything to do with me.
If no one will buy what you can do, your place in the social order, the world, is diminished.
IYKYK
Ford laid off many engineers (their slaves) before they could get their 401K vested. This is what they are doing now. Some milliner in power who does not give a Sh==it about anyone ! Why do you bowl to his knees???
@OP "You spend years in school and night school taking classes and getting advanced degrees, years in an industry giving it everything."
Why did you do it? To have a better paid and comfier job. Instead of having to stop working at 50s because of the pains and destroyed health, you can keep working longer into your 60s. Instead of getting a lower paycheck and be concerned about money for years, you can be saving some money for later on. So if you took that extra money and blowed it away on vacations and living the good life, thinking the gravy train would last forever, that's on you.
I am prepared to work until I drop, but I have saved like I am having an early retirement. I have no debt, I have passive income, and I already got the benefits of my sacrifices. Whatever more I can squeeze from my studies and efforts, is just gravy.
Hey, not all Ford workers deserve any insults > 60 age. Some of them is the last relic of why Ford hold up till this day. They are retiring , so is Ford retiring into bankruptcy with rotten Apple and Intel guys. | They were ousted from their companies before and came to Ford to destroy it.
@a2+1jwvvqv0h
Do not worry. If you retired involuntarily not because of your job performance then it is fine. You deserve the same respect whether it is voluntary or involuntary retirement. The bottom line is enjoy your retirement! This happened to my friend and he is enjoying his retirement every day.
If you don’t retire voluntarily, it doesn’t matter even if you have the money.
You feel useless.
A woman is cherished for what she is: a wife, a daughter, a mother.
But a man’s only value is what he can do.
If no one will buy what you can do, your place is the social order, the world, is diminished.
Women treat you with disrespect.
To quote a line from the movie Cadillac Man, a man without a job is like a man without a díck.
It will happen to you some day.