Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When i retired at 60 i spent a year on vacation then thought about getting a job just to give me something to do and make a little extra money.I thought it was going to be easy, didnt turn out that way,over the next 2 years i put in applications in all the local big box stores,grocery stores,pharmacies.golf courses even rentacar companies end result? not a single call back. I've come to the conclusion that once past 60 you are no longer a relevant or wanted member of the work force unless you have some sought after special talent or you know some one who is in a position to hire you your working life is over and for many like me one loses a sense of relevance in life.
My DH had the same experience and we came to the same conclusion. If you are over 60 most places won't even give you an interview even if you are eminently qualified for the job. We've been discussing the issue of relevance because my parents say they often feel dismissed and irrelevant because they are old. We are doing what we can to prop them up and assure them that they are useful, loved, and appreciated, but it's hard. What's also concerning is we're next in line for all of this. Idk the answer, but I'm making hay while the sun shines.
Well, the "long strange trip" continues; last week I was hired by the in-house temp agency of the same parent company which forced me into retirement four months ago, and at another location about the same distance from my home. This reportedly could last through the annual fall/Holiday peak season.
I really do enjoy working with a very diverse and considerably-younger group of people, but I'm at an age where I doubt that the "fast pace" is doing much for my health. So I'm cultivating a few contacts within the state Job Service bureaucracy, and trying to find a seasonal or part-time situation with the right combination of schedule, challenge and, hopefully, respectable pay.
Not an easy fit, but you might say i have "all the time in the world".
And tomorrow night will be my last at the "gig" cited in my previous post; nothing negative has happened, the temp agency simply has a rule that you must go on a two-month hiatus after a certain number of days on the job.
Ironically, this particular assignment turned out to be the first in which, despite my age (65), I was able to meet production quotas without much difficulty.
So I have about 60 days to explore other options before considering returning to "the old standby". If I do sign on for another assignment, It's already been made clear that the pattern will be the same as the last one. About the only redeeming quality is that the next round will likely expire in December rather than March -- a pretty fair plus given the rough winter we're just getting over.
I've come to the conclusion that once past 60 you are no longer a relevant or wanted member of the work force unless you have some sought after special talent or you know some one who is in a position to hire you your working life is over and for many like me one loses a sense of relevance in life.
Lesson to younger folks: Don't base your identity on what you do for paid employment.
And tomorrow night will be my last at the "gig" cited in my previous post; nothing negative has happened, the temp agency simply has a rule that you must go on a two-month hiatus after a certain number of days on the job.
Ironically, this particular assignment turned out to be the first in which, despite my age (65), I was able to meet production quotas without much difficulty.
So I have about 60 days to explore other options before considering returning to "the old standby". If I do sign on for another assignment, It's already been made clear that the pattern will be the same as the last one. About the only redeeming quality is that the next round will likely expire in December rather than March -- a pretty fair plus given the rough winter we're just getting over.
So it sounds as if things have worked out as well as could be expected. You got to delay your Social Security a little and may even be able to hold out another 6 months or a year...Doesn't sound so bad to me.
And tomorrow night will be my last at the "gig" cited in my previous post; nothing negative has happened, the temp agency simply has a rule that you must go on a two-month hiatus after a certain number of days on the job.
Ironically, this particular assignment turned out to be the first in which, despite my age (65), I was able to meet production quotas without much difficulty.
So I have about 60 days to explore other options before considering returning to "the old standby". If I do sign on for another assignment, It's already been made clear that the pattern will be the same as the last one. About the only redeeming quality is that the next round will likely expire in December rather than March -- a pretty fair plus given the rough winter we're just getting over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mysticaltyger
So it sounds as if things have worked out as well as could be expected. You got to delay your Social Security a little and may even be able to hold out another 6 months or a year...Doesn't sound so bad to me.
It wasn't -- except for the driving in mountainous territory (in an ancient Mercury Mystique) in the dead of a colder-than-average winter.
Unfortunately, I had started converting several rooms of a large house I inherited to rental property, and the transients who work at a local power plant, and whom I counted upon as potential tenants, have been delayed while the company postponed its annual "outage" -- so the money situation, while far from desperate, is a little tight.
I'm looking into temping at a local factory where I worked some years ago, and might get a shot at a night/weekend job dispatching for a local towing firm -- since I have trucking in my background. Cultivating one of them -- particularly on a part-time basis to "stretch" the Unemployment benefits -- might be somewhat less stressful than sitting around for 60-90 days and then going immediately back to "high gear" in a warehouse.
I'm already missing some of the younger people I worked with, however. Being the "token geezer" in a young shop can be interesting; Eat your heart out, Abe (Vigoda)!
Wearing a tie is a issue for not working given the choice. I wore one for 30 years without harm. What next rejecting any job not allowing flip flops?
It's not the tie itself (I wear one for fraternity reunions and the like). It's the atmosphere -- the constant phony self-effacement and sycophancy that seems to go with any office job in a corporate environment -- the only thing I can liken it to is being back in a Junior High classroom.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
didnt turn out that way,over the next 2 years i put in applications in all the local big box stores,grocery stores,pharmacies.golf courses even rentacar companies end result? not a single call back. I've come to the conclusion that once past 60 you are no longer a relevant or wanted member of the work force unless you have some sought after special talent or you know some one who is in a position to hire you your working life is over and for many like me one loses a sense of relevance in life.
