In your sixties and retired? Do you think you could find a job in your old career if necessary? (engage, housing)

[Perryinva]

Exactly. How long is a rope? There is no simple answer, without specific details. I would definitely agree middle and upper management once displaced, have a rougher time. Its cut throat in those positions, where quite honestly, I never understood typically how the high pay was justified vs those doing the actual work that they love to give credit to, but not the pay. We have a VP that loves to give status updates, and invariably will say how its everyone in the room that is the reason for our success, or lowered expense, whatever....but they are the ones getting the big bonuses and advancements because why? They let us do the job as we tell them it needs to get done? Or decide how much of a budget each group had? That is the only part of my job that drives me crazy. I mean, most all people in engineering jobs LOVE Dilbert because it is SOOO true.

And don't get me wrong. I'm looking very much with anticipation for my retirement! I just can't see leaving as soon as I am able with "just enough" vs staying at a job I like for a few more years to have "much more than enough", and then working at whatever makes sense without worry of the future. Thats all I'm saying. I can't see me living an eternal vacation, or a simple relaxed life because thats all I can afford.

[selhars]

I guess I asked that out of ignorance (which I admit) -- because I can't imagine someone being stupid enough, okay strike that, if that judgment is too harsh for you -- crazy or naive enough -- to turn down severance pay, or to COUNT ON being hiredjust like that in this economy. All you have to do is read or watch the news to know it's rough and tough out there. That there are people from ALL walks of life who've been out of work in their field -- SOME for YEARS.

Of course, f one doesn't believe that, then I guess a person would get quite a shock. But to turn down severance? Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. If he's been at the company say 20 years (and the OP never says how long his brother was at the company, just that it was a long time) -- and a manager -- what would that amount be -- AT LEAST three months.

This brother -- at 60 years old -- hasn't learned that making decisions in anger isn't wise -- AND that many people who SAY they'll help you out, don't come through. I suppose we all have our "things" that we're naive about. Me included.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by txfriend

In no way would I qualify for my old position. I retired from a huge corporation in 1991 as a mainframe computer systems supervisor. The results would be akin to a gorilla in a china shop. Technology has far surpassed my current knowledge of the field.

I worked as an applications programmer for a bank in the 80's. When they downsized to contact people, I didn't have enought experience to get in anywhere else. People who should have had by supervisors job were taking the one I would get. I worked with another company for about a year when they let go of all the junior people. I'd have loved to continue, but even then they were changing how they did things.

Sometimes I wish I HAD persued my first love, history, and gone into teaching it. They still hire history teachers.

Tech jobs should be entered into with caution. Know that the lastest and greatest now will be yesterday's stuff in a year, and if you ever get behind you might never get back in.

What I *want* is something close to Cobol for a pc I could play with at home. There used to be a version but its probably antique by now.

[Weichert]

Yes, its hard to believe that someone would actually turn down money.

But I do know someone who turned down a severance package. His company was having a tough time and offered it to quite a few of their senior employees. He was offered several months pay, health insurance until age 65 for both him and his wife plus 2-3 years added to his age/service so he'd qualify for his pension.

He had been with the company for more than 20 years, felt safe in his job, turned the offer down, three months later the deal was off the table and he was fired (along with a lot of other people), got 2 weeks pay. He couldn't find a lob anywhere, eventually lost his house.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by nightbird47

I worked as an applications programmer for a bank in the 80's. ...

Sometimes I wish I HAD pursued my first love, history, and gone into teaching it. They still hire history teachers.
...
What I *want* is something close to Cobol for a pc I could play with at home. There used to be a version but its probably antique by now.

there is still time for 'History'. a recent History grad told me the class they MOST enjoyed was the "History of Technology- How it changed society and commerce". You can teach THAT! (don't go there)

It really is quite fascinating to characterize the 'disruptive technologies' than made true societal paradigm shifts. Who would have thought that internet commerce would have hosed tried and true commercial real estate investment protocol? (who needs brick and mortar? Not my tenants!)

PLEASE get busy on the PC COBOL!!! There is no way we can stick with Windows!!! it has always been a thorn for me, and win10 (forced updates) will KILL those of us still stuck on modems (rural dwellers).

only in USA (and WA State at that (Microsoft territory)) 16 miles to a 1M population metro and I only have pay per-byte-dial-up! (no satellite / towers allowed.)

I will definitely seek linux if I don't see your 'new' cobol operating system for PC's

[elliotgb]

There have been one or two occasions in the past 30 years where I was laid off and desperate for work. I applied for junior positions and anything that had at least one or two skills required out of my skill set.

What I generally received as a response was "you are over qualified and you'd probably be bored with this position." Well, hell I would rather be bored and fed than unemployed and hungry, but never got a job below my qualification level.

[Tonyafd]

Originally Posted by Escort Rider

Although your post was directed not to me but to Mathjak107, your conclusion is inaccurate. Doing the arithmetic, and verifying the arithmetic by looking at Mathjak's statistics on City-Data, gives us just under 11 posts per day for the nine year period. Now that is a lot of posting and it certainly constitutes a major hobby, but not enough to interfere with one's professional work life.

I would characterize your post as a gratuitous personal attack.

This is not a personal attack. I don't believe any part of what he said. I'm simply exposing something that seems too good to be true.

Competitors calling a few times a week. Next they will be begging for him to come back.

[Tonyafd]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

there is still time for 'History'. a recent History grad told me the class they MOST enjoyed was the "History of Technology- How it changed society and commerce". You can teach THAT! (don't go there)

It really is quite fascinating to characterize the 'disruptive technologies' than made true societal paradigm shifts. Who would have thought that internet commerce would have hosed tried and true commercial real estate investment protocol? (who needs brick and mortar? Not my tenants!)

PLEASE get busy on the PC COBOL!!! There is no way we can stick with Windows!!! it has always been a thorn for me, and win10 (forced updates) will KILL those of us still stuck on modems (rural dwellers).

only in USA (and WA State at that (Microsoft territory)) 16 miles to a 1M population metro and I only have pay per-byte-dial-up! (no satellite / towers allowed.)

I will definitely seek linux if I don't see your 'new' cobol operating system for PC's

Last time I looked Fujitsu and Microfocus were making compilers for COBOL PC applications. COBOL is not a suitable language for writing an operating system. It's designed for business applications.

Go with LINUX. It's cool, it's stable, it's a PC clone of UNIX.

[germaine2626]

Originally Posted by Weichert

Yes, its hard to believe that someone would actually turn down money.

But I do know someone who turned down a severance package. His company was having a tough time and offered it to quite a few of their senior employees. He was offered several months pay, health insurance until age 65 for both him and his wife plus 2-3 years added to his age/service so he'd qualify for his pension.

He had been with the company for more than 20 years, felt safe in his job, turned the offer down, three months later the deal was off the table and he was fired (along with a lot of other people), got 2 weeks pay. He couldn't find a lob anywhere, eventually lost his house.

I guess the key thing to remember is that no ones job is safe.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Chip Morton

My brother, now retired, lost his executive position in 2013, as a Customer Service Director at age 60. He had been with the same employer for 24 years and was not familiar with the complexity and difficulty of finding a job in the 21st Century.

So... if that would have happened to you in your career field at age 60, do you think you could find another full time job in your old career field at a similar salary to your last job? Do you think my brothers experience not being able to find a job after being laid off at age sixty is common or unusual?

Nope! Not likely. My career field was politics and public policy, not as a politician but behind the scenes as a lobbyist for my former state an d a political and legislative analyst. Being successful in that field, as both my wife and I were, requires two things of paramount importance. You must have name recognition and you must have access. By the time each of us had been retired (or is that "retarded?") about six months, if not fewer, we'd lost those. It's the "out of sight, out of mind" syndrome writ large in the political arena. It takes years to cultivate them and health issues would have derailed us again anyway.