Age differences at work - I feel left out (employee, secretaries, references)
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January of this year, I started a job as a Military Contractor working on base. It's an IT position doing exactly what I love to do. Now, I absolutely love my job because it's fun and pays well - and even advancement opportunities.
However, I've felt sort of left out. There are people who've been with this company longer than I've been alive! In fact, 3 of the people I work with are old enough to be my grandparents. The rest... old enough to be my actual parents.
I am the youngest person at this company... While the others I work with talk about retiring and planning for retiring, I'm happy to be looking at getting my first house.
Has anyone else found themselves in this predicament?
It's a great opportunity to get good advice regarding retirement savings, buying that first house and whatever else you haven't done before and they have.
I work at an "older" place. It's so old school. Sometimes it causes problems for me. I don't know what to think about the situation. It would be nice to be at a more progressive place rather than a company stuck in the 70s as far as corporate culture.
Examples are, everyone is Mr./Ms. There is a business formal dress code. Secretaries do TONS of personal stuff for their bosses, often times more than half their time is spent doing personal stuff for their bosses. If you have kids it's best not to mention them or talk about them. Very few of us have minor kids in the house. Lots of inappropriate sexual harrassment type comments. Today one boss told me he wants to spank me. Great. Smokers....lots and lots of these older folks are smokers. Drinking alcohol at lunch - normal.
Then there are the other issues. You will never have seniority for things like taking the best days off from work because all of the senior people will be off and they get preference. I see me always having to be the one who holds down the fort on days surrounding holidays. And of course our health insurance is terrible.
Sometimes I feel like it's just a blast from the past and sortof interesting, but other times I think, ugh. This isn't going to work.
January of this year, I started a job as a Military Contractor working on base. It's an IT position doing exactly what I love to do. Now, I absolutely love my job because it's fun and pays well - and even advancement opportunities.
However, I've felt sort of left out. There are people who've been with this company longer than I've been alive! In fact, 3 of the people I work with are old enough to be my grandparents. The rest... old enough to be my actual parents.
I am the youngest person at this company... While the others I work with talk about retiring and planning for retiring, I'm happy to be looking at getting my first house.
Has anyone else found themselves in this predicament?
View them as people. Personal interests such as sports, food, arts, likes and dislikes and so on know no age limit.
I work at an "older" place. It's so old school. Sometimes it causes problems for me. I don't know what to think about the situation. It would be nice to be at a more progressive place rather than a company stuck in the 70s as far as corporate culture.
Examples are, everyone is Mr./Ms. There is a business formal dress code. Secretaries do TONS of personal stuff for their bosses, often times more than half their time is spent doing personal stuff for their bosses. If you have kids it's best not to mention them or talk about them. Very few of us have minor kids in the house. Lots of inappropriate sexual harrassment type comments. Today one boss told me he wants to spank me. Great. Smokers....lots and lots of these older folks are smokers. Drinking alcohol at lunch - normal.
Then there are the other issues. You will never have seniority for things like taking the best days off from work because all of the senior people will be off and they get preference. I see me always having to be the one who holds down the fort on days surrounding holidays. And of course our health insurance is terrible.
Sometimes I feel like it's just a blast from the past and sortof interesting, but other times I think, ugh. This isn't going to work.
This has far less to do with age, and more about entrenchment and long-timers. I work with some who are in their 30s who have been where I am forever, and they think that way. What days are taken off, they get preferences, and even silly little things, such as what is served at the company Xmas party, is up to them. It is more about people hanging onto their jobs and keeping any new blood from coming in.
This has far less to do with age, and more about entrenchment and long-timers. I work with some who are in their 30s who have been where I am forever, and they think that way. What days are taken off, they get preferences, and even silly little things, such as what is served at the company Xmas party, is up to them. It is more about people hanging onto their jobs and keeping any new blood from coming in.
Maybe so, but how can you be a long time employee if you are only in your 30s? Most of the folks I work with here are in their 60s and 70s and have been here 40-50 years. I think the issues are generational.
Last edited by FarNorthDallas; 12-20-2007 at 06:56 AM..
View them as people. Personal interests such as sports, food, arts, likes and dislikes and so on know no age limit.
Well, certain things do have age limits. One guy I work with constantly blasts music from his childhood..... the 40's. The only thing we have in common is that he's a Dale fan. Other than that, I can't really help him deal with his problem of 7 rental homes (around the US) that have to be rented for less than the mortgage on them because of the market problems.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas
Maybe so, but how can you be a long time employee if you are only in your 30s? Most of the folks I work with here are in their 60s and 70s and have been here 40-50 years. I think the issues are generational.
I understand that. These people have grandchildren that are my age. The thing I hear the most around here, "Well, when I was your age...".
Weird problem these days - most of the time - if you are in your 30s and in electronics - you are the oldest person you are working with! Employers these days like to hire right out of college - cause they work stupid hours for cheap $$. Consider yourself lucky.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
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It is funny that people that old are working in IT. I say that because IT represents constant change and the older people get, the more resistant to change and new things they get. I know people over 60 that would not take a cell phone if you gave it to them. The problem is that, when such people get into management, it can retard a company really fast. While other companies are adopting new equipment and using new methods of efficiency, often older companies become uncompetitive because they tend to take an attitude of "well that is they way we have always done things" and they find themselves being left behind. KMart is a prime example of that. KMart was around well before Wal*Mart was ever a household word. Wal*Mart came along and was a very pro technology model of efficiency. KMart was largely stuck in the 1960s. You see what happend. Same thing is going on with the legacy airlines and legacy phone companies. So you should, in fact, view yourself as the FUTURE of the company because you are. In 10 years most of the geezers will be gone and you will move up.
I work around a lot of military contractors that are very much senior to me, but since all of us have served, the age difference is more of a sliver as opposed to a gap.
Either way, good luck and just bid your time. Whether you want it or not, eventually YOU'RE going to be the senior employee
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