Sorry but true.
I got an e mail from somebody in the Bay Area the other day.
The place where rents are sky high. Homelessness climbing at double digits and the commutes are as long as the Sunday drives of the past.
She said that nobody in Silicon Valley would hire anyone over 45.
We all know age discrimination but 45?
Most young folks don’t graduate in 4 years. In fact the percentage is fairly small.
So let’s say that you get a great career job at 25 and in twenty years you are obsolete.
Your career would start with you paying off student loans for 3 to 5 years probably.
I wouldn’t get on that ladder.
I had a lunch with a very talented PR person the other day.
His reputation was first class.
He said that what had set him back in the New Normal was that he spent two years applying for jobs.
His biggest mistake was wanting a job.
And if you are working the corporate world can be a challenge.
I read a LinkedIn article recently that said that 50% of people aren’t happy with their jobs.
Ouch.
You mean that all that press about best companies to work for, shuffleboard tables, free bikes on corporate campuses and free lunches aren’t making people happy?
Your job happiness is not based on where you work it is largely based on your boss and his management style.
Somebody shared a story over lunch the other day that their company ran into some financial hardship. Their CFO decided to cut the salaries of senior staff but increase their bonuses if the company hit higher milestones. I am sure that was motivating. Row the boat faster. Scenes of galley slaves and beating drums came to my mind.
I got an e mail the other day from a new connection. I asked him how things were at his new company. Things at my company are the same at all companies…they can be better. Aptly put.
And as we all know the corporate environment is not very secure these days. I got an e mail the other day. He said how was your weekend Hank? I am touching base because I was let go and need to find work. I got another note from somebody who read a blog or watched one of my videos on career life. He called it involuntarily being separated from payroll or rationalized.
So what’s the answer? I loved climbing the corporate ladder.
I remember being in a class of trainees at one of the agencies I worked at when I was a puppy. How many can see yourself working at this agency for the next 10 years the instructor ask? All hands shot up in the air.
When I speak on campus I ask young people if they see themselves working at their first company for ten years. No hands go up.
I think that young people have learned that ladders aren’t safe and can cause accidents. They know you have to hedge your bets these days. Or maybe they don’t like watches.