We’re victims of the Baby Boomer career crunch
As thousands of over-55s face being wiped from the workforce, Louise Chunn shares the pain of mid-life redundancy
There has been much teeth-gnashing and nerve-twitching over what our Covid-crushed economy will look like once the furlough scheme ceases in October. Quite rightly, much of the conversation has focused on the plight of Generation Z, but we Baby Boomers, often decried for having gobbled up all the property and cash, are now facing redundancy in record numbers. One in four workers over 55 (some 2.5million) have been placed on furlough and an estimated 377,000 of them could lose their jobs. It could be worse for our cohort than for anyone.
As recruitment drives and initiatives focus on the young, many of those in the older age bracket will not find work again, while those who are retained will be forced to accept a deeper cut of their income than any other age group. I’ve been made redundant more than once, and even when it is semi-expected, the actual axe blow is painful (among other things, it brought about my first experience of therapy, as I struggled to find my self-belief again).
As we hear repeatedly, the Covid pandemic is unprecedented. Following previous economic downturns, new jobs were found, or if not, people created alternative methods of working. I am one of those who built a far more satisfying working life after I had devoted decades to editing magazines. With a small team, I started welldoing.org, which matches people with the right therapists for their needs. But this redundancy landscape looks much starker, without the decent pay-offs of old, and far greater uncertainty about which sectors might thrive or die.
Dreams of starting a little café or B&B will certainly have to go on hold for the moment. Rather, get out your contacts book, humbly put yourself forward for anything half likely, offer to intern even, and keep your nerve as best you can. After all, we are the grown-ups.
‘I’ve been turned down for supermarket jobs’
Peter Rothwell, 64, from Lincolnshire
If it was hard to find a new job in your 60s at the start of the year, after coronavirus, it feels almost impossible. In 2019, I was made redundant from my role as an oil and gas project manager as my company was going through financial difficulties. I wasn’t too worried at first; I’d had a successful career and knew there was a marketplace for my skill set.
But then I started applying for 10 to 12 positions per week – few of which would even get a reply. I had a couple of interviews, which went well, but not enough to get me the job.
Since the pandemic, there are hardly any positions being advertised in my sector. I’ve even applied for jobs at supermarkets, and have been rejected for those. I believe some online recruiters are discriminating by age through the use of AI. Friends have experimented, submitting identical applications for roles, but with different ages. One “in his 30s” would be offered interviews; the other in his 50s would be rejected.
Recruiters often have no idea about the jobs they’re advertising. One offered me a project engineering role at a food company. When I explained that my field is in oil and gas, she said: “But there’s oil in the food, and gas in the fizzy drinks.” I was so exasperated I put the phone down.
One silver lining is I’ve found a great online community on the “Over 50s Job Seekers” page on Facebook and on the website Rest Less. I help others with applications and advice and we all try to keep each other’s spirits up. Every morning I am at my desk, trying again.
‘I’m just waiting for a tap on the shoulder’
James Barnes*, 57, from Buckinghamshire
My career as a software engineer was already in a perilous position, because my specialism is becoming less and less relevant. Then Covid hit, throwing everything into further doubt. My London office shut in mid-march, and I’ve been working from home since.
Without having to take the train every morning and evening, I had an extra two hours to myself each day – which was certainly welcome – but then work dried up as client after client cut down on their software expenditure. A few of my colleagues have already been laid off, and those of us who remain are worried we’ll get the dreaded tap on the shoulder any day now.
I’m hardly going to starve, but I don’t feel old enough to retire and sit at home twiddling my thumbs. The declining relevance of my skills means I would probably have to retrain, and why would an employer take a chance on me instead of hiring a young gun in their 20s or 30s who has grown up surrounded by that kind of technology? I could occupy myself with the occasional freelance contract, but judging from friends and former colleagues who have already gone through the process, I could easily be looking at months at a time with no work. *Name has been changed
‘I never imagined starting over in my 60s’
Jill Clarke, 61, from Staffordshire
I had a feeling this might happen when I was put on furlough in April. At 61, and part-time to boot, I knew I would be more vulnerable than most when it came to redundancies.
The finance company I work for assured us we would all return to the office in waves, with everyone sure to be back by the end of September. But when the dates for our “staggered return” were laid out I realised it was only me and two others who wouldn’t be back in until the autumn. Sure enough, I was made redundant in July.
I have always worked – for many years out of necessity, when my husband died and I was left to bring up our three sons. Thankfully, he left a pension, but I still had to work part time and enjoyed doing so. These days it brings in that bit extra I need to enjoy life’s little luxuries, and give me a financial cushion. When you’re with a partner it’s different, you have some back up. I’m on my own.
But it is so much more than a financial imperative: those three days a week provided me with a structure and a sense of purpose. When your children aren’t about any more (mine are grown up with children of their own) you get so much fulfilment and confidence from work.
I’m not on the breadline, and it will be a little time before things start to look desperate, but it’s galling to have to search for a job at my age. My vision for my 60s never involved starting over.
‘If it wasn’t for Covid, I’d never have become an entrepreneur’
Sandra Ackland, 50, from East Sussex
I was furloughed in March from the promotional merchandise industry, where I’ve worked for 30 years. At first I worried about losing my job, but then it was the thought of returning to work that gave me a sinking feeling.
My 50th birthday in May was a wake-up call: I still had a salary coming in, but also the free time to get the business I’d always wondered about running off the ground. I thought once I was called back from furlough, I might work on it part time.
Over the years, I had seen how popular vacuum water bottles had become. I realised there was a gap in the market for personalisation, so I used my savings to buy 1,000 plain bottles and a printing machine that I installed at home. I registered the Brilliant Branding Company and was taking orders before I had even launched.
In June, things got slightly more complicated when I was made redundant. My partner is a builder, but I’ve always been the breadwinner and my daughter (who lives with us) is unemployed herself, so it was a scary moment.
To pay the bills in the short term I picked up a bit of work as a housekeeper, cleaning holiday rentals on changeover day, and a couple of weekly shifts in a bar. It feels odd going back to that sort of work when you’re 50 – but it’s given me both the security and the motivation to make my business a serious project. welldoing.org