I have recently been running into a number of people over 50 years old who are having great difficulty in finding a job. These are people who have been productive and successful in their fields for the previous 30 working years.
I admittedly have great sympathy for them. Particularly for some of the engineers and others who have extensive graduate training.
Which leads me to suggest that before one turns 40 there are some important questions one needs to ask oneself.
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Is my field of work expanding or contracting? If it is the latter will I be one of the people who is employed in the coming decades. An example of a contracting field is journalism.
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The second question is: are my skills so arcane or highly specific that I will be too expensive in the future and readily replaced by a younger less expensive person?
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Lastly, will I move up in the management to the point where my skills will not be generalized, will not be transferable to other industries and will not be sufficiently valuable in my own, if I lose in a political battle?
I see no one and no businesses that are helping people answer these questions and prepare to develop plans to cope with these problems in a rapidly changing business environment.