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> 65 used to be retirement age (for men at least), it clearly needed raising years ago, but was hard to do politically in many countries. It is finally being ra
by cletus 7y ago
> 65 used to be retirement age (for men at least), it clearly needed raising years ago, but was hard to do politically in many countries. It is finally being raised. When pensions were first introduced they were meant to run 5 years, not 20.
Working beyond 65 is fine for some people but there are many cases where this isn't. Take any job requiring physical labour like construction. There is only so long you can do those kinds of jobs. Also the fact that you've been doing them for decades takes its toll, physically.
So what's the solution there? People still need stuff built. So you only work construction until you're 40-50 and then what? Change careers? To what exactly?
Even for jobs that aren't physically demanding, many people have jobs that if they lose them when they're over 50 they may never work again. This could be completely not their fault either. Their company could go under or get bought out. It could be economic downsizing.
The problem, on HN at least, is that there are young people in a high-demand high-paying profession who have never experienced a recession making sweeping statements like "just work until you're 70" as if everyone else is in the same boat as them.
As much as you might be a highly paid tech worker, come back here when you're say 55 and those same companies who were fawning over you as a new college grad won't give you the time of day. In tech we haven't really dealt with this yet but I guarantee you it's coming.
- snarf21 7y agoI think there is tons of ability for these people to teach young tradesmen the skills they learned over a lifetime.
- bumby 7y ago> Change careers? To what exactly? I don't like generalizing by "generations" but this is something where I see a divergence in younger and older coworkers. Older ones literally say, "I don't want to learn [insert relevant skill] because I'm too old." Younger coworkers seem to come better equipped with the mindset that they will have to continually unlearn and relearn to remain relevant. And to counter your point about a recession, many of them started their careers in a recession and I see it in their conservative approach to employment. I think this is more about a complacent mindset with people who may not have recognize that they have to adjust to continue to be valuable. I've known people who were downsized and squandered ample opportunity like free tuition to change careers. I've known others who've successfully parlayed a physically demanding job to one less physically demanding because they knew they couldn't do that forever.
- MisterBastahrd 7y agoWhat company, exactly, is going to want to invest time and money training a man in his late 60s to do a job that will afford him a reasonable lifestyle in a large metropolitan area?
- bumby 7y agoI think you are assuming there are no transferable skills and the person would have to trained from square 1. As an example of where this isn't the case, I know an older lineman who recently moved into a design slot. Sure, he needed some training but he also brought a wealth of other value, like design for maintainability