121 Days To Go
Yes, four more months to go: September, October, November, December, and this is it. I will be "transitioned off", "involuntarily retired", or "unemployed". I do not believe in traditional retirement. I am a baby boomer and I am also a third-age rebel. I can imagine myself working in some capacity for as long as I can. A job gives me a sense of purpose and meaning. I also look forward to productive aging. Adding value to people's lives and making contributions to society through knowledge, innovation, and collaboration is important to me.
However, finding a job can be challenging. Compared to younger counterparts, older workers tend to remain unemployed longer (1). Ageism, selection bias, and barriers in finding employment are among the reasons. In a meta-analysis study, Wanberg and colleagues suggest that age is negatively related to reemployment status, the speed of reemployment, and the number of job offers (1). Based on data from the United States, for the age group 25 to 34, the average unemployment duration was 23 weeks in 2017 whereas it was 37 weeks for the age group of 55 to 64 (2).
I know the odds that I face. Research posits that unemployed older adults encounter more difficulties in gaining employment than younger job seekers; adults between 18 and 49 years old are 40% more likely to find a job than those aged 50 or over (3). Long-term unemployment is detrimental to health and well-being. Unemployment is highly stressful and comparable to traumatic events such as the loss of a loved one, the death of a spouse, or divorce (2).
The good news is that there are ways to beat the odds. I will leverage effective strategies to help me land on a role that is fulfilling and suitable for me. I will share my transition journey through this blog and provide an update on my job search adventure every week.
If you have any tips or tricks, please feel free to leave me comments or message me.
References
Wanberg, C., Kanfer, R., Hamann, D., & Zhang, Z. (2016). Age and Reemployment Success After Job Loss: An Integrative Model and Meta-Analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 142(4), 400–426. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000019
Clark, K. A. (2020). Unemployed at midlife: Coping strategies that safeguard well-being. Applied Research in Quality of Life. doi:10.1007/s11482-020-09850-1
Vansteenkiste, S., Deschacht, N., & Sels, L. (2015). Why are unemployed aged fifty and over less likely to find a job?: A decomposition analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 90(90), 55–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.07.004
