Over 50 And Out of Work? Reboot Your Thinking.

Baby boomers.  If you haven’t rebooted your thinking about your employment, please do.  The last thing you want is to be over 50 and out of work.  It ain’t pretty.

You don’t see the unemployment numbers climbing yet, but I feel clairvoyant these days about the subject.  I feel the unemployment percentages and labor force rates are skewed.

Many workers that had full time jobs, now have (low paying, low skill) part time jobs in the interim, and to make ends meet, most of them have more than one.  I call them “the multiples”.  Folks, I know you see it!  This trend has been rising for over a decade.  You’ve seen it in your own backyard.  Then there are the “under employed”.  These folks might have a full time job, but also a part time job to help offset the financial difficulties of not finding work within a specific standard of pay wages.

Here in the mid-south, a large number of older workers are losing their jobs.  I think a slow moving economy coupled with bad business decisions may be the match that lights a new fire.  Times are tough, and boomers are having a harder time finding and landing full time, viable replacement jobs.

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The unsettling thing is this:  We’re too young to retire, and too old to get a new gig.  I know I’m being overly dramatic, but to me, this feels real.

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This is what it looks like

First you feel a whisper of a changing economy.  The economy is there and growing… but slowly.  Business growth has been explosive but the economy can’t keep up.  Stick with me, it does make sense.

A business that’s doing well and is excited by potential of financial growth.  So they grow (build new stores).  And grow some more (build more in other states) and buy and merge other business (usually a competitor), then buy some more.  They are building a monopoly.  It’s like a shopping spree on steroids.

 

After a while, that nagging little feeling hits your brain.  You’ve trained your psyche to feel the shift in your business and employment future.  Uh. Oh.

Then sales start to get stagnant and go soft because sales are thinly spread throughout the competition and location of the business.  All of a sudden you might not hit budget or it’s a struggle.  There’s a ton of expense that goes into building and expanding a business.  Those expenses eventually (and quickly) can hit the profit and loss statement.  Or worse, those who get bonuses, might not get as much or maybe even nothing.  WHOA!!  Now wait a minute.

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Time to trim the fat

Those hit first are the front-line hourly worker.

• Cut payroll.  (But then you don’t have enough hours to meet demands of work requirements)
• Those that do get hours, work harder/faster.  (Because you still have to hit those metrics and sales projections).
• Cut full time hours from 40 hours per week to 32 hours.  (A full day of pay per week… GONE)
• Part timers are split for the left over hours.  They might get at one 4-hour shift per week.  (Then those people need to another part time job (or two) just to pay the bills).
• Oh oh.  Still not making profit.  Cut payroll again.  Rinse, repeat.
• Customer service scores drop.  (Why?  Worker’s are concentrating on metrics, sales, and projects and not the customer).
• Customer stomp out and go elsewhere.  With no customers, sales drop…
• RINSE AND REPEAT

Once you cut down to bare bones – then it’s time to take that next step…

• Consolidate districts and regions.
• Restructure and cut management (or “rebalance” management).
• Restructure pay scales down.

If you’re lucky, like me.  You get laid off because the new pay structure is so low you’re better off on unemployment and taking your chances finding a new gig.  Then reality hits…

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Other’s have been restructured and laid off!  You.  Are.  Screwed.

At first you’re hopeful!  You have a new suit, a shiny new outlook on life, your skills have been spit-shined, your attitude is positive and the hopes of a new job is exhilarating.  Then after months (or years) of looking, you realize you’re going no where fast!  You’re unemployment has run out and the bills are stacking up.  You do the one thing you said you’d never do?  You start settling and applying for jobs you’d never dream of doing.  Clank!  Did I just hear your hard-drive crash?

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Reboot your thinking!

If you’re unemployed, you’ve had a lot of time to think.  But, are you thinking in the right direction?

Let’s get cliché for a moment.  Let’s talk about rebooting your computer.  Every stinking time you have a computer issue, what’s the first thing you’re told to do?  REBOOT!  Why?  Because it fixes 90% of the problems.  It doesn’t matter if the issue is networking, graphics, slow performance, or glitchy programs.  Now.  Take a look at what I just said and correlate it to your situation.

• Networking with professionals?  Dust off that LinkedIn profile.  Reach out to new networks.  Call an old colleague.  Reboot.
• How you present yourself through dress, mannerism, or even your resume.  Get that resume up to date.  Shine up your skills.  Dress in this century!  Reboot.
• Slow performance?  Get additional training and brush the dust off your brain.  Reboot.
• Glitchy programming?  Change your mindset, change your thinking.  Reboot.

I think rebooting is brilliant!

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Now that you’re unemployed, you have time to reboot and think about how your future should look.

• Do you want the same type of job?
• Do you want to shift or change careers?
• Are you in the mindset to go back to school?
• Tired of the rat race and want less responsibilities?
• Don’t want to do that long commute anymore?
• Do you want different challenges?
• Is work-life balance a new thought?
• Are you ready to start that new business enterprise?

Who are you?

Use this time to find out “who you are” and what you really want.  For so long we’ve been “what was expected of us”.  Now is the time to explore your unexpected side.  Have fun rediscovering yourself and perhaps ready your personal climate for change.  Change is scary, but it doesn’t have to be.

 

After a lot of soul searching, I’ve decided to pursue my dream of becoming an online entrepreneur.  But… I had no idea how or where to start.  I was initially going to do taxes for people.  I found out it’s quite pricey if you want to do it right and be legitimate.

1. There was the cost of education ($400 – $1,500 depending on course level)
2. Getting a PTIN Number (personal tax identification number = $60+/year)
3. Becoming an Enrolled Agent (approximately $105)
4. Researching State certification requirements
5. Being bonded
6. Plus the cost of business cards, flyers, and advertising

Well, then.  Never mind.

This is when Wealthy Affiliate fell into my lap.  While I was researching and considering dumping away money I didn’t have on tax school, a savvy online marketer had caught my attention – then the research was on!  He was associated with something called “Wealthy Affiliate”.  What the heck was that??  I researched the heck out of Wealthy Affiliate then signed up for my free 7 day trial offer.  I haven’t looked back, and I wish I’d found them sooner.

Read my review here

Wealthy Affiliate saved my sanity and saved my life.  I finally had a purpose!  I was learning, making connections within the community, finding my niche in the world, building a website, and here I am.  Happier than I’ve ever been.

What do you need to get started?

Easy.  This is what I had to do:

• Choose an interest I was passionate about
  • If you don’t have an idea, Wealthy Affiliate has training and guidance for that.  I chose my pup Luther for my first newbie site (pawpawskitchen.com); and helping baby boomers start their own online business (this site).
• Build my website
  • Wealthy Affiliate showed me step-by-step how to do this.  And there was an entire HUGE community to help along with way.
• Attract visitors
  • They teach you all about content, keywords, social media and how to track your progress and increase the traffic and exposure to your website.
• Start earning revenue
  • There are a multitude of ways to earn income through your website.  Could be selling your on products or services, affiliate marketing (selling other people’s products), you can advertise with Google AdSense, pay per click advertising and many other ways as well.  I chose affiliate marketing because I didn’t want the hassle of selling, packaging and shipping my own product.

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Look.  I know change is scary.  So… just don’t do it alone – that’s all I’m saying.  I’ll be there and so will thousands of others.  We’re all there to make your transition as painless as possible.  I promise.  How do I know this?  Because I’m one of the biggest skeptical, scardy-cats I know. 🙂

I’m here to support you

Lookie here, baby boomer.  Have I got you thinking about rebooting your thinking?  Good.

All I’m saying about your employment is this:

If you’re currently employed, I’m SO happy for you!  But plan now for when that might change (because it might).  REBOOT!  Don’t get caught off guard.  It’s tough out there and you’re not going to be the only 50+er out there looking for work.

If you ARE unemployed, REBOOT!  You can build a business here with Wealthy Affiliate, keep looking for work and still get your unemployment benefits.  Win.  Win.

Best case scenario?  You’ll find that perfect job! AND…have the beginnings of a great business on your hands.

Like I said… the last thing you want is to be over 50 and out of work.  The time to plan for your future is right now.

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Get started today.  Before it’s too late.

Or, if you like – please check out my review here for more information.

Unemployment is not the end… it’s just the beginning of something else.  I hope to see you inside.

Until next time…