Posted on 06/01/2024 10:29:23 AM PDT by Cronos
This is old news. Those who are surprised by this are seriously naive.
Federal Govt jobs pay better than private sector (didn’t used to) with great benefits and you really can’t be fired. They live very, very well, believe me. All on your dime.
I told my kids, as I would tell anyone graduating high school or college. Have a plan to work for yourself by the time you reach 40. Because after that, they will look for any reason to get rid of you.
Shows the naivete and out of touch with reality attitude of the author.
I started at 26, best decision ever.
Pensions, etc were never realistic for companies or government to cover in the first place - life expectancy has gone up, market returns are unpredictable, and the market dynamic moves way faster than before, meaning companies need to be more nimble. As such, employees expecting loyalty are kidding themselves - it would be economic suicide for most companies. On the flip side, employers shouldn’t expect loyalty either. The pay bumps I’ve received for new jobs each time the last 3 times I left over 9 years have averaged 40% bump in total comp. The pay bump I got 12 months ago for my new job was 3x what I made in total 10 years.
There’s other factors...
For one, the large publicly-held companies used to be the best place to work for benefits including a nice pension when you retired. No more. Plus they are the most likely to do stupid stuff when some beancounter convinces management to “reduce headcount” or “rank and yank”.
The best choice is a privately-held company that has strong leadership, a history of resisting buyout offers, and makes something that isn’t readily offshored.
At one of my corporate jobs, they added new tasks. Someone hired a lawyer. A few months later they dissolved all our titles and job descriptions and gave us new ones, with added tasks. They also fired that person for insubordination. Needless to say, we all slowed down.
More like 50-55 and depends on the job/company, but I think the biggest issue for a lot is more its far harder for white men to move up than it used to be. Probably 3-4x as hard. If you aren’t in the top 10% in your line of work, forget about regular promotions as a straight white male.
I thought to myself, “Well, I’m going to work here forever and I’ll just figure it out later and retire at 65, maybe before that!”
Shows the naivete and out of touch with reality attitude of the author.
Shows that he was 22 at the time and yes naive. As was I, as were many people.
As long as you can take your 401K with you, no reason to stay loyal because companies are definitely not loyal to you. They care about the bottom line. They took away all the benefits that made companies special including pensions. So screw them, it’s your career. Make the right decision for yourself and family.
Companies will fire you if you are a high achieving white male. The HR dept does not like that.
“I’d realized that since my former company wasn’t going to take care of me, I had to do for myself what I could to work towards security and retirement in my future.”
Uh, yeah, something most of us have done. I’ve never thought of my company ever taking care of me. Good grief.
Governments, on the other hands, have stayed with guaranteed payout pensions and providing medical insurance for retirees. And most government agencies at all levels are paying the price, through our tax dollars.
A few years ago at a local municipal meeting, the city Finance Manager of the town I live in answered a question about why more potholes are not being fixed by saying that so much of the city's budget goes to pension and H&W costs that the budget is being cut everywhere else. Including fixing potholes.
Will governments in this country ever run out of money funded by federal debt? So far, so good.
> Companies will fire you at the whim of an executive. <
That’s it right there. Morale is important in the military. It’s also important in a company.
In the old days most executives rose up from the ranks. They had loyalty to the company, and loyalty to the workers. Now wiz-kids executives show up from out of nowhere, and turn the whole place upside down. No thought at all is given to employee morale.
Firings will continue until morale improves.
He is younger then I am, started working when he was five years older, and STILL was so damn stupid that he thought he was going to work at one company his entire life? I am sorry but in the NINTIES if you thought that your IQ was so low you need to be watered lightly and placed on a sunny windowsill.
In the sixties I can see having that mind set. In the nineties, like hell you did.
Life is a risk from beginning to end. There are not and never were any guarantees to retirement. Blaming companies for lack of sustainable pension plans is silly. At least most companies were honest about the funding of those plans and were honest in reporting when those plans were no longer an option for new employees. I’m still waiting for that honesty from govt about social security.
You are correct that each individual should take responsibility early on in their career to make sure they can achieve the retirement they desire, be that through 401ks, real estate investments, savings, or otherwise. Anyone doing so can retire a millionaire, but even that’s no guarantee as the whole world can change tomorrow.
Same thing happens in government service. Those who kiss butt get all the promotions, while folks who actually do their work hoping that will speak for them, never do. I know, I was one of those who retired at a pay grade that should have been much higher, and I know many, many others in that same boat. Not bragging, just speaking facts.
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