Jobless baby boomers feel out of touch with today's market

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | 07/04/2003 | Adam Geller

[demlosers]

NEW YORK (AP)- The last time Ginny Westermayer was looking for a job, the job seemed to find her.

She was 26 then, and a friend tipped her to another position and told her whom to call. It was 21 years ago, and she hadn't looked for a job since.

[A. Pole]

I have a baby boomer relative...who is out of a job. S/he's out of work because s/he is being incredibly LAZY, and has been all of his/her life.

What do you think about such theory that joblessness and economical downturns are cause by epidemics of laziness and the greed of workers? This could explain the Great Depression and would demonstrate that there is nothing wrong with free market/free trade - it is lazy people who are at fault.

[A. Pole]

My grandma used to say " the world doesn't owe you a living." She survived the depression as a single mom with three kids, so she would know. These "boomers" aren't dealing with anything folks haven't had to deal with before.

Good point. My grandfather survived a German camp and my mother survived the loss of her parents and sister during the WWII. I think such experiences would be a great lessons for free traders - they develop a character and survival skills.

[Dave S]

go do something that people want to pay for

Easier said then done. No want wants what you have practiced for decades. That is why there are no jobs in the field. What are you going to start over as? I always thought brain surgery looked lucrative, but my experience is in bean counting.

You may not have to do something new. Lets say you were an production planner at your firm. More than likely there are still planning needs at firms. They just cant afford to hire a full time person to handle those needs, especially with all the benefits added in. Could you go into business for yourself and offer the same services to a number of clients. I've known talented Marketing Managers and Ad Agency Creative people who have become focus group moderators (like Frank Luntz) and have more than quadruppled their annual income. These days, regardless of who you work for you have to adopt the attitude that you are self employed.

What did you do in your previous job? Were you a manager? Whats to keep you from becoming a manager in a different area... probably not a staff function... but your skills are transferrable. What about your communications skills. If they are good, what about careers in corporate communications, sales, or customer service? Could you teach your current profession to others... either at community colleges or consulting for corporations?

These days I think you need to think in terms of what are you good at and what you like to do and then figure out a way that you can utilize those skills. There are plenty of opportunities out there for people in their 40's and 50's. You may have to think about work differently to discover one that works for you. Good luck.

[bourbon]

LONG-AWAITED BABY BOOMER DIE-OFF TO BEGIN SOON, EXPERTS SAY
www.theonion.com, Jan. 20, '99

WASHINGTON, DC - After decades of waiting, the much-anticipated mass Baby Boomer die-off should finally commence within the next five to ten years, Census Bureau officials said Monday.

"I am pleased to announce that it won't be much longer now," Census Bureau deputy director Arthur Clausewitz said at a press conference. "According to our statistics, by 2009, we should see the Baby Boomers start to die off in large numbers. Heart attacks, strokes, cancer, kidney failure - you name it, the Boomers are going to be dropping from it."

Clausewitz said the Great Boomer Die-Off should hit full stride in approximately 2015, when the oldest members of the Baby Boom generation - born during the last days of World War II - turn 70.

"Before long, tens of millions of members of this irritating generation will achieve what such Boomer icons as Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Timothy Leary and John Kennedy already have: death. Before long, we will live in a glorious new world in which no one will ever again have to endure tales of Joan Baez's performance at Woodstock."

Despite his enthusiasm, Clausewitz cautioned that the Great Boomer Die-Off will not be without its downside.

"Our nation must steel itself for one vast, final orgy of Boomer self-obsession as we are hit with a bewildering onslaught of magazine pictorials, hardcover coffee-table books and multi-part, Motown-soundtracked television specials looking back on the glory days of the 1960s," Clausewitz said. "But once this great, final spasm of nostalgia passes, the ravages of age will take its toll on boomer self-indulgence, and the curtain will at long last fall on what is regarded by many as the most odious generation America has ever produced."

Clausewitz also noted that the cost of caring for the elderly and infirm of the nation's largest demographic group will be enormous.

"The selfishness that has been a hallmark of the Boomers will continue right up to the very end, as they force millions of younger Americans to devote an inordinate amount of time and resources to their care, bankrupting the Social Security system in the process," Clausewitz said. "In their old age, the Boomers will actually manage to take as much from the next generation as they did the previous one, which fought WWII so that their Boomer children could have Philco TVs and Davy Crockett air rifles."

The Great Boomer Die-Off will have its greatest impact, experts say, in the economic sector. The funeral industry is expected to enjoy a $700 million surge in profits, a result of the inevitable onslaught of lavish, Big Chill-themed memorial services. Many industries, however, will likely suffer from the die-off, including the manufacturers of sport-utility vehicles, home jacuzzis and hair-replacement systems. The financial sector will also feel the hit, as it is forced to fill some 400,000 high-paying stockbroker and corporate-banking jobs, held for decades by ex-hippies.

"It's not exactly clear how, but for the past 40 years, this generation has managed to keep the spotlight on itself," Brown University history professor A. Thomas Raymond said. "The era-defining flower children of the '60s, hedonistic disco-goers of the '70s, BMW-driving yuppies of the '80s and graying private-investor homeowner parents of the '90s all have one thing in common: They're all Boomers."

"It takes a staggering amount of effort to keep oneself the focus of an entire society for one decade, much less four, but the Boomers somehow pulled it off," Raymond continued. "Thankfully, though, their reign will soon come to an end. It's just too bad so few of them died before they got old."

[Henrietta]

"Not to indict unfairly you baby boomers who're hard working, but lots of your generation are freaking LAME."

No kidding. I have no sympathy for the boomers. They had the opportunity to go to college when college was really cheap (or in some cases free). They bought their 'starter homes' when real estate was cheap. Then some time later, they all bought resort property when resort property was cheap. They took advantage of the largest stock market boom in history. They had all the opportunities, and now that they are out of work, we're supposed to feel sorry for them?

A boomer relative of mine got laid off from his high-paying but low-skill job at a manufacturing plant. He is now studying to be an HVAC technician. The government is paying for his schooling. (I, on the other hand, paid for my own schooling.) He says if a position came available back at the plant, he'd take it. Some people never learn.

[skinkinthegrass]

Try putting resume in PDF, looks very good and differentiates you.

Thanks..Most of mine have been on rag, two as e-mails, as requested. :/

[skinkinthegrass]

www.theonion.com, Jan. 20, '99

OKkkkkk, Alway read this first... :)

[warmath]

Don't fret, sheeple think like that and don't realize they're typing.

[doosee]

"It takes a staggering amount of effort to keep oneself the focus of an entire society for one decade, much less four, but the Boomers somehow pulled it off," Raymond continued. "Thankfully, though, their reign will soon come to an end. It's just too bad so few of them died before they got old."

This guy teaches college kids with an attitude like that. Brown University is the place to go get a job - they must be willing to employ any moron that comes along.....

[doosee]

I missed the reference to the Onion - so the joke is on me for taking that seriously......

[Recovering_Democrat]

What do you think about such theory that joblessness and economical downturns are cause by epidemics of laziness and the greed of workers? This could explain the Great Depression and would demonstrate that there is nothing wrong with free market/free trade - it is lazy people who are at fault.

I don't know if I've ever given that much thought to that specific proposal, at least put in those terms. I do believe the well-meaning "Greatest Generation" of WW2 went a bit overboard in indulging their kids--the "Baby Boomers" and now that generation, raised on being taken care of in splendid fashion--never facing REAL adversity--is starting to retire and may be in for a rude awakening when their progeny won't give them all they demand.

Now, that being said, many many baby boomers DID plan for the future and will be able to retire comfortably...the MINDSET of the group is what I'm talking about here.

[Mamzelle]

LOL! Thanks for a good laugh in this otherwise distressing thread.

[ckilmer]

Jobless baby boomers feel out of touch with today's market

---

There is no market. For people at their age and background/experience there is especially no market.
////////////////////
its incredibly dangerous to be in middle management after age 45. You either have to go up to upper management or figure out how to make a living on your own.

[JoeSchem]

There is no market. For people at their age and background/experience there is especially no market.

Sometimes I think we'll have to move to a deserted island and start our own economy among ourselves. Certainly no one wants us around here.

[M. Thatcher]

BOO-FREAKING-HOO

[Dec31,1999]

Before long, we will live in a glorious new world in which no one will ever again have to endure tales of Joan Baez's performance at Woodstock."

Side splitting!

[Dec31,1999]

What do you think about such theory that joblessness and economical downturns are cause by epidemics of laziness and the greed of workers? This could explain the Great Depression and would demonstrate that there is nothing wrong with free market/free trade - it is lazy people who are at fault.

In today's markets, where blue collar workers must compete with Chinese slave laborers, and white collar workers must compete with third world workers who will work for peanuts, as in India via telecommunications, the job market is understably in the pitts.

There will be no real recovery in the job market in the US. Or in any western industrialized country. Gentlemen, place your bets.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

Get the word out about the "Million American March" that someone posted here: (we need to add "outsourcing" to their "Denouncing" list)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/940436/posts
http://www.millionamericanmarch.com/

Why is our government ignoring the American People on this issue?
Labor Day 2003 marks the kick off to a year of fund raising events, ramping up to the final event to be held in
Washington D.C Labor Day, September 6, of 2004.

Demanding
America’s Borders Be Protected
America’s Immigration Laws Be Enforced
Return to Traditional Levels of Immigration Into America

Denouncing
Amnesty
Guest Worker Programs
Continuation of H1B Programs
Daisy Chain Family Unity Programs
Diversity Visa Lottery

[Monty22]

The job market is kinda weird now. There are no middle jobs at all. It's like either 100k stuff, or $8/hr stuff.

The illegals have flooded the low end jobs around here, Dallas, and I know that's true for most everywhere now.

So basically if you can't find a really good job, you can't find anything at all. The bad walmart/warehousing/fast food/delivery markets are all competely flooded. The markets for mid range jobs is screwed now as well.

Basically, the situation is awful, since everyone, even employed people, try for those real high end jobs.. If the Walmart that opens with 300 positions is getting 3000 resumes, the 100k per year job will be getting 30,000.

It's outrageously bad out there now.