Exactly how I feel, being a late Boomer (1960) who's just been downsized from my fourth job, none of them very much alike, with stints of freelancing and teaching in between. I've never had a career, only income streams, and it's been glorious. Adaptability, being an early tech adopter, and welcoming change are great survival skills in the job market. So is thinking "I'm not my employment."
I wasn't thinking about it all wrong. I had a two-hour interview with him six months ago - I can't control what he writes. We talked about A LOT of stuff. At Geezer, we think reinventing yourself can be a huge opportunity. Yes, I may come off grumpy (menopause), but I've been swarmed by people desperate for work for months (and about half are going through menopause). Ageism is real. Pivoting or finding new sources of revenue is great -- but it doesn't stop ageism. Talking about it does. Just like it helps fight sexism, racism, and every other kind of ism. When people talk about those things it can sound whiny, grumpy, whatever...but people who think that often times have never been on the oppressive side of an -ism. Steven focused a little more on our skills being "obsolete" - which I disagree with, and he didn't really talk about ageism that is rampant in the industry. If we don't solve agesim soon, Millennials and Gen Zers will be hit hard with it. We don't want that. Oh, BTW, I just reread my comment and thought - "dammit woman, you sound grumpy!" - but I LOVED your view on it (aside from the grumpy bit) and wish the NYT article had talked more about our resilience as Gen Xers. :)
For the record, I didn’t think you sounded grumpy at all. Honestly, you were the least grumpish. I totally agree with you about ageism. I can’t prove it with data, but come on... it’s so obvious. It’s everywhere, and it doesn’t get nearly enough attention. Hmmm...I think you just gave me an idea for my next substack post! Thank you for reading and your kind words. I hope I didn't offend you.
Love this piece and thank you for articulating an itchiness I felt with the article that I half resonated with and was half like, “not me.” These days I am thinking about my career as a mosaic or a portfolio and I in fact want that variety. I also want affordable health insurance for my family but, hey, as a Gen X latchkey kid, I know that ‘having it all’ is a myth…ha ha, sob.
Ageism is definitely something that needs discussion, I agree, and in fact as you say about Millennials and Gen Zers, I have many conversations on this with my kids who often face 'ageism' in the reverse way, being disregarded as 'snowflakes' or similar. I wish we could all just accept that we all bring something to the party- even if some of us (menopausal too!) might not enjoy the party as much as we used to :))
Ageism is an excuse. And who would know better than someone much older than you. Keep yourself young, exercise, eat right, groom and no one cares. NO ONE CARES! Lie if you have to. That’s the real compromise. Pretending you’re someone you’re not. But what if you are — ageless!!!
I'm already a multi-hyphenate, attempting to dip my arthritic fingers into varied pies.
It's working and it's not. The basic premise that all we need to do is iterate on our alreadyselves, while gratefully hopeful, also misses a point and isn't really a solution.
It begs ever more thought process. Processing. Ever more processing.
All the while things get worse. It isn't cleaning up the mud we're slipping on.
I'd rather not be an Eeyore, but all the things you've mentioned from college kids to withering pets all take the processing power and bank account I've got (alongside my "work.")
Besides making sure I exercise enough to stave off the body blues. Which is also time.
No, I think that while this is hopeful, it is pat.
As you intimate, there's no "going back" but neither is there going forward in this situation.
The heaviness is on us and if we don't figure out what to do about stopping these crony capitalist corrupto zen techno feudalists (or whatever we're calling this movement at the top) taking away any and all social welfare, cultural etiquette and societal cohesion, no amount of personal variation will stave off anything.
This is a moment that needs a bigger pivot than the individual professional one.
Black GenXers have always had to pivot, figure it out, and as we age refer to the tactics of (for some) our grandparents and/or parent who grew up during Jim Crow/Civil Rights Movement. Pivoting, code switching, letting bosses and co-workers try to figure out our “real” age (aka black don’t crack), and prioritizing joy and rest.
I love this so much. That NYT article unsettled me in a way I couldn’t figure out until now: it said nothing about our resourcefulness. As you say, “We were the latch key kids, built for figuring shit out as we go. For duct-taping together a life, making shit work, and finding meaning somewhere in the mess.” YES! That is far more accurate. Well done, and thank you for writing 👏🏻👏🏻
I love love love this reframing. I also felt like I'd been gut-punched after reading this article — and then proceeded to hand it to my parents, whom I happened to be having brunch with, as if to validate my current career status. ("See M&D??? See??? I'm not alone!") I wish I weren't so tired from the hustle—and a single-income household living in NYC—where $20 is the new $5. But after reading this, I feel more hopeful and at least got a good laugh. I'm working on being more proud of being a multi-talented Multi-Hyphenate rather than feeling like I'm throwing darts at the wall, so thanks for the reminder!
I liked the NYT article because someone finally explained why after years of working in marketing I could not find a job at my “ancient” age of 55. The jobs just aren’t there. I like your perspective about resilience too, but as someone mentioned in the comments, we need to discuss the issue of ageism instead of looking at this issue as an individual problem because it is very much structural. As for me, I gave up looking for work in marketing, and got a second career teaching English in the south of Spain. I miss my old career, though and I sometimes miss living in the US too
I think teaching ESL in southern Spain sounds pretty great in many ways. As for post-marketing, there is a chance you could find work in fundraising writing. Going to follow your info on Spain!
I’ve pivoted all my life, but the thing about pivoting these days is that every thing I pivot to pays less. Instead of earning more money, I earn less. Every year I get poorer, lol. Yeah I’m proud of my ability to pivot and adapt and learn something new to get a new gig. And I always do my new thing really well. But for less money. While rent and food prices go up. I’m sure I’m not the only one. I’m kind of hoping Gen X’ers will be at the front of the revolution that has to come. (For once, unlike how we were in high school, totally apathetic.)
Agree with this totally. That’s why multiple income streams aren’t just a nice-to-have anymore. They’re survival. Freelance work, side gigs, passive income, teaching, consulting—whatever it takes to patch together a stable life.
It is unfortunate that so many of these gigs do not offer health insurance, even when collected together. The need to follow exhaustive hustle culture only to still have a tenuous life sucks.
Worse still if you have a chronic condition that requires devices or treatment that the health insurance you pay hundreds of dollars each month to have won’t cover, or will cover 5% of, yet would enable you the ability to have the level of “life” that allows you to work more.
That is to say I agree with you about needing to be creative about how you pivot your skills to still be marketable enough to get a paycheck, but that it is not necessarily an accessible strategy to all. Potentially it could be, if the labor is organized as a collective.
Yup. I have no health insurance, and no security. I self-treat for pretty much everything, and have to rely on the generosity of others sometimes. I ignore whatever doesn’t seem urgent. This is how they make sure single older women become witches, lol.
That’s all fine and good when you’re not also a full time elder-caregiver, as I was for four years. I had to give up at least two of my side-gigs during the pandemic. They never came back. I spend a lot of time going through the basement for things to sell, taking picture of things to sell… A lot of side gigs rely on demand, not just you saying hey, here I am. I just want to reassure anyone out there who is trying to do a million little things and not making money at all of them that it’s not as easy as it sounds, and it’s not their fault. Don’t give up, but don’t blame yourselves.
To borrow a Lenny Kravitz song title ‘It ain’t over, ‘til it’s over’.
One of the benefits of getting older is that you care less about what other people think of you. Aged fifty I decided to put my writing out there, start a blog, self publish, attend writer’s summits and see where the journey took me.
Two years later, I’m still having a blast. No financial remuneration but I’m learning new skills and getting better at existing ones all the time.
All the very best to anyone else starting a new creative adventure no matter what generation you are. Thanks for sharing this article.
I'm keeping it short and hopefully sweet. Gen x is my vibe. We're completely able to transition into whatever comes next. Resilient. Adaptable. The only generation that grew up alongside the development of the internet. We lived before it and learned how to utilise it. We'll be just fine. Everyone...don't you...forget about me!!! 🖕
I'm a recruiter, resume writer, a coach, a writer, a swim teacher - something I did at 19 and returned to at almost 50 and absolutely adore - pretty sure AI cannot teach a kid to swim and I can keep doing it til I cannot climb in a pool. Also a part time caterer, painter and office organiser. I've started saying yes to so much more. I thought about retraining as a counsellor (cost $40k, plus 2 years of my life/brain I cannot get back) but it definitely made me wanna take a nap, which I did then decided against the study, for now. We are THE most adaptable and creative generation.
Love this. I’m 50. Spent the best part of my life going quietly insane in brand and marketing (long story). Just done an MA, working on musical and music tech projects and nursing an incubator startup into life. None of it’s making loads of money (yet!) but i’m just kinda doing my own thing. And thats just fine!
Even though us Gen X’ers are quite adaptable, we’ve still got to shrug off the Boomer hangover job definition for life thing.
Yes yes yes yes YES I am waving all my Smells Like Teen Spirit pom poms over here. I co-run a newsletter and podcast and we were so annoyed by the omissions in this story, we spent Sunday ranting about it on our podcast. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
If we could ride the waves from vinyl to 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, iPods, and streaming…
If we leveled up from Monopoly to Atari, to Nintendo, Wii, Xbox, and Switch…
If we stored our memories on notepads, then 5¼” floppies, 3½” disks, LAN drives, and now the cloud…
We can handle this.
We’ve always evolved. And we’re just getting started.
Totally?
Totally.
[As asked by Judd Nelson and answered by Emilio Estevez.] 😉
My favourite comment on this thread!
Thanks!
THIS. We have lived through a wild amount of cultural and technological evolution and have done a pretty damned good job of adapting.
Exactly how I feel, being a late Boomer (1960) who's just been downsized from my fourth job, none of them very much alike, with stints of freelancing and teaching in between. I've never had a career, only income streams, and it's been glorious. Adaptability, being an early tech adopter, and welcoming change are great survival skills in the job market. So is thinking "I'm not my employment."
Slow clap. And the most GenX answer ever!
This comment! Yes
I wasn't thinking about it all wrong. I had a two-hour interview with him six months ago - I can't control what he writes. We talked about A LOT of stuff. At Geezer, we think reinventing yourself can be a huge opportunity. Yes, I may come off grumpy (menopause), but I've been swarmed by people desperate for work for months (and about half are going through menopause). Ageism is real. Pivoting or finding new sources of revenue is great -- but it doesn't stop ageism. Talking about it does. Just like it helps fight sexism, racism, and every other kind of ism. When people talk about those things it can sound whiny, grumpy, whatever...but people who think that often times have never been on the oppressive side of an -ism. Steven focused a little more on our skills being "obsolete" - which I disagree with, and he didn't really talk about ageism that is rampant in the industry. If we don't solve agesim soon, Millennials and Gen Zers will be hit hard with it. We don't want that. Oh, BTW, I just reread my comment and thought - "dammit woman, you sound grumpy!" - but I LOVED your view on it (aside from the grumpy bit) and wish the NYT article had talked more about our resilience as Gen Xers. :)
Hey Karen,
For the record, I didn’t think you sounded grumpy at all. Honestly, you were the least grumpish. I totally agree with you about ageism. I can’t prove it with data, but come on... it’s so obvious. It’s everywhere, and it doesn’t get nearly enough attention. Hmmm...I think you just gave me an idea for my next substack post! Thank you for reading and your kind words. I hope I didn't offend you.
God no. You didn't offend me. I might want to interview you for our future podcast.
Would love that! I have a podcast as well called Write About Now. Maybe we can do a swap?
Oh get a room already! Or a round booth—- lol!
Love this piece and thank you for articulating an itchiness I felt with the article that I half resonated with and was half like, “not me.” These days I am thinking about my career as a mosaic or a portfolio and I in fact want that variety. I also want affordable health insurance for my family but, hey, as a Gen X latchkey kid, I know that ‘having it all’ is a myth…ha ha, sob.
Ageism is definitely something that needs discussion, I agree, and in fact as you say about Millennials and Gen Zers, I have many conversations on this with my kids who often face 'ageism' in the reverse way, being disregarded as 'snowflakes' or similar. I wish we could all just accept that we all bring something to the party- even if some of us (menopausal too!) might not enjoy the party as much as we used to :))
Ageism is an excuse. And who would know better than someone much older than you. Keep yourself young, exercise, eat right, groom and no one cares. NO ONE CARES! Lie if you have to. That’s the real compromise. Pretending you’re someone you’re not. But what if you are — ageless!!!
Geezer is a brilliant concept, Karen, and I will listen to the podcast and conduct. Would love to learn more.
"Yeah, but..."
I'm already a multi-hyphenate, attempting to dip my arthritic fingers into varied pies.
It's working and it's not. The basic premise that all we need to do is iterate on our alreadyselves, while gratefully hopeful, also misses a point and isn't really a solution.
It begs ever more thought process. Processing. Ever more processing.
All the while things get worse. It isn't cleaning up the mud we're slipping on.
I'd rather not be an Eeyore, but all the things you've mentioned from college kids to withering pets all take the processing power and bank account I've got (alongside my "work.")
Besides making sure I exercise enough to stave off the body blues. Which is also time.
No, I think that while this is hopeful, it is pat.
As you intimate, there's no "going back" but neither is there going forward in this situation.
The heaviness is on us and if we don't figure out what to do about stopping these crony capitalist corrupto zen techno feudalists (or whatever we're calling this movement at the top) taking away any and all social welfare, cultural etiquette and societal cohesion, no amount of personal variation will stave off anything.
This is a moment that needs a bigger pivot than the individual professional one.
It needs a political reaction. Action.
Let's look for that.
Yes, this.
Black GenXers have always had to pivot, figure it out, and as we age refer to the tactics of (for some) our grandparents and/or parent who grew up during Jim Crow/Civil Rights Movement. Pivoting, code switching, letting bosses and co-workers try to figure out our “real” age (aka black don’t crack), and prioritizing joy and rest.
Absolutely!!! I approve this message-resourcefulness is in our DNA.
I love this so much. That NYT article unsettled me in a way I couldn’t figure out until now: it said nothing about our resourcefulness. As you say, “We were the latch key kids, built for figuring shit out as we go. For duct-taping together a life, making shit work, and finding meaning somewhere in the mess.” YES! That is far more accurate. Well done, and thank you for writing 👏🏻👏🏻
Loved that movie❤️.
Generation X, in my opinion, is the greatest generation! We can do anything 🙌🏼
I love love love this reframing. I also felt like I'd been gut-punched after reading this article — and then proceeded to hand it to my parents, whom I happened to be having brunch with, as if to validate my current career status. ("See M&D??? See??? I'm not alone!") I wish I weren't so tired from the hustle—and a single-income household living in NYC—where $20 is the new $5. But after reading this, I feel more hopeful and at least got a good laugh. I'm working on being more proud of being a multi-talented Multi-Hyphenate rather than feeling like I'm throwing darts at the wall, so thanks for the reminder!
Thanks for reading! I'm in LA and totally relate to the prices.
Try the Bay Area... ugh
It’s rough out there!
Also in NYC, and yeah on $20 bring the new $5.
I liked the NYT article because someone finally explained why after years of working in marketing I could not find a job at my “ancient” age of 55. The jobs just aren’t there. I like your perspective about resilience too, but as someone mentioned in the comments, we need to discuss the issue of ageism instead of looking at this issue as an individual problem because it is very much structural. As for me, I gave up looking for work in marketing, and got a second career teaching English in the south of Spain. I miss my old career, though and I sometimes miss living in the US too
I think teaching ESL in southern Spain sounds pretty great in many ways. As for post-marketing, there is a chance you could find work in fundraising writing. Going to follow your info on Spain!
I’ve pivoted all my life, but the thing about pivoting these days is that every thing I pivot to pays less. Instead of earning more money, I earn less. Every year I get poorer, lol. Yeah I’m proud of my ability to pivot and adapt and learn something new to get a new gig. And I always do my new thing really well. But for less money. While rent and food prices go up. I’m sure I’m not the only one. I’m kind of hoping Gen X’ers will be at the front of the revolution that has to come. (For once, unlike how we were in high school, totally apathetic.)
Agree with this totally. That’s why multiple income streams aren’t just a nice-to-have anymore. They’re survival. Freelance work, side gigs, passive income, teaching, consulting—whatever it takes to patch together a stable life.
It is unfortunate that so many of these gigs do not offer health insurance, even when collected together. The need to follow exhaustive hustle culture only to still have a tenuous life sucks.
Worse still if you have a chronic condition that requires devices or treatment that the health insurance you pay hundreds of dollars each month to have won’t cover, or will cover 5% of, yet would enable you the ability to have the level of “life” that allows you to work more.
That is to say I agree with you about needing to be creative about how you pivot your skills to still be marketable enough to get a paycheck, but that it is not necessarily an accessible strategy to all. Potentially it could be, if the labor is organized as a collective.
Yup. I have no health insurance, and no security. I self-treat for pretty much everything, and have to rely on the generosity of others sometimes. I ignore whatever doesn’t seem urgent. This is how they make sure single older women become witches, lol.
That’s all fine and good when you’re not also a full time elder-caregiver, as I was for four years. I had to give up at least two of my side-gigs during the pandemic. They never came back. I spend a lot of time going through the basement for things to sell, taking picture of things to sell… A lot of side gigs rely on demand, not just you saying hey, here I am. I just want to reassure anyone out there who is trying to do a million little things and not making money at all of them that it’s not as easy as it sounds, and it’s not their fault. Don’t give up, but don’t blame yourselves.
You had me at What the New York Times Got Wrong
To borrow a Lenny Kravitz song title ‘It ain’t over, ‘til it’s over’.
One of the benefits of getting older is that you care less about what other people think of you. Aged fifty I decided to put my writing out there, start a blog, self publish, attend writer’s summits and see where the journey took me.
Two years later, I’m still having a blast. No financial remuneration but I’m learning new skills and getting better at existing ones all the time.
All the very best to anyone else starting a new creative adventure no matter what generation you are. Thanks for sharing this article.
I'm keeping it short and hopefully sweet. Gen x is my vibe. We're completely able to transition into whatever comes next. Resilient. Adaptable. The only generation that grew up alongside the development of the internet. We lived before it and learned how to utilise it. We'll be just fine. Everyone...don't you...forget about me!!! 🖕
Love this!
I'm a recruiter, resume writer, a coach, a writer, a swim teacher - something I did at 19 and returned to at almost 50 and absolutely adore - pretty sure AI cannot teach a kid to swim and I can keep doing it til I cannot climb in a pool. Also a part time caterer, painter and office organiser. I've started saying yes to so much more. I thought about retraining as a counsellor (cost $40k, plus 2 years of my life/brain I cannot get back) but it definitely made me wanna take a nap, which I did then decided against the study, for now. We are THE most adaptable and creative generation.
Yes!!!!! This!!!!!
Love this. I’m 50. Spent the best part of my life going quietly insane in brand and marketing (long story). Just done an MA, working on musical and music tech projects and nursing an incubator startup into life. None of it’s making loads of money (yet!) but i’m just kinda doing my own thing. And thats just fine!
Even though us Gen X’ers are quite adaptable, we’ve still got to shrug off the Boomer hangover job definition for life thing.
Yes yes yes yes YES I am waving all my Smells Like Teen Spirit pom poms over here. I co-run a newsletter and podcast and we were so annoyed by the omissions in this story, we spent Sunday ranting about it on our podcast. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
https://www.genxy.io/p/genxy-the-podcast-episode-4-genxy
I gotta get back in time
Dead or alive - take me back to the 80s