Baby Boomers — Up Against It
I sometimes on my gig spend a lot of time and reams of paper printing a proposal draft that goes thousands of pages and takes several hours with a few paper jams thrown in.
Other times I reformat a 4,000-line Excel document over two days or open hundreds of Word and Adobe files over several hours to mark whether they have comments from reviewers. And then there is the responsibility of riding herd on the muckety-mucks to ensure they either make meetings or deadlines.
Because of my background as an editor and writer, I want to hate with a passion these administrative tasks associated with my position as a proposal coordinator. But I can’t, once I consider that I have a gig. And a halfway decent paying one at that, when many don’t.
I found some stuff on line today that makes me think, “There but for the grace of God go I.” These are stories of guys about my age who were in high-flying jobs but were either downsized or have lost their homes.
Baby boomers, especially those like me who are from the boom’s tail end, are up against it. That’s why I stay in the DMV, where I can quickly make a move elsewhere in the nation’s capital region if my current firm decides to show me the door. I call it my personal form of — to use a favorite Corporate America term — Risk Management.
I should be scared in this economy, but I’m not. I was shown the door twice during the 1990s boom. And then again in 2007, two years before Great Depression II. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Hence my penchant for managing risk.
Still, I feel for these folks who never had the ax fall on them.
Here’s a guy who was in business for himself and lost his home to foreclosure.
And below is a report about folks who were in high paying jobs who now are taking are known as “survival” gigs.
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We, the employed, are SO blessed.
True, but some days it’s difficult to feel that way.
Comment by A — March 13, 2009 @ 6:49 pm
My hubby is not a “tail end baby boomer” but he’s felt the ax more than a few times. Because of the executive positions he’s had, he was also hit hard during the “Dot Com Bomb” and when from six figures to three figures. He called those survival jobs he took as a “freelance” - bottom feeding.
So like you, he doesn’t get scared in a bad economy because he said “if you have a talent, then there will always be money to make.”
I don’t need to tell you this, but you’re fortunate to have dude by your side.
Comment by aly — March 16, 2009 @ 5:38 pm