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A friend shared an article from the New York Times Magazine with me today called “The Case for Working with Your Hands”, by Matthew B. Crawford. Turns out, this is an engaging excerpt from his soon-to-be-released book titled, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work. In this excerpt, Mr. Crawford explores the societal push toward becoming a “knowledge” economy whereby the young are pressured into pursuing educations and career paths that may, in reality, deny their natural tendencies and talents only to become corporate cubical dwellers. This is a very thought provoking article and one that should make anyone open to career exploration or anyone trying to “find themselves” jump up and rub their eyes.
Posts Tagged ‘Working Older’
Consider your Peripheral Vision…Again
By Nancy J. Peterson May 27th, 2009National Employ Older Workers Week
By Gene Burnard September 30th, 2008
Last week was the annual National Employ Older Workers Week. Numerous newspaper and blog articles were written on the topic. Many local organizations conducted older worker career fairs.
I wonder just how effective these are in the current economy. But maybe, just maybe, this economy can be an opportunity for older workers.
A story I’ve told often. It was 1991 and my son Bryant graduated from Tufts University with an engineering degree. In the slow economy of that time, there were few jobs for new engineers. And he had none.
One day, shortly thereafter, he called me while standing in line at a job fair in Boston. His complaint to me was “I’ll never get a job here - most of the other job seekers in line were my (that’s me) age”. Needless to say it took me awhile to get my laughter under control. (more…)
14 Good Reasons to Continue to Work
By Gene Burnard September 15th, 2008It is on many peoples minds as they start moving towards retirement age, “Should I continue work?” I’m often asked by reporters doing articles on older workers “Do you see workers deferring retirement due to the current economic conditions?” My answer is consistently yes. Not only are workers continuing to work but many are returning to work after retirement. Besides economic there are many other reasons to continue or return to working.
Carleen Mackay has offered her version of 14 good reasons to return to work. First a little about Carleen. She has many credentials to her name. A few I’ll mention here. Carleen ’s web site is www.AgelessInAmerica.com She also publishes a bi -monthly newsletter “For the Mature Workforce”. She and Brad Taft are the co-publishers of the book, Boom or Bust, and their new book, Return of The Boomers, is now at the printers. Carleen is a sought after speaker and writer on issues of the mature work force from both the job seeker and employer views. The real good news is that Carleen has volunteered to be a guest writer on this blog. I’m excited to welcome Carleen to the team.
Following is the list of reasons to continue work:
1. You are programmed to live longer, much longer, than your parents lived.
In 1935 when Social Security benefits began, American men lived until 59 and women until 61. As you can see, few collected! Today’s numbers are 79 and 81. A difference of 20 years is a very long time to sit on your duff.
2. You are likely to suffer from nasty withdrawal if you abruptly leave the world of work.
A sudden change from full-time, demanding work to no work of any sort just may be your very worst option.