I have been working in banking for nearly three decades with the goal of early retirement. I'm still a few years away from it and lately, I've started stressing constantly about possible layoffs. That was not something I used to worry about but the older I get, my chances of finding a replacement job continue to shrink. For every positive story, I hear of people my age finding a good job I hear five of those who are either still looking after months (years) or who have had to settle in one way or another (usually a huge cut in pay.) I'm not sure if I know how to deal with all of that.
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I am in my 60s hope they keep me another year in half to make it to 65 for Medicare. I know I will not find another full time job at my age. If they let me go it means I will be on Social security and part time work earlier than planned but thats okay too. Just hope they give me a package if it happens.
@lkj I feel for ya, and while I too am in my 50’s, I’ve only been laid off once and was rehired for a new role here within a week of my notice period ending. That was 6 years ago when I was in my 40’s. And you make a fair point about the diversity culture, as I am a middle-aged white male. I’m concerned about what’s on the horizon, but good grief. If I adopted your defeatist viewpoint, I’d probably be scared sh!tless. I won’t judge you because I’ve not walked that mile in your shoes, but I’m choosing to be optimistic about the future. The prospect of something new kind of excites me, even at my age. I’m almost hoping for the layoff to happen soon so I can devote all my time mining for the next adventure. If I get laid off and struggle for 9 months or more to find a job like you did, I’m sure I’ll be unhappy. But being unhappy now and expecting defeat won’t help me in the long run. It CAN hurt me, though. Chin up. We still have time left to play in this game. :)
It’s all a cr-p shoot, do I stay and take a chance or start looking now? All I keep thinking is how long is my mind capable of handling this level of toxicity? The stress is almost unbearable.
Honestly, there’s nothing you can do or say to make you or anyone else feel secure, we’re all in the same boat. I’ve been laid off more than once. It took 9 months for me to find a job both times. I’m in my 50’s now and if I get laid off, which seems inevitable, I’m pretty much screwed. Not only is it harder as we age, it’s even harder in today’s environment of diversity. Companies are now looking to fill the roles to meet their diversity requirements. My reality is I’m too young to retire and too old to hire. I’m not confident this go round will work in my favor. I’m not even sure why I’m still here waiting for the day to come. I should be looking now before my entire department is looking at the same time as I am. There are no freebies in life. Severance sounds good until it runs out. Unemployment pays in a week what I make in a day, pathetic. Seal the deal my friend, don’t wait, look now, it’s going yo happen sooner or later, why wait? WF will be laying off people and whole departments until the end of 2022. Pretty soon half the company will be outsourced to India and the Philippines. We’re all kidding ourselves if we think we’ll be the one to make it past 2022 and still have a job.
Your problem is you let yourself staying too long and only know Wells. Get too comfortable and take it easy too early and too long. No pain no gain.
Take comfort in the fact that you have no say in the matter, it is out of your control. I would polish off the resume/CV and start blasting it out. Ask contacts/clients/friends to put you in touch with hiring managers at other firms. Talk to a recruiter if you have to. TAKE ACTION
I’m expecting to be laid off, so as I look at what is out there in my field, I check for certifications included in job descriptions. I have a PMP so that gives me a leg up to (hopefully) at least partially compensate for my age. I’m looking into getting another related certification as well.
Also, I haven’t seen this first hand, but a friend of mine told me that she recently heard that in some fields, older workers are becoming more desirable due to the growing stereotype that millennials bring with them an entitlement mentality that makes them harder to work with. I had a manager who once encouraged me to apply for a certain role. When I asked him why he felt I was qualified, he said, “Well, first of all, you’re not a millennial!” So ageism may work both ways.
I have friends in their late 50's leaving the work-force. I think we are at an age where keeping a job or getting a new job are things of the past. I started a side hustle years ago, that's what I'll do going forward.
I am 61 and in a hub location. Outside of WF there are few options for roles like I had (past tense, I bailed out at the first of the year) that pay what I was making ($153k). I am passively looking to see what is out there and it is not much. I prepared for this by paying off all my debt; house, cars, credit cards at zero and having enough cash on hand through the end of the year.
If I do decide to seriously look for work, it will not be in finance. Too bad of a taste left in my mouth from the Wachovia purchase and the 'leadership' of Charlie and the change of culture to a snobbish East coast 'firm' I'll not forget the moment I heard my 2 and 3 up (in Charlotte) begin to casually use the term 'cull the herd'. Before we had senior managers in East coast locations, I cannot imagine such a dismissive, insensitive term being thrown out in an open conference call. I will be looking for something that pays a third of what I was making with a third (or less) of the stress I had the last three years I experienced at the sh!t factory called Wells Fargo.
It's in the back of my mind pretty much all the time OP, I feel your pain. By all appearances mass layoffs will be a thing at WFC for another 14 months or so. I have no insider knowledge, but I'm guessing that leadership will want to be about done with their mass headcount reduction operation by the end of Q3 I 2022. Big corps avoid big layoffs during the holidays when they can avoid it, and with how long this has all been planned, they can.
I was recently laid off and I am still looking. I'm over 50 and the jobs out there aren't great. I'm looking for work life balance and the jobs that I see require long hours and they're looking for recent college graduates.
I didn't stumble across layoffs until I got in my late 40s and now it seems like I can't avoid it.