Keeping That Job

It’s a strange situation for a lot of Baby Boomers, a generation that grew up in bustling economic times.
A job wasn’t something we thought much about as we traveled through high school, vocational classes or college.
The economy in the 1960s and even early 1970s was strong. A job was something that just came naturally.
Most of us chose careers we were interested in. Something we had passion for. Or a field where we could change the world.
How times have changed.
The country is struggling to come out of its worst economic slump in 70 years. The employment rate is hovering at nine percent, higher in some regions and for some segments of the population.
Baby Boomers have an additional burden in this regard. Their age.
Companies, in general, are disinclined to hire or promote people over the age of 50. With a tight job market and our culture’s emphasis on youth, industry is even less open to bringing on someone who has passed the half-century mark.
There is one bright spot for the Baby Boom generation. At the moment, they are less likely to be laid off. In March, the unemployment rate for workers over the age of 45 was 6.4 percent. That’s the highest rate for that age group since 1948, but it’s still significantly less than the national average.
However, once older workers lose their jobs, it is much tougher to find a new one. The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports laid-off workers over age 45 were out of work an average of 22 weeks in 2008, compared to 16 weeks for younger workers.
Those statistics are also higher than the recessions of 1983 and 2001, when workers over age 45 were unemployed for an average of 19 weeks and 17 weeks, respectively.
The situation is causing serious concern among Baby Boomers, a generation that doesn’t want to retire, much less can afford to do so.
The question… what do we do now?
One alternative is to fight back. Baby Boomers have apparently begun to do so. Age discrimination complaints were up 30 percent in 2008. However, those claims are tough to prove. They are also a divisive wedge between generations.
Another tact being tried by older workers is trimming their resume to hide their age or even dying their hair. Not sure this is the right path either. It’s demeaning and doesn’t attack the real problem.
I suggest a better solution. Baby Boomers should try to change the culture, something we have done over and over again in our lifetime.
The problem in the job market is experience and knowledge isn’t valued. Older workers are looked upon as expensive and past their prime. The stereotypes and jokes abound.
We need to alter the way seasoned employees are looked upon. We can do this not only by speaking up but also in the way we do our jobs. We can be the cost-effective employees who efficiently get their work done. We can be the co-workers who don’t complain much and offer sought-after advice to younger workers.
As a group, if we show employers we are worth the money they are spending on us, they will be inclined to keep us on the job.
That is not only good for our generation. It is good for the country and the workplace.

Generation Jones

Jonathan Pontell thinks the best of the Baby Boom era might be coming the next few years.
In fact, he doesn’t even think the leaders now surfacing are Baby Boomers at all. He thinks they are an entirely new generation.
Pontell has dubbed them “Generation Jones.” These are the people, he says, born between 1954 and 1965.
This age group is certainly something to be reckoned with. First, there are 53 million people born in those dozen years. That’s twice as many as were born between 1946 and 1953.
Pontell believes they straddle the gap between Baby Boomers and Generation X. They are, it seems, almost a mixture of the two. Yet unique in their own way.
Gen Jones had a much different experience growing up in the 1960s than their older counterparts. During those tumultuous times, they were toddlers and elementary school students while Baby Boomers were in their teens and early 20s. The two age groups had significantly different experiences during those years.
Generation Jones, for example, remembers the Vietnam War, but unlike the Boomers they did not have the military draft hanging over their heads.
The Baby Boomers had to protest and demand equal rights and civil rights. Generation Jones watched this change unfold and then benefited from it during their adult years.
Pontell says the 1960s were an intense, ideological time for the Baby Boomers while that decade is remembered by Generation Jones more for its idealism. Baby Boomers were digging in and fighting for change while Jonesers were taking it all in from afar. Generation Jones, perhaps, was enlightened by the 1960s without being deeply scarred by its violent, emotional divisions.
Pontell came up with term “Jones” from the word’s slang definition of craving or yearning for something. It also symbolizes the anonymity the age group can have from being squeezed between Boomers and Xers. Those born in those years do feel they belong in an independent category. A poll from the website “Third Age” of people born in 1961 showed that 57 percent consider themselves part of Generation Jones. Only 27 percent put themselves down as Baby Boomers while 21 percent said they were Gen Xers.
Gen Jones is definitely an up-and-coming phenomenon. The Associated Press Trend Report lists Generation Jones as the number one trend of 2009. The leaders of this group are certainly rising and making themselves heard.
The best known of them is President Barack Obama. Our 47-year-old leader has taken the reins after his two Baby Boomer predecessors led the nation through 16 divisive years. The country split in half, angrily vacillating between extremes and not fixing some of the long-term problems the country faces.
President Obama has set a different tone, at least so far. He has a calmer, more disciplined approach. He is inclusive yet decisive. He sees the goals in the distance and is patient in achieving them.
It is something the nation needs not only in government but in industry, schools and neighborhoods.
Whether Generation Jones is its own generation or whether it is a subgroup of Baby Boomers isn’t important. What is important is for this emerging group of leaders to steer our ship in a better direction.
And Baby Boomers and Gen Xers alike should help them.

A President Calls

Once again, a president has called upon our nation to give back to this country.
President John F. Kennedy did so during his inauguration speech in 1961 when he implored us to “ask not what your country can do for you… ask what you can do for your country.”
Now, President Barack Obama has done the same. First, it was the “day of service” the new president organized the day before his inauguration in January. This month, he sent to Congress the Serve America and GIVE Acts, a bill that has passed the House and seems certain to be approved by the Senate.
Neither president has called upon the Baby Boomer generation in particular, but our generation has without question been a major focus of both efforts.
President Kennedy formed the Council on Physical Fitness to encourage the youth of America to get in better shape. He also formed the Peace Corps, an organization for all ages but one that was focused at the time on people entering adulthood.
President Obama is calling on all generations to pitch in during our country’s tough economic times and during his efforts to turn the nation around. However, he certainly is looking to the Baby Boomers to be a major part of his renewal plan.
The Serve America and GIVE Acts would establish an army of 250,000 volunteers. In the March 30 edition of Time magazine, the president wrote a column detailing the legislation’s goals. He said they would range from modernizing schools to building affordable housing.
Our nation has done well over the decades at volunteerism. Last year, 62 million Americans gave 8 billion hours of service. Baby Boomers have long led the charge. As a generation, we volunteer more than any other age group and we volunteer more than our parents did at our age. Volunteerism seems to have been instilled during our youthful heydays of the 1960s.
Now that we are nearing our retirement years, it seems like a good time to kick the effort into a higher gear. Many Baby Boomers have raised their children and are winding down their careers. This gives us more free time to devote to volunteerism. This fact has not been lost on non-profit organizations. Many have begun campaigns to recruit volunteers over the age of 50. The Peace Corps is among these groups.
President Obama is also calling on us. Baby Boomers will certainly make up a large portion of his Serve America troops. We should heed his call, just like we did when President Kennedy issued his plea.
There are 78 million Baby Boomers, the largest generation in the United States. With our numbers and our volunteer spirit, we can make a big difference.
Education is the arena we can probably have the biggest impact. In my book, “10,000 Days,” I call for a “10 percent solution” in this field. If 10 percent of our generation volunteered in our nation’s schools, that would produce almost 8 million extra hands to help teachers in the classrooms. Could there be a better use of our time?
I urge all Boomers to seek out a cause they believe in, whether it be the environment, health care, education or military families. Commit yourself and donate your services.
The time is ripe. We once again have a president asking us to serve. Baby Boomers can make good use of their later years. Let’s ask what we can do for our country.