“Resorting to” is an oddly pessimistic way to frame it.
Plenty of people in their 40s go back to school looking to improve their situation regardless of economic conditions.
EconomistWithaD on
This is nothing new. Upskilling/reskilling is a quite frequent response to growing structural/cyclical unemployment, which is what we have been seeing.
It’s a healthy response by workers to potentially dramatic shifts in the types of skills required by new jobs.
It is a cycle that runs opposite of the economy. When people can easily find good jobs they go work. When the economy gets tight, and good jobs are hard to come by, they go back to school.
I_Enjoy_Beer on
As someone in this age bracket, the thought has crossed my mind, and I’m someone who is employed and financially comfortable. Wonder how many of these folks are like me…feeling bored with a career that lacks meaning, and tired of the day to day bullshit after 20 years of doing it. Maybe some of them just want to learn something new and have a refresh.
If I didn’t have a family, I’d consider med school even now.
B00marangTrotter on
I hope they are studying some form of medicine and healthcare cause that is about all I can think of with value in education especially when starting over.
But I hope I’m wrong.
Original-Track-4828 on
Help make realistic health care (Medicare buy-in?) available, and this 60-something will happily retire early and let someone younger have my job.
But right now corporate health insurance is my only realistic option, so it’s off to work I go!
Iamthefemale on
This is what I saw other people doing the first ‘once in a lifetime recession’ and when the market changed again they were in a much better place for having done it. What you learn is the only thing you can take with you when you die.
RealisticForYou on
It’s called ambition. As time permits, people who find some way to educate for the future is a good thing.
Next year will be interesting particularly in tech as Google just announced they are hiring back some of the employees they fired in 2023….it is expected that more new hirings are to follow. This article talks about education in AI tech, data analytics and cybersecurity…all are big fields for the future.
Sometimes, being laid off can be a blessing as many will collect unemployment benefits while seeking education for even better paying jobs.
OrangeJr36 on
That’s typically something you see in a healthy economy, and something that has been a trend since COVID.
Granted, if the economy was indeed quite bad, you might see a sizable increase in older workers looking to re/up-skill.
My important note is that this is going to become more and more of a talking point and common theme for education as the birth rate plummets and primary education enrollment shrinks.
band-of-horses on
In my 40s, I can’t imagine going back to school instead of looking for work. Maybe if you are childless and living a frugal minimalist lifestyle, but most in their 40s have too much financial responsibility to give up on earning an income for a few years and racking up student loan debt this close to retirement seems unwise.
I could see keeping my day job and taking night classes or online certifications but there’s no way I could afford to just put work aside for a few years and go back to school.
SkyNet_Admin_1 on
Bullshit article. The people that control everything publish this nonsense to rile the public up. The job market has been much worse before. Inflation (and anti-social media) is making it appear worse.
ChumpyThree on
Interesting how the comments act like this is entirely normal and something we’ve done forever.
It is imperative that we adapt and always stay learning, no doubt. But this practice of switching career mediums or going back to school frequently just to keep up with the economy is not something we’ve been just doing this entire time.
Society has gone parabolic. At the rate we are going, we are going to need to unskill and re-educate ourselves every year.
With the cost of education being as high as it is, this is going to absolutely crush a good number of people. Burn out, financial stress, lack of time to do anything whatsoever, etc.
I think we do have to sit back eventually and ask ourselves if we really want to periods where swathes of people are crushed underneath the foot of progress again.
SuccessfulChance5859 on
Anything to keep from doing trade or your own small business labor, go back to school and say your training to be in ai or a big time ceo lol
Most would rather work for a Fortune 500 company that pays 40,000$ instead of run your own dog walking business for 150,000$
One sounds better for some reason
I work at chevron so I’m important, but a dog walker is beneath me
wpf100304 on
That’s me! I’m financially stable enough to afford tuition for training for a new career. Always wanted to do it and it never hurts to diversify your skill set. I know it’s odd to to go back to school at my age but I LOVE it. Middle age brings a lot of introspection and there’s a lot of mundane stuff at this point in life. Feels so good to accomplish something (even if it’s just an A on a quiz) and work towards a goal. You never know how life shakes out.
whereitsat23 on
I’m 51, work as a chef at a private school. My job is comfortable with plenty of pto but idk if physically I can do this till I die so I’ve thought of going back to school for food science at local state university offers.
15 Comments
“Resorting to” is an oddly pessimistic way to frame it.
Plenty of people in their 40s go back to school looking to improve their situation regardless of economic conditions.
This is nothing new. Upskilling/reskilling is a quite frequent response to growing structural/cyclical unemployment, which is what we have been seeing.
It’s a healthy response by workers to potentially dramatic shifts in the types of skills required by new jobs.
Given recent history (and a recent change in trends), job switchers have seen a premium relative to job stayers (https://www.atlantafed.org/chcs/wage-growth-tracker), and upticks in longer term unemployed (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS13025703), these are good labor responses.
It is a cycle that runs opposite of the economy. When people can easily find good jobs they go work. When the economy gets tight, and good jobs are hard to come by, they go back to school.
As someone in this age bracket, the thought has crossed my mind, and I’m someone who is employed and financially comfortable. Wonder how many of these folks are like me…feeling bored with a career that lacks meaning, and tired of the day to day bullshit after 20 years of doing it. Maybe some of them just want to learn something new and have a refresh.
If I didn’t have a family, I’d consider med school even now.
I hope they are studying some form of medicine and healthcare cause that is about all I can think of with value in education especially when starting over.
But I hope I’m wrong.
Help make realistic health care (Medicare buy-in?) available, and this 60-something will happily retire early and let someone younger have my job.
But right now corporate health insurance is my only realistic option, so it’s off to work I go!
This is what I saw other people doing the first ‘once in a lifetime recession’ and when the market changed again they were in a much better place for having done it. What you learn is the only thing you can take with you when you die.
It’s called ambition. As time permits, people who find some way to educate for the future is a good thing.
Next year will be interesting particularly in tech as Google just announced they are hiring back some of the employees they fired in 2023….it is expected that more new hirings are to follow. This article talks about education in AI tech, data analytics and cybersecurity…all are big fields for the future.
Sometimes, being laid off can be a blessing as many will collect unemployment benefits while seeking education for even better paying jobs.
That’s typically something you see in a healthy economy, and something that has been a trend since COVID.
Granted, if the economy was indeed quite bad, you might see a sizable increase in older workers looking to re/up-skill.
My important note is that this is going to become more and more of a talking point and common theme for education as the birth rate plummets and primary education enrollment shrinks.
In my 40s, I can’t imagine going back to school instead of looking for work. Maybe if you are childless and living a frugal minimalist lifestyle, but most in their 40s have too much financial responsibility to give up on earning an income for a few years and racking up student loan debt this close to retirement seems unwise.
I could see keeping my day job and taking night classes or online certifications but there’s no way I could afford to just put work aside for a few years and go back to school.
Bullshit article. The people that control everything publish this nonsense to rile the public up. The job market has been much worse before. Inflation (and anti-social media) is making it appear worse.
Interesting how the comments act like this is entirely normal and something we’ve done forever.
It is imperative that we adapt and always stay learning, no doubt. But this practice of switching career mediums or going back to school frequently just to keep up with the economy is not something we’ve been just doing this entire time.
Society has gone parabolic. At the rate we are going, we are going to need to unskill and re-educate ourselves every year.
With the cost of education being as high as it is, this is going to absolutely crush a good number of people. Burn out, financial stress, lack of time to do anything whatsoever, etc.
I think we do have to sit back eventually and ask ourselves if we really want to periods where swathes of people are crushed underneath the foot of progress again.
Anything to keep from doing trade or your own small business labor, go back to school and say your training to be in ai or a big time ceo lol
Most would rather work for a Fortune 500 company that pays 40,000$ instead of run your own dog walking business for 150,000$
One sounds better for some reason
I work at chevron so I’m important, but a dog walker is beneath me
That’s me! I’m financially stable enough to afford tuition for training for a new career. Always wanted to do it and it never hurts to diversify your skill set. I know it’s odd to to go back to school at my age but I LOVE it. Middle age brings a lot of introspection and there’s a lot of mundane stuff at this point in life. Feels so good to accomplish something (even if it’s just an A on a quiz) and work towards a goal. You never know how life shakes out.
I’m 51, work as a chef at a private school. My job is comfortable with plenty of pto but idk if physically I can do this till I die so I’ve thought of going back to school for food science at local state university offers.