If you haven’t seen the
movie Logan’s Run, a sci-fi film
released in 1976, I suggest you rent it. It’s a hoot.
It stars one of my favorite
English actors, Michael York. It was also billed as Farrah Fawcett’s first
major film role. Though as I recall, she had about three lines before she and
her hairdo were blown to bits.
Many are the reasons to
watch it: it’s awesomely cheesy special effects (compared to today’s CGI
extravaganzas), drapey, barely there ‘70s-era fashions, and prescient messages.
In what way was it
prescient? Well, for starters, it presaged Tinder.
(The movie is set in the 23rd century.) Specifically, the Michael York character
meets his leading lady via some sort of hook-up service in which if a person were
feeling a bit lonely or horny he or she just dialed up a partner (a stranger)
for the evening. Don’t remember clearly how this happened, but it was something
like when one of the Star Trek
characters was beamed down to another planet. All very convenient, like having
takeout delivered to your door.
That isn’t what makes this
movie relevant to today, however. What does is the movie’s basic plot, which is
that all people in this futuristic society must die by age 30. They are
exterminated, in fact. Some people rebel, and they are chased and caught.
Why do I cite this movie?
What relevance does it have to today’s society? Because every time I read an
article about how older workers are disappearing from the workforce, whenever I
hear former colleagues my age tell me no company will hire them; each time I
get a rejection email, I’m reminded of Logan’s
Run.
Oh, no, we’re not killing
people over age 55, at least not overtly. Instead, companies are terminating
older workers through layoffs, indirectly and slowly killing them by denying
them access to employer-sponsored or affordable health care. How many
unemployed workers who have exhausted unemployment benefits can pay for COBRA
or even premiums (and those high deductibles—ouch!) under Obamacare? Not many. I
should know; I’ll be one of them soon.
Without health care, older,
unemployed workers forgo routine tests that could possibly detect and treat a
serious illness at an early stage. So I do believe that by laying off older
workers in droves, companies are condemning them to a premature death. But
don’t take my word for it; it’s been proven.
I’m also reminded of Logan’s Run whenever I enter an office
for a job interview; when I’m greeted by a sea of dewy faces yet to crack their 35th birthday.
Seriously, if a recent college grad cannot find a job, it’s because he or she
isn’t really trying, prefers to work part-time, or has a trust fund.
The reasons are pretty
obvious: Employers covet young people for their (supposed) tech skills and low
salaries.
It’s not only obvious in
companies’ hiring practices, but their lay-off policies as well. At my former
former workplace, anyone who had been there 10 years or more was laid off. At
my former workplace, five of us were laid off; four were over 50. What does
that tell you?
It tells you that when upper
management decides to cut salaries and expenses, they target older, veteran
employees who are mostly likely pulling down a fairly high salary (or whatever
they deem a too-high salary). Therefore, it’s out with the “expensive” old and
in with the “cheap” new.
I not only saw this happen
to former colleagues, but I was personally a victim of this shameful practice.
When I was let go from my former former workplace after 16-plus years, I was
essentially replaced by a younger colleague (who later plagiarized
my work).
Even more recently, a former
boss at my former former workplace was laid off after being with the company
for over 25 years. Now, I didn’t like the guy; he was a total douchebag who was
personally behind a lot of layoffs (including mine). Personal feelings aside,
however, this was a man who worked for that godforsaken place for over 25
years. He conceived and launched the best and most successful product in the
company’s history (though that’s not saying much considering the mediocre output
of that horrid place). Like me, he was maneuvered out of the company by a
younger colleague (a nasty boozy bitch) who wanted him gone.
So anyone who doesn’t think
U.S. companies are dumping older workers is simply not paying attention.
Know who else should really
be paying attention? It’s the 40- or 50-something middle managers that
interview me for jobs. Every time they walk into the room, I can see it in
their faces: “Oh, no, we can’t hire her. She’s too old. She’ll want too much
money.”
I’m not angry with them for
thinking this way. But I am a bit bemused and befuddled by their attitude.
What makes them think they
are immune to the same fate as so many others? Oh, no, they are too competent
and smart, they smirk to themselves. They’ve been with the company for so long.
They are too vital to its operations. “I would never be laid off,” they must smugly
think to themselves.
Oh, you think that, do you? Well, I’m here to tell you are wrong, wrong, wrong! Only
a delusional fool or a class A narcissist would think like that.
What makes you think you are
so special? When a company decides it must cut expenses, the first place it
looks at is salaries. No matter how good an employee you are, no matter how
many years you have toiled for a company, if you have a higher salary, you will
be cut and replaced by a younger, cheaper worker. Just like that. With no
warning. It has nothing to do with you; it’s all about the bottom line. Shockingly swift is your descent from valued employee to corporate refuse.
What makes me even angrier
is that this is clearly and blatantly age discrimination. Companies are not
even trying to hide it. Why should they? What do they have to fear? No
government agency is doing anything to stop it, and it’s rarely mentioned
except in a few news articles. Companies can always argue that an older
worker’s production is no longer up to snuff, or that an older applicant didn’t
have the right skills. Age discrimination suits are notoriously hard to prove.
What of the young people? To
them I say this: Enjoy your career while you can. Stuff your 401(k) or IRA with
as much coin as you can, while you can. Because you see, your work life has an
expiration date. It’s about, I’d say, age 55, or thereabouts. Oh, sure, you'll live to 89, but your work life ends at 55. Good luck funding that retirement.
Your employer may adore you
and your cut-rate salary now. But
what happens when you start to move up the corporate ladder and demand a higher
wage so you can get married, buy a house, start a family, and finally pay off
those student loans for chrissakes. Or when you want enough earnings so you can
send your kids to college. Just when all your hard work and experience is
paying off, when you finally know what you are doing in your chosen profession,
and maybe, just maybe you can enjoy a comfortable life…you will be taken into a
room and told to clean out your desk and leave. You will be trashed to the
dustbin and replaced by the next wave of 22-year-olds that have the tech skills
employers covet and who are willing to work for a measly salary.
So to all those young people
who are taking jobs I could easily do with a hand tied behind my back, or those
middle-aged middle managers that routinely reject me for employment, I say
this:
Buddy, you’re next.