Jobs | Working Stiffed

Overqualified and Over 40: You Don’t Get What You Don’t Pay For

It’s become obvious to me that the mission statement of most mid- or large-sized companies in the U.S. is : “Know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” How else to explain the epidemic of underemployed and unemployed people over 40?

A Business Journal contributing writer recently explained why companies don’t want to hire people over 40. Below are the reasons he was given by people who hire:

If they hire an experienced, mature worker at a salary that is clearly below what he/she should earn (should being the operative word here) they’ll be gone as soon as something better comes along

Working Stiffed response: So…pay them what they should earn…duh! How much money do companies lose because of the sometimes expensive mistakes made be less experienced, “cheaper” employees? Besides, wouldn’t it make more sense to have a few mature, experienced workers around who can mentor younger talent?

For that matter, what should companies expect if they underpay anyone, young or old? Do they think people will stick around for the pleasure of their manager’s company or to admire how effectively the CEO spends all the money he/she gets to keep by underpaying their employees??? Good luck with that.

If an experienced, mature worker accepts a lower salary than he/she should be earning (should…there’s that word again) there’s probably something wrong with him/her

Working Stiffed response: There is something wrong with unemployed mature workers; they are out of work for no good reason. I’d argue that there is really something wrong with short-nearsighted hiring managers and business owners who leave valuable talent at the interview table because of greed and ageism.

Job candidates over 40 who don’t get the job may sue for age discrimination

Working Stiffed response: And they should, if that is the only reason they are not being considered for the job, but the reality is they probably won’t sue you. In an environment where unions are routinely demonized and destroyed, few workers expect to find a sympathetic ear in the courts (and recent regulations have only reinforced employer-favored outcomes).

Besides, such an action would dash any hope of finding work, and finding a job when you’re over 40 is hard enough without having a failed age discrimination lawsuit to contend with during interviews.

Companies want someone who will stay for a while, and someone over 40 might retire sooner than they want

Working Stiffed response: As best as I can tell, most companies don’t want people to stick around, unless they’re young, cheap and don’t screw up too much. If a business is sincerely looking for long-term employees, they should prefer generation-Xers and baby boomers; they are more inclined to stick around and work hard, if they can land a decent job where they are appreciated.

Most millennials will tell you that they are not obsessed with money and they also don’t want to spend up to 80 hours a week trapped in an office. Thanks to all the zombie, vampire and doomsday scenario entertainment they grew up with, many are focused on having as many invigorating life experiences as they can before the zombie apocalypse, so good luck with your youth-focused succession planning, Mr. or Ms. Hiring Manager.

Besides, who can afford to retire these days? I swear I saw a former VP I worked with bagging groceries at Publix the other day.

Workers over 40 are too set in their ways

Working Stiffed response: Not necessarily; we’re just used to doing things the right way. What some people call “set in their ways” others call avoiding mistakes learned through trial and error. But don’t worry; we have the maturity to sit on the sidelines and let the young guns try out “awesome” out-of-the-box ideas, even if we know these sparks of innovation will turn into a waste of time and money.

The value of workers over 40

I’m sure the writer of the Business Article meant well; after all he was trying to sell the virtues of hiring mature employees. Unfortunately, the emphasis of the article was to inform companies that they have an opportunity to benefit from hiring experienced older workers at any crap salary they choose by exploiting the fact that many are now broke and desperate after being forced out of the workforce. It’s hard to appreciate such support when your alleged sole virtue is that you’re a bargain who should be fished out of the clearance bin.

Instead of focusing on the reasons to avoid hiring experienced workers, let’s look at the benefits of hiring qualified people over 40 (and, no, saving money by underpaying them isn’t a sound strategy):

If you pay us what we’re worth, we will likely MORE than earn our salary

We’ve already learned from our mistakes, so we won’t make them on your dime. Plus, we can hit the ground running and we’re more likely to have the emotional maturity needed to build relationships with stakeholders and to work well with others (that go-getter ego a lot of young managers have often works against getting the job done efficiently or effectively).

If you hire us at a salary worthy of our experience, you’re also likely to get a hard worker who is less likely to jump to another opportunity

Young people know that the only way they are going boost their pay is by jumping to other companies. And if they’re valued at one company, the odds are they’ll be appealing to another company…maybe even a competitor.

A mature employee is more likely to keep their wisdom and hard work ethic around longer, especially if they are paid what they are worth and are appreciated, because they know their job jumping days are behind them.

You need experienced workers to mentor your young talent

When I entered the white collar workforce after graduating from college, I had the benefit of working in a fully staffed department (back before “economies of scale” shrunk every operation to the bone). I learned a lot from my older, experienced coworkers. I don’t think I would have become as skilled in my field without their guidance.

If you have several employees, it’s a good idea to have at least one seasoned veteran to show them the ropes. And if you have limited resources for staffing, you probably don’t have the budget for costly trial and error, so if it comes down to hiring young and cheap or shelling out a little more for an experienced over 40 worker, you’re better off erring on the side of experience.

You get what you pay for

The last year I was employed as a full-time marketing manager, I generated more than 30 times my salary in revenue for my company. When I lost my position after my company was acquired by a competitor, my job was eliminated in favor of the acquiring company’s young, inexperienced manager.

Because she had little hands-on experience, in the year following my departure, she spent more than four times her salary on outside firms and consultants (which I never needed to do); and not only could she not replicate the success I achieved during my tenure with the company, but she allowed the leads and momentum I was building to evaporate.

In the four years since my departure, several former colleagues told me that the company’s marketing efforts are failing miserably, even as they keep adding more young marketing executives.

So, to all the hiring managers and business owners out there, I say keep hiring (and underpaying) inexperienced talent at your own risk. Sure, youthful innovation has it’s place, but so does experience. And the money you save in salary now may end up costing you your job or hurting your business tomorrow.

It’s less than a week before Christmas, so it must be time for Congress to perform yet another hate crime against the American people…the people they were hired to represent (but rarely do). As always, they try to slip through the most revolting legislation in the dead of night, preferably on a holiday, when they hope most of us will be too drunk on eggnog to pay attention. I’m surprised they didn’t pull this latest legislative abomination on Christmas Eve, actually. Maybe they were counting on all of us to be blinded by light sabers after watching the latest Star Wars sequel.

At 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, Paul Ryan, unveiled a trillion dollar omnibus spending bill to his colleagues that included a number of jaw-dropping provisions; many of which further assaulted U.S. workers and our ability to find and retain meaningful employment. Basically, the bill:

Strips protections for low-wage American workers
Quadruples the number of foreign workers in the U.S. through the H2-B visa program

Meet the new boss…same as the old boss…

Paul Ryan, the overwhelming choice for House Speaker (by both democrats and republicans) after John Boehner was “smoked out” a few months ago, has now ably demonstrated that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

If they ever consider making another “Despicable Me” sequel, Paulie can throw on a gender-neutral, yellow minion costume and drag on Boehner’s nicotine- and alcohol-stained coattails, while obediently squeaking incoherently.

Wedged into the 2,000 page bill was a provision that allows employers to import up to 264,000 low-wage foreign workers under the H2-B “guest worker” program; this more than quadruples the 2015 maximum of 66,000. The program allows these low-skilled “seasonal” workers to stay for up to 10 months.

Apparently, Congress thinks that there are an awful lot of jobs that Americans won’t do. We know otherwise. Up to 200,000 blue collar hotel, construction and other service industry workers could find themselves out of work without re-employment options. The omnibus bill not only allows employers to set migrant worker wages, it also allows them to cut the hourly wages paid to American workers. How’s that for representation?

The bill was passed by the House (by a 2-1 margin) just days after the Pew Research Center reported that the American middle class is indeed shrinking, and just weeks after another recent Pew Research poll found that 83 percent of American voters want to see the level of immigration frozen or reduced.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), expressed his exasperation in a passionate speech on the House floor; he chided his colleagues for readily supporting the bill, despite the fact that the nation’s labor force participation rate is at just 62 percent.

“The people sent us here (Washington) to protect their interests,” Sessions said. “They did not send us here to bow down to the president’s lawless immigration policies or to line the pockets of special interests in big business.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBqrWL3h9-g

Sadly, Mr. Sessions…that’s just what they did. The hubris of this group is unbelievable. How long will we allow this to go on?

Anyone who is surprised by the recent Pew Research Center report that the American middle class is “losing ground” hasn’t been paying attention.

Even Helen Keller could have seen this coming. According to the report, the rich keep getting obscenely richer. You don’t say! Another shocker: more than a quarter of adult Americans 65 or older improved their bottom lines (26.7 percent), while many of the rest of us have been bleeding out financially.

Ah, yes, the postwar “me-me-me generation” of baby boomers; the generation that was in charge in the ‘90s. Some of their notable achievements:

Supporting job-busting “trade” agreements (NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, et al.), which laid the groundwork for the even more suicidal TPP
They converted the personal-sounding term “personnel” into the more disposable-sounding “human resources”…morphed “hiring” into “onboarding” … and turned “firing” into the sterile “offboarding” or murderous “terminating”
And now, many won’t retire, even when they are comfortable financially, making an already tight labor market even less accessible to the rest of us

Me-me-me to the end.

The study also showed that from 1970-2015, adult blacks saw a larger increase in income than any other racial or ethnic group (up 11.2 percent), and blacks were also the only group not to experience a decline in their lower-income share. See? Sometimes black lives do matter!

Married people with or without children at home also fared much better than single people. That makes sense, since it now takes two salaries to equal half of what one salary was worth 10 years ago.

Pew defines middle class Americans as adults whose annual income is double to two-thirds of the national median wage. In 1971, 61 percent of adult Americans enjoyed middle class status; that rate has plunged to only 50 percent now. The number of high income American adults spiked from 14 percent to 21 percent, and the number of low income households also increased (from 25 percent to 29 percent).

All in all, the study further validates Ross Perot’s “giant sucking sound” prediction. In 1992, he warned that America’s labor market would be destroyed if NAFTA passed; how right he was. The report charts the decline of our middle class beginning in the early ‘90s and accelerating considerably in the ‘00s.

By then, NAFTA was really kicking into gear and virtually all of our manufacturing jobs were exported overseas. I just hope that Chinese factory workers can take a break from making our iPhones every once in a while to make enough respirators for the citizens of Beijing. Sure, let’s cry for the polar bears while our captains of industry suffocate the poor Chinese people with low-cost, unregulated manufacturing and limited breathable air.

With our manufacturing gone, our labor market now consists primarily of very high- or very low-skilled occupations.

But, wait, there’s more!

In recent years, our crooked Congressional “representatives” continued to beat the walking dead middle class by boosting the number of tech “guest” work visas granted to their corporate sponsors. U.S. workers in high-skilled positions are now routinely replaced by foreign “guests” who are paid much less.

Congress also has allowed an endless parade of illegal aliens to cross our open boarder and they are now calling for us to import Syrian refugees to fill the low-skilled jobs that Americans supposed won’t do. It’s clear that the psychopaths running our government are fast-tracking us to Third World status. And…we’re…letting…them. Why?

Each holiday season, retailers bemoan the fact that people aren’t spending as much as they used to. Well, if we don’t have jobs, or the jobs we have pay less they used to, or we are “gig” employees who don’t know if or when we’ll see another paycheck, then the odds are pretty good that we’re not going to have a lot of Benjamins…or bitcoins…or any type of digital currency…to slide across your registers or online shopping carts.

In my last post, I described how today’s U.S. worker is trapped in an environment of economic cannibalism; the Pew study proves it.

Pew. Something sure does stink around here.

The average person who suffers from bipolar disorder endures a lifelong struggle with mood swings and fluctuating energy levels, all while trying to maintain stable personal and professional relationships; not easy to achieve, to be sure.

Fortunately, many find relief with medication and the support of loved ones, and they can lead successful, fulfilling lives.

But what happens when a bipolar person is in a position of power and/or has achieved an impressive level of entrepreneurial success? Would you feel comfortable suggesting that they need to take their meds, if they feel they don’t…or to lash out at them if they call you at 3 a.m. to discuss their latest great idea?

If they sign your paycheck or you’re dependent on them financially in some way, odds are you wouldn’t. A LOT of CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs are bipolar, and they are just as likely to be proud of it and acknowledge that their mania is the reason they are successful.

What they don’t always acknowledge is the collateral damage they often leave in their manic wake. But, hey, you gotta crack some eggs to make an omelet, right? Sadly, those of us who have had the misfortune of toiling for manic depressive leaders have been those eggs, and the yolk is often on us.

I’ve worked for more than my share of bipolar CEOs and executives, so it’s safe to say I had to reach for the Maalox more than once.

Bipolar giveth and bipolar taketh away

One manic depressive executive I worked under early in my career—let’s call her Dara—had my whole department in such a perpetual state of flux that we checked in with her executive assistant each morning to find out if Dara was up or down that day. Needless to say, no one approached her on “down” days, even when it was necessary.

The C-suite loved Dara, though…she was a straight-shooter…a risk taker….and she didn’t need (or want) to be micromanaged. Not surprisingly, those were not traits she ever wanted to see in us. Those who were foolish enough to try to emulate her were swiftly terminated.

We were paralyzed by her inconsistent direction and her fluctuating mood swings. Still, those of us who survived her manic meat grinder intuitively found a way to succeed, inadvertently ensuring that she remain gainfully employed.

What else could we do? Her bosses never bothered to investigate the psychological minefield that was her department.

The day did come, however, when she popped a wheelie on national TV and the powers that be got a very public glimpse at the personality we had struggled to manage for years. And just like that, she was gone, and we all heaved a spontaneously sigh of relief and broke out into a chorus of “Ding, dong, the witch is dead…”

Of course, on some level, we felt bad for her, because we knew she was ill, but then again, she had pushed many of us to the brink of mental illness. And in our results-at-an-cost corporate culture, her impact on our mental and emotional well-being was low priority.

The CEO’s Disease

Years ago, psychologists labelled bipolar disorder “the CEO’s disease,” with reason. Numerous studies have found that the manic stage of the disease tends to breed successful entrepreneurs. A recent joint study between Stanford University and the University of Denmark confirmed earlier research, finding that successful people who are bipolar tend to be uber-successful, often earning much more than their peers.

The study also confirmed that the opposite is true for those who can’t effortlessly slide up the corporate ladder through nepotism or who don’t catch a lucky entrepreneurial brake: average bipolar Joes and Janes tend to make much less than their colleagues.

Donald Trump: The Elvis of bipolar CEOs

Unless you live in an underground bunker with no Wi-Fi, you’ve no doubt been exposed to the clown show that is Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy. Having grown up in New York City, I am more than familiar with this bloviator in a Mafia Don’s clothes.

Trump is a self-made business tycoon…because he tells you he is, but if you scratch off the cheap, gold paint (found in abundance at any Trump-owned property) you’ll find a string of failures and bankruptcies. He’s not even self-made; his father, a wealthy Brooklyn slumlord, greased his entrepreneurial wheels.

Trump parlayed his hubris and Rapunzel-like comb-over into mainstream success with “The Apprentice,” a TV show that allowed him to yell, “You’re fired!” at some hapless participant on each episode. One person’s humiliation became a control freak’s wet dream…and the nation was enthralled!

Now he has a significant lead over the cattle car full of Republican/globalist hand puppets running for president. And, why not? Unlike the others, he is a straight-shooter…a risk taker….a guy who says what many of us think, but won’t admit in polite company. Plus, he’s running on his own dime! Like the honey badger…the Donald don’t care.

This is a dangerous trap, because when it comes to this Elvis of bipolar entrepreneurs, rest assured, that for every one thing you like about him, there will be ten things that you will find appalling.

Bipolar CEOs are often adept at consensus building. If gifted with sufficient charm, they can get us so focused on their cause when in the throes of their mania, that we’re blinded by the toxic lead under the cheap paint.

This is why so many boardrooms end up putting these literal maniacs in charge of their companies, leaving those of us who owe our livelihoods to these human pendulums to cringe in uncertainty, and to live with the reality that today’s promotion can easily turn into tomorrow’s termination. Not fun.

If you’re over 50 and feeling your age, don’t look to Corporate America for validation; corporations these days seems to think you should quietly head to the white collar glue factory when you reach the half-century mark.

Today, long-term unemployed 50-somethings often find that reemployment is as elusive as finding a male Kardashian. Those of us who were born in the mid-60s are particularly vulnerable in this Great (lingering) Recession, even when we can find work.

According to an AARP Public Policy Institute survey, almost half of the respondents between the ages of 45 and 61 said they were earning less than they used to earn. Many also have limited or no benefits and are underemployed (working part-time).

Wedged between baby boomers and millennials, late boomers/early generation Xers who reach their 50s are being squeezed like an inconsequential economic zit. Despite our skills and professional maturity, few companies value what we offer enough to retain or hire us.

Thank God we’re a tough bunch. After all, we came of age after the boomers born in the 40s and 50s. With popular 80s mantras like “greed is good” and “the one with the most toys wins,” we knew right away that we had our work cut out for us…pun intended.

My boss at my first job out of college was a personable boomer dude who always praised my work. He dutifully gave me a raise each year; albeit a smallish one for the time, and he always apologized that he couldn’t give me more. Since we worked for a not-for-profit trade association, I never questioned his sincerity.

When he left for a cushier VP role at another company and I finally saw the budget (he never let me see it), I learned that we got PLENTY of money for raises each year; he just chose to keep most of the money for himself. Variations of this theme would pop up frequently throughout my career.

The “me generation” is STILL parked at the top of the corporate food chain. Although many of them can afford to retire in comfort, they’ve made it clear that you’ll have to pry their leadership roles out of their cold, dead hands. Too bad, Gen X.

And then there are the millennials. I feel bad that they are saddled with hideously bloated student loans, I do. But hey, they’re still young, and because they were weaned on iPads, they have plenty of time to develop an app that they can sell to Facebook for a couple of billion dollars.

I have always been an early adopter of technology, but like everyone over 45, I often find that I have to prove I’m not a Luddite. Last year, I interviewed for a management position at a digital marketing firm. My third interview was a group interrogation by the company’s late boomer CEO and his team of 20-something executives.

During the interview, one of them asked to see my phone. I think he expected me to pull out a flip phone, like one of those Jitterbug phones with the big numbers our parents like. I didn’t like my chances at that point.

Surprisingly, I got the job, but alas, it was short-lived. I was given a desk in an open floor plan, surrounded by my young colleagues. When I asked one of them one day where the printer was, he looked at me like I had crawled out of Jurassic Park; they never printed anything, he said…and they didn’t have any pens, either. So, shoot me, I thought. And that’s just what they did.

Apparently, in lieu of decent benefits and wages, this company determined that the best way to keep their young workforce from going postal while working 60 hours a week was to hand out Nerf blaster guns. Was this done to discourage them from considering real guns? Maybe. After all, sixty hour work weeks will take their toll on you, even if you are young.

Several times a day, someone would start shooting and then all hell would break loose. I was getting nailed by Nerf bullets while I was writing or on an important call. After two weeks, I took my shattered nerves and walked out of that digital romper room for the last time.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t feel bad for the boomers who ended up on the wrong end of a Bernie Madoff deal, or for millennials who are stuck in low-paying jobs with huge student loans. We know all about them. And that’s the point.

As the Pew Research Center recently found, Generation X is “America’s neglected middle child.” We used to be too young to assume lucrative leadership roles from the boomers, and now millennials think we’re too old.

So, what to do? If few want to buy what I’m selling, maybe it’s time for me to pimp my cats on YouTube. A funny video of a cat with OCD might help put me back in the black, right?

Tag: jobs

Overqualified and Over 40: You Don’t Get What You Don’t Pay For

American Workers Thrown Under the Omnibus Spending Bill

Pew! Something Stinks: the Disappearing American Middle Class

The Curse of the Bipolar CEO

Corporate America Sees 50 as the New 65