#retirement #WorkUntilYouDie #labor #jobs #employment
There’s talk in the public sphere about abolishing retirement.
That means, of course, working until you die, unless you have a disability.
The conversation is coupled with talk of cuts in Social Security and Medicare, even if such cuts come from only “waste” in those funds.
First, if you have a great job, and your employer will let you work until you die, congratulations.
But, that’s hardly the case in most places. Despite the need for labor and many unfilled positions, employers definitely look at older workers, many of whom are making the most money in their categories, for places to cut. Ultimately, they may replace those workers with younger, cheaper ones.
The generous employers will offer these older workers separation incentives, commonly called buyouts, to leave by a specified date.
The less generous employers will just lay off older workers, despite laws that may put them in a protected class.
These protected class laws put the burden on the employees to sue to keep their jobs. They have to show, in most cases, that their employers fired them simply because of their ages. That’s hard to prove, since employers can come up with other – legitimate or illegitimate – reasons to let a person go. Many employees are also so-called “at-will” workers, meaning they can be fired for any reason. Also, most employees won’t bother suing, and the employers know that.
But, even if your employer WANTS you to work until you die, do YOU want to work until you die – particularly at a job you hate?
Retirement is designed not just to protect older people from workplace abuse, but also for the workers to live their golden years with some degree of well-earned pleasure. It’s designed for people to enjoy, and have control of, some part of their lives before they die. Also, it is designed to make jobs available for younger workers.
When Social Security was created as part of the New Deal after World War II, most people didn’t live but a few years after their retirement at, say, age 65.
Now, with advances in medical care, people are living decades after retirement, placing a burden not just on Social Security, but also on public and private pension funds. Some actuarial studies show these funds might not be sustainable for the near term, never mind perpetuity.
Making people work well into their so-called retirement years conjures up many awful scenarios. Would you want your parent or grandparent in a factory line, working his or her tail off in their 70s or 80s?
Would they even survive it?
In addition to medical advances, people are living longer likely because they are not working.
No one should discriminate against a worker because of his or her age.
But, no one should make someone work past a certain age, if he or she chooses not to.
And, yes, we need to take care of older people who are not working.
It’s not an easy problem to solve. But imaginative people in all sectors of society can, and, hopefully, will find ways to make retirement more achievable, enjoyable and sustainable.
Peter
Tag Archives: employment
STAY IN YOUR LANE, OR GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE?
#ComfortZone #StayInYourLane #competition #art #music #jobs #employment
The age-old question constantly arises: should one stay in his or her lane, or should one get outside of his or her comfort zone?
Perhaps it depends on the circumstance. There are certainly benefits for a person to do what he or she knows, and do it well.
But, there are other circumstances in which a person should challenge himself, or herself, to do something he or she may have never done, or thought he or she would never do.
As an example of the former, country music singer Blake Shelton, the outgoing coach on the TV singing competition “The Voice,” in the past has advised members of his team, such as some country singers, to stay in their lane.
These singers may be competing with singers who can more easily extend their voices athletically to do things the country singers may be less willing, or perhaps unable to do. But Shelton understands that many of the show’s fans, who ultimately vote for the winners each season, like country music.
So, Shelton may advise those singers to do what they do best, because the fans like that, and will vote for them.
In the latter case, it’s tough to get noticed in the workplace if you are pigeon-holed into a job that limits what you are allowed to do.
Certainly, employers may like workers who are “self-starters” that need little supervision. But if you aspire to bigger and better things, you may have to go outside of your designated area to show what you can do.
In other words, you may be very comfortable performing the assigned tasks you are given. But, you may perform those tasks in obscurity, which may hinder your career progress.
That begs another question: how does one know when to stay in one’s lane, or to get out of one’s comfort zone?
The answer may come down to one’s gut feeling. It may also come down to one’s ambition. In the case of “The Voice” singers, one’s ambition can help them to win the competition. Because it is a competition, one may want to extend his or her talent to the fullest to win. But, because vocal competitions are an art form, rather than an athletic battle, it may be best to do what one does best, to the best of one’s ability.
On the other hand, if you are stuck in a comfortable job but know you have the ability to go further up the ladder, you may have to extend yourself.
You may have to look for things – perhaps extra things – to impress those who have a say in promotions. These extra things may not be easy to find. But, perhaps one must get out of his or her comfort zone to find them.
The fact that a person left his or her comfort zone to do something extra will impress those who need to be impressed.
By doing so, one becomes not only a “self-starter,” but also is motivated to take risks to show his or her talent that may not be obvious from his or her “comfortable” work.
Circumstances dictate how one operates in life. Comfort may be nice, and appropriate in some instances, but sometimes going the extra mile is necessary to impress.
If you don’t have the ambition to get out of your comfort zone, you may have to cultivate it. If you don’t, what’s comfortable now may become stifling in the future.
Peter
JOB MARKET HOT, BUT WORKERS STILL HAVE TO BE AT THEIR BEST
#jobs #JobMarket #employment #employees #employers
Despite talk of recession, layoffs among tech companies and others, the job market is still hot.
In fact, a remarkable 517,000 jobs were created in January 2023, according to reports.
“Employers are having to work harder – in some markets – to attract talent.”
So says Sarah Johnston, founder of Briefcase Coach, as quoted in an article by Andrew Seaman, senior editor for Job Search & Careers at LinkedIn News.
“You are seeing shorter job applications, more recruiter outreach and in some cases compensating candidates to interview,” the article quotes Johnston.
Still, she says in the article, applicants have to put their best foot forward.
Sure, jobs are plentiful at most levels. Walmart plans to hire 50,000 associates. Dell plans to hire 5,000 workers, Raytheon needs 3,750 more employees and Wells Fargo says it hires thousands of entry-level people each year, the article says.
In other words, yes, employers need workers. But they are still particular about whom they hire.
Therefore, as a prospective employee, you can perhaps be more confident, but you still have to impress.
Employers need more bodies, but they also need dependable bodies.
There are many stories floating around about workers reporting for work one day, then not showing up – in some cases, ever again.
In previous times, employers would leave a position open until they find just the right person. Some likely still do that, but many may be a bit more flexible in today’s market.
But, if you, as a prospective employee, find a place you’d like to work, show your prospective boss that you have what it takes, that he or she can count on you to be there day in and day out and put forth a good image for the company.
As employers, it’s best not to overpromise and under-deliver to attract workers. If workers find that what you told them doesn’t match the reality, they likely will not stay long.
As employees, know that job descriptions change. Sometimes, things you were promised when you were hired can be altered. The job you thought you were taking can turn into something a bit different. Don’t let that bother you, if you like where you work. You may have to roll with the changes, because, to stay competitive, companies have to evolve – often quickly.
If you have to leave an employer, do so with as much notice as possible. Be aware, also, that employers may not offer you the same courtesy. You could show up one day, and immediately be shown the door. But, as an employee, you have to be a good person. You may need that employer to give you a reference someday.
Yes, there are laws and company policies in which previous employers can verify your employment, but that’s all. It’s best to have the best relationship you can have with any employer, so that he or she can personally recommend you.
In short, the job market is great for most people looking for work. But, as a potential employee, you still have to be at your best to land a good job.
You have to strive to not only be a good employee, but a better person.
Peter
MILLIONS QUITTING THEIR JOBS: WHAT WILL THEY DO NEXT?
#AvailableJobs #workers #employment #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve
A record 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in September 2021.
So reports Anneken Tappe for CNN Business. Her article appeared on cnn.com Nov. 12, 2021.
She wrote that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 10.4 million job openings that month, because of a worker shortage. The number of openings dropped slightly from the 10.6 million openings in August 2021, the article says.
Meanwhile, employers hired 6.5 million people, while they lost, including those who left voluntarily, 6.2 million, the article says.
Earlier, the Associated Press had reported that employers largely were still looking for workers who had previous experience in the work for which they were applying. Speculation had been that workers were applying for jobs which were totally different from the jobs they had held – perhaps paying a lot more money.
The AP article also hinted that employers believe eventually they will regain the leverage in the job market that workers have now.
Still, if you are a worker and your job disappeared during the pandemic, but may be slowly coming back, you have to ask yourself: is the job worth going back to?
As the cooler fall and winter weather creeps in, are you worried that your kids’ school(s) will close for a period because the virus spreads anew?
If your kids had to do school remotely, could you work at the same time? These questions tell us that the virus has not left us, and, perhaps, won’t for a good bit of time – if at all.
Complicating one’s decision to return to a job is the lack of day-care options, or the lack of places a parent could drop off a child to go to school remotely while they work.
Another factor: have you, as a worker, considered all possible job options? You may actually find an employer, desperate for help, willing to train you to do something different. Perhaps that something different would allow you to work remotely, if you had to.
If you are an employer, have you considered offering better pay, training and work/life flexibility to attract more, or better, workers? Are you willing to invest more to keep the good people you have from leaving?
This push-pull of the current labor market is one reason, along with supply-chain disruptions caused by the pandemic, that prices on just about everything are rising.
Despite short-term pain your wallet may feel, if workers ultimately attain workplace leverage and get more pay and better benefits, everyone – yes, employers, too – will benefit.
Of course, if you are not sure what you should do next, but are willing to explore different alternatives, there are programs out there that may intrigue you.
They require no specific education, experience or background. They allow you flexibility to work from home as needed. They merely require an open mind to check them out, and the ability to be coached. You can even do them part time as you work a regular job.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
This labor market is difficult for employers and employees. It’s one of those transition periods from which good things can result. We just have to be patient in the short term.
Also, the more eligible people get vaccinated, the sooner we can keep the pandemic at bay.
So, what will be your next move?
Peter
TRANSITIONS CAN BE HARD AND MESSY
#transitions #energy #CleanEnergy #FuelPrices #gasoline #ElectricCars
Transitions can be hard.
But, many must be gradual. Otherwise, they get messy.
Take energy. We are in transition from primarily burning fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives.
Trouble is, one cannot flip a switch – yet – and go from one to another.
When we move too quickly to change, we have the mess we have today. We are urging oil-producing countries to pump more oil to bring down prices, while we are urging energy users to move toward cleaner alternatives.
Again, transitions can be messy.
We can’t go to all-electric cars on a wide scale, without having the ability to charge them quickly mid-trip.
Currently, you can drive X miles in your electric car, then you have to recharge it.
That’s fine driving around town. Once your charge gets low, you can go home, plug your charger into your engine, let it sit overnight and it will be charged by morning.
To take that same car on a long trip requires having rapid-charging stations as abundant, or nearly so, as gasoline stations. One can’t afford to wait multiple hours to recharge a car mid-trip. That hasn’t happened yet, but it will.
Here’s another rub. Many states’ and countries’ economies depend largely on fossil fuel production. It won’t be easy for them to transition to clean energy, or some other form of economic prosperity.
Energy consumption in general went down during the pandemic, so fossil-fuel producers produced less. Now they are being asked to ramp up production as the post-pandemic economy starts to bounce back. The result: energy prices are rising. Do they produce more of the dirty stuff, only to have demand drop – again – as the economy ramps up and cleaner energy conversions take place? They have tough decisions all around.
All this begs the question: are you in transition now? Did your job go away during the pandemic, and now your employer wants you back, but you are not sure you want to go back?
When you lost your job, did you find a better one? Are you still looking?
If you are still looking, and don’t want to go back to the job you lost, know that there are many programs out there that can enable you to earn a potentially great income. You could even go back to your old job, if it’s still there, and do something new part time in your off-work hours. That could allow you to quit your old job sooner rather than later.
No specific education, experience or background is required for these programs. You just have to be willing to look at something you may have thought you would never do.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Transitions, be they societal, economic or personal, can be messy. But, in most cases, the reward on the other end is a better life for you, and, potentially, many others.
You should not look at these transitions as losses, though sacrifice is usually required. You should look at them as if you were participating in a sport. Games have their ups and downs, but they eventually end. Though we all want to be on the winning end, there will be some losses for everyone.
You need to have the grit within you to see the positives of transitional outcomes and work toward them.
Peter
LABOR SHORTAGES AFFECTING LOW-PAYING JOBS
#LaborShortages #LowpayingJobs #jobs #employment #EssentialWorkers
There is a shortage of school bus drivers.
Massachusetts had to get the National Guard to help.
Many nurses are ditching their full-time gigs to become traveling nurses, which pays them twice or three times as much.
There’s also a shortage in other front-line and hospitality professions. Finding substitute teachers is such a problem that some districts have lowered standards to qualify.
Giulia Heyward covered this subject in an article for The New York Times. It was also published Sept. 18, 2021, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
What to do? And, what does it mean?
Jobs that pay relatively poorly, but have a lot of stress and responsibility, didn’t attract many candidates, even before the pandemic.
Employers say they can’t afford to pay more. Well, the labor market is telling employers that if they don’t pay more, they won’t get the people they need.
We haven’t seen a labor market like this in quite a while.
People in some job categories are asking for what they have deserved for a long time. If they don’t get it, they walk to greener pastures.
COVID-19 has spurred this new labor market. Jobs like driving a school bus, or nursing, have even more stress now than they did before because of the real dangers of getting sick.
It’s tough enough to drive a school bus, or take care of sick patients, without the COVID-19 threat.
But the pandemic has added yet another layer of stress.
Plus, if a person gets sick, he or she is no good to anyone – family, employer etc.
That adds to the decision whether to take, or quit, a job. It makes the question , “is it worth it,” even more stark.
For workers, there are answers, other than just staying home. There are programs that enable a person to work from home, even part time, and earn an income that potentially could easily beat that of one of those stressful, highly responsible, but relatively low-paying jobs.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, it’s OK to analyze your work situation. It’s OK to ask yourself, why am I doing this? Am I getting enough back from all this stress?
The answer to that last question can take the form of money or intangibles. If you love driving a school bus – or you love the kids you transport – or, if you really love taking care of sick patients despite the stress, you may not want to give up those jobs.
But if your financial situation is not what you think it should be, you may want to enhance it with a little part-time effort that anyone, regardless of education, experience or background, can do.
Such an effort could take the financial sting out of that stressful job you may love – yes, you can do both things if you’d like to.
The fact remains that the labor market is changing. You can look for opportunities in those changes – remember the traveling nurses? – or, if your situation is too much to bear, or risk, look for something a little less risky and stressful, and perhaps even more lucrative.
Peter
JOB MARKET BRINGS OUT OLDER WOMEN
#JobMarket #women #OlderWomen #employment #BackInWorkforce
Erica Hernandez, at age 54, decided to go back to work after 19 years as a stay-at-home mom.
The best job market in half a century has been a boon for older women going back to work, typically after raising children for nearly 20years, according to an article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published April 1, 2019.
The 3.8 percent unemployment rate is near a 50-year-low, and there were a near-record 7.6 million job openings in January, the article quotes Labor Department figures.
In Hernandez’s case, she and her husband’s retirement fund had been depleted while she stayed home, and they were unable to do a lot of dining out and other fun things, the article says.
“My husband shouldered the burden all these years,” Hernandez, from South San Francisco, is quoted in the article.
Incidently, Hernandez did not get a job as a public relations executive, as she once was. She got a job as an administrative assistant, according to the article.
Therein lies the rub. Certainly, there are jobs out there for older women and others. But are the jobs as good as the job a person previously held? In many cases, they pay much less.
It’s tough for anyone who has been out of the work force for a time to go back to a job that was as good, or better, than the one they once had.
In some cases, people have lost jobs through reorganization, downsizing etc. What they find when they check out the job market is: what’s out there generally pays less, and often require as many or more working hours.
In other cases, what might be available may not give a person enough working hours to make a living. That induces people to cobble together an income with several part-time jobs, or even several full-time jobs, to allow them to live the life they’ve known.
If you are an older woman, like Hernandez, the income may not matter to you, as long as you can squirrel it away for retirement, college tuition etc. And, there could be less stress than she may have been accustomed to in her previous career.
But for others who may be approaching retirement, or facing college bills, it may not be such a convenient choice.
If that sounds like your situation, there are alternatives. First, if you have children going to college, or getting ready for college, talk to them about your financial situation. If they can apply for scholarships, and get them, that certainly helps. But, a good student can postpone college for a time and get a job that will help pay for it. This may be the only good reason to have adult children living at home.
After that discussion, determine that your retirement will be the priority. If the kids really want to go to college that badly, put the onus on them to figure out how to pay for it.
Secondly, there are many vehicles out there that can provide an income without having to take a W-2 job.They are suitable to anyone, regardless of age, education and background, if the person is willing to check them out. In fact, the income potential could potentially exceed any expected income from a traditional job. To check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
The article about older women going back to work points out that these ladies face many obstacles, including rusty skills, a lack of confidence, employer discrimination, new technologies and social media.
If you care not to deal with those obstacles, and want to earn extra money to fund your retirement and other expenses, you may have to think outside your comfort zone and look at something completely different.
Peter
RETIRE, OR DON’T RETIRE
#retire #DontRetire #retirement #working
A man on a TD Ameritrade ad tells the financial adviser that he likes working, and that his retirement plan is to keep working.
So, the adviser says, instead of creating a retirement plan, let’s create a plan for “what’s next.”
“I like that,” the gentleman says.
Oh, if only it were that simple. One likes to work, so he just keeps working. He may vary what he does as he ages, but he keeps working because he wants to.
It seems a rather inappropriate ad for this economic milieu. Today, most employees essentially have no say on when they stop working. If they don’t retire when the company wants them to, usually they are given signals to go, or else ….
Worse yet, in many situations, many are forced out of jobs either well before retirement age, or before they had planned to retire.
And, many of these folks want to keep working. But their options suddenly become very limited. They may be forced to take a job that either they don’t enjoy, pays much less than their previous job did or gobbles up more of their time than they care to give to a job. If you selected all of the above for your situation, you are not alone.
So how does one deal with planning for retirement, or for “what’s next,” in this milieu? First, as soon as you begin your career, get your head in the right place. Know that the following will, or is likely to, happen:
• The job that you were hired to do will change over time, perhaps sooner than even you may expect. If you like what you are doing, you may not like what you will be doing next. If you like where you work, you have to decide whether the changes in your employment situation are worth staying with your employer, or trying to find something more to your liking. The current job market has improved enough over the last decade that you may have more options than you realize.
• As you get older, and earn more employee benefits, you become a greater cost to your employer. Don’t necessarily go by your parents’ advice that says if you keep your nose clean, show up every day and do good work, you’ll have a job for life. Someone came up with an arbitrary matrix some years ago that says something like: in the first three years, you get more out of an employee than you pay him. After three years, as the cost of that employee increases, you are paying him more than you are getting from him. You’ve heard of being on the clock? Well, you may be on the clock for more reasons than you think.
Given all that, here’s what you do: first, save. It doesn’t matter how much, initially, you save. Even $5 a week will work, if you are not making much. You may have to go without some pleasures to do it, but do it, and don’t touch the money unless there are dire circumstances, or you are making a long-term investment in, say, a house. Also, put any raises you get into that savings. If your costs go up, cut out more discretionary spending.
Secondly, come up with a plan B that could put money in your pocket whether you survive for years at a job, or not. There are many such vehicles out there that will allow you to spend a few part-time hours a week off work, and potentially make an income that could eventually dwarf what you are earning now. To learn about one of the best such vehicles, message me.
Meanwhile, follow the old adage that says, “plan for the worst, and hope for the best.” Because you like a certain job doesn’t mean you can keep it. After all, the job doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to your employer. He or she can do with it whatever he or she pleases, even move it to a different country, or replace it with a machine.
A good job is a gift. Certainly, one earns a good job. And certainly, one can become really good at that job. It doesn’t mean the gift can’t be taken from you. It’s up to you to prepare for when the worst happens, even if it doesn’t.
So, if you like working, that’s admirable. Just don’t presume that you can always do what you like, for as long as you like.
Peter
WAGES RISING, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP UP WITH COSTS
#RisingCosts #WageIncreases #ImprovingEconomy
The economy is improving.
Therefore, interest rates are rising.
Therefore, wages are increasing as unemployment is decreasing.
Therefore, costs of just about everything is rising, which may be canceling out wage increases for many.
In its Weekly Explainer, published Oct. 29, 2018, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution took on this subject, largely quoting economist Aaron Sojourner of the University of Minnesota.
Sojourner spent a year as part of the Council of Economic Advisers in Washington.
The unemployment rate is now as low as it has been since the dot-com boom. Yet, it’s really hard for a lot of people to get a meaningful raise, which is defined as exceeding the price increases of necessities, the article says.
Real average hourly earnings, meaning wages adjusted for inflation, in August for all employees are up 0.1 percent, the article quotes the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall prices have increased by the same amount during the same time period, the article says.
“On average, most workers were running in place,” the article reads.
Moreover, for ordinary workers over the last year, real average hourly earnings actually decreased 0.1 percent, the article quotes the BLS.
If you are an average worker, whether or not you have gotten a raise recently, you probably feel that you can’t get ahead.
Sure, employers are fighting over a finite labor pool, poaching even within a restaurant chain, some of which have eased their rules against that.
So one may end up going from one job to another, doing pretty much the same work, and might see $1 an hour more. But if the cost of what you have to buy is increasing by that much, you may think it’s better to keep up than to fall behind – and it is.
So what’s a person who really wants to get ahead to do? That depends on whether that person is willing to look at things that can put extra money in his or her pocket, without interfering with what he or she is doing now.
That doesn’t mean a second, relatively low-paying job. It means looking at something that could dramatically change your life for the better.
There are many such vehicles out there that potentially can do that. To check out one of the best, message me.
Meanwhile, keep your eyes open for a better-paying job. Look at doing something you may never have thought you would do. Rather than complain about how things are, do something to make your life better.
Though employers may look desperate for help in some areas, there’s only so much they are going to pay for that help. No matter how much your boss may like you, if you threaten to go, there’s only so many inducements he or she will offer to convince you to stay. Try not to make such a decision on emotion. Always have your mind on what would be best for you.
When unemployment is down, wages go up, and prices go up to pay those higher wages. It’s a progression you cannot stop. But you can look at things that, with a little effort outside of your job, and a strong goal for your life, can allow you to reach your dream.
Peter
ROBOTS, OTHER COUNTRIES KILLING U.S. JOBS?
#robots #AmericanJobs #efficiencies #CreativeDestruction
Do you believe robots, or manufacturing in other countries, are killing American jobs?
A recent article in The Guardian carries the headline, “Robots will destroy our jobs – and we’re not ready for it.”
Economist Joseph Schumpeter describes technological change as “creative destruction.” Actually, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the U.S. labor force in 1950 was 62 million. By 2000 it was 79 million and it’s projected to reach 192 million by 2050.
These bits of information come from an article by Walter E. Williams of Creators Syndicate. It was published Feb. 21, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Though the ‘creative destruction’ process works hardships on some people who lose their jobs and are forced to take lower-paying jobs, any attempt to impede the process would make us all worse off,” Williams writes.
It’s tough to understand the value of technological progress if you’ve been shown the curb from your job. Many people have lost relatively good-paying jobs, and been forced to take lower-paying jobs, if they were lucky enough to find a new job at all. The recession of 2008 has taken a toll on many.
The Williams article tells of the 62 million in the work force in 1950. Back then, progress was definitely slower. People could count on the jobs they had to be around for as long as they wanted to work. Some of those jobs were hard, either on the body, mind or both.
Back then, many workers were represented by unions, which helped impede some process innovations and efficiencies to keep more people working.
Today, fewer workers have that kind of representation, and the number keeps decreasing. Workers are essentially on their own to plan their careers.
As a result, in many cases, careers come to a premature end, and workers are left figuring out what to do next.
But just as technology has been, by and large, a good thing for the U.S. and the world, having workers determine their own destinies can also be a good thing, if you want to look at it differently.
It’s been said in several different ways that hardship creates opportunity. Though the opportunity may be difficult to see if circumstances have dealt you a difficult blow, they are out there for those willing to look for them.
If you have lost what appears to be a good job, and are not yet ready to retire, there are many ways out there to make money other than through a traditional W-2 job. To check out one of the best, message me. You might even see a great way to help your friends overcome difficult circumstances.
The U.S. has moved over the centuries from a primarily agricultural economy, to a primarily manufacturing economy, and is continuing to move into a more technologically based economy. You, as perhaps a temporarily displaced worker, can’t do anything to fight that. In fact, no governmental entity can do anything to fight that. If we try to impede innovation here, someone else somewhere will innovate, leaving the U.S. in the dust.
So the next time you try to blame robots, cheaper overseas labor or other advances on your circumstances, remember that you can’t stop those things. You can only look for ways to help yourself to a better life.
That may require a change of mind-set, or departing your comfort zone, but ANYONE can do it. If you don’t find a solution immediately, keep looking. You just might meet the person who will show you how YOU can change your life for the better.
Peter