The Reynolds Center has announced its 2008 fall workshop schedule.
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The Reynolds Center has opened registration for select 2008 free online seminars.
Topics include:
*Intermediate Business Journalism
*Covering Private Companies
*Business Journalism Boot Camp
Workers nearing the end of their earning years face some pretty scary prospects, according to business publications this month.
It used to be that if you were fired later in life, you'd probably land on your feet somehow. Not anymore, according to John Helyar in the May 2 issue of Fortune. The cover story, "50 and Fired," profiles "members of a flourishing species: the involuntary retiree."
Take Bob Miller, a 20-year financial-services marketing veteran. When he was let go from Zurich Financial in 2003, he didn't sweat it — it had happened to him five times before and he'd always landed a better job than the one he had before. But not this time — two years later, he's still unemployed.
Helyar recounts Miller's sense of uselessness and attempts to keep up appearances. "You go into upscale suburbs, and what you see is lots of guys with laptops and cell phones, trying to look busy at the Starbucks," Helyar quotes Miller as saying.
Others go to support groups or try to seek legal recourse. But the sad reality is "discarded executives of a certain age may never find that new position," writes Helyar.
The hard numbers aren't encouraging. According to the article, an estimated 3.5 million people between the ages of 40 and 58 left the workforce in the
Many factors are driving these trends: A perception that older workers lack certain skills or the ability to adapt, belt-tightening at most companies and the outsourcing of white-collar jobs to foreign countries.
On May 5, The Wall Street Journal reported on those at the opposite end of the spectrum — older executives at the top of the corporate ladder who don't seem to ever want to retire, even well into their 80s.
In "You Retire, You Die," Carol Hymowitz, Joann Lublin and Joe Flint look at "CEOs, activist investors and other business leaders staying in the game long past the traditional retirement age of 65." That list includes 87-year-old investor and billionaire casino owner Kirk Kerkorian, who recently offered to buy a significant stake in troubled General Motors; 74-year-old Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; and 74-year-old Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp.
"None of this means that top jobs in business aren't going to younger people," the writers say. "The growing demands of the top jobs — global travel, fast-changing technology, 24/7 communication with employees — favor young executives with energy, flexibility and openness to fresh ideas."
Whether workers are forced into early retirement or hang on to their jobs until their dying day, many who don't have wealth the likes of Kerkorian or Buffett are wondering what they'll have to fall back on in their golden years.
In the May 16 issue of BusinessWeek, reporters Lee Walczak and Richard S. Dunham examine what they call, "Safety Net Nation," which includes Republicans and Democrats alike — and the latter group's fears about reforming Social Security.
According to a poll cited in the article, 47 percent of respondents believe the government should guarantee a minimum standard of living for retirees. In contrast, 35 percent feel that is an individual's responsibility.
"While many members of Safety Net Nation have nothing against investing and choice, they're worried that the country's web of public and private social protections is fraying," they write. "In an era of rampant job insecurity, when employer-provided pensions and health coverage can no longer be taken for granted, they want a middle-class security blanket that gives them protection as they build wealth."
Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism
