A New Movement: Not A Midlife Crisis

Welcome to The Shift, a weekly newsletter where I provide thought-provoking ideas to help you think differently about your career and money.

Last Week + This Week = It’s All Connected

Last week I talked about why so many of us do career change wrong. Read here if you missed it. This week I explore why constant career reinvention will quickly become the norm.

Quick note: I hope you always feel comfortable sending me articles, charts, images, memes, jokes, random thoughts that you think will help inform this newsletter. You are my inspiration and I’ll always give you a shout out if I use something you share - I do it below (scroll all the way to the bottom)!

As always, thank you for reading. ❤️ 

Just Like the Boomers

Reinventing your career is very personal.

At the same time, it feels like anyone and everyone wants to do it… Is this a sign of the times, a new fad, or perhaps something worse?

My guess: it’s a sign of the times.

This isn’t the first time Americans are experiencing a burning desire for career change.

Boomers went through a similar crisis at about the same age as millennials are now.

A technological revolution is changing the way we work. This time it’s AI, last time it was computers and the internet.

Still, this time might be different:

The drivers are long-term in nature, with many of them potentially adding momentum to the trend.

Don’t Call it a Midlife Crisis

The average age for a career change is 39 according to research by Zippia.

This suggests career changes are a mid-life crisis type of phenomenon. That could be true, but I think age might be more coincidence than cause this time around.  

Back in the early 2000s it was expected that workers could have more than 1 career. Now, there are estimates that 7 careers will be the norm!

That sounds a bit high to me. But 3 sounds low… Then again, it probably depends on what generation we are talking about.

The point is: the amount of career change we will experience in our lifetime is on the rise. And it could accelerate over time.  

It’s Not You, It’s Everything Else

If you are seeking career reinvention, you aren’t alone.

There are many underlying trends pushing this movement forward. Below is a summary of what I view as the top 5 drivers.

BTW, #4 was the most surprising to me!  

1️⃣Individual preferences:

Pandemic induced changes to the work environment have awakened the desire for autonomy by many workers, with the trends only strengthening as time passes.

• Work-life balance is now as important as salary to 93% of employees¹ .

• Aligning work with personal values or purpose is also top of mind for workers.

• Many believe they can’t achieve these goals in their current careers.

2️⃣Living long lives:

Living longer doesn’t just mean more time to work. It opens the door to the possibility of integrating flexibility with learning and experimentation.

• Average life expectancy is projected to be 86 years² in 2060 (which sounds low to me, but it’s government data).

• That’s 6 years more than in 2017.

• Today’s 5 year-olds have a good change of living to 100³ .

3️⃣Depreciating skills:

It’s obvious that technological advancements and automation are changing the nature of work, but the speed of change may be quicker than we think.

• Currently the average half-life of most skills is 4 years⁴ .

• The half-life of technical skills is 2.5 years⁴ .

• …That puts the half-life of a career at risk.

These timelines will likely shorten over time.

4️⃣Disappearing jobs:

This is an extension of the depreciating skills point – especially with jobs increasingly being tied to skills.

• Almost 25% of jobs that exist right now will be eliminated within 5 years⁵ .

• Offsetting some of this will be new jobs from emerging industries.

• Net, there will be 2% less jobs⁵ .

5️⃣Alternative work options:

The prevalence of open talent networks (Fiverr, Braintrust, Torc) make independent work easier to find, just as we are getting more comfortable with the idea of this type of work.

• It’s a try before you buy, or try before you go all in on a new career option.

• 29% of workers say independent work is less risky than permanent employment⁶ .

Careers Like Ice Cubes?

One of my awesome readers, Matt, explained the change in work this way:

“A life with a single career is like a melting ice cube. It is disappearing.

Recognizing that it is melting is the first step. What you do from there is what truly matters.”

Grab a paper towel, find a new ice tray and a freezer, let the melting do its thing?

You get the choice.

Let’s make The Shift!

Lindsey

P.S. I’d love it if you’d share this with 1 other person who you think would enjoy it. Thanks a million! 🙏

Sources:

1. Randstad.

2. U.S. Census Bureau.

3. Stanford.

4. Eightfold.

5. World Economic Forum. Future of Jobs 2023.

6. MBO Partners' 2021 State of Independence report and Harvard Business Review.