It used to be a well-worn path. Graduate with a degree in your chosen specialty, work the same––hopefully fulfilling––job for 40 years, happily retire. Those days are long gone, but we still live in a system that has failed to move on and to take this reality into account. A system where we fear what the future may hold and are uncertain about our place in it.
The present reality is traditional career paths are increasingly unrealistic. According to Statistics Canada, the average life expectancy in Canada is 79 years for men and 83 years for women. People born more recently can expect to live even longer. In 2015, Statistics Canada reported that one in five Canadians aged 65 and older worked during the year, the highest proportion recorded since the 1981 census. 30 percent of them worked full-time. Both of those trends are likely to continue.
Of course, longer life expectancies aren’t the only reason people are retiring later in life. Many people continue working because they can't afford to retire. Others keep working because they want the continued stimulation and social interaction a job provides.
There is another trend changing the traditional career path: people are switching jobs repeatedly throughout their working life. Many people switch jobs not because they want to, but because of the rise of the so-called “gig economy,” which favors contract and freelance work. But there are also those who are dissatisfied with their careers, and they want a change.
This wasn't uncommon a decade ago; it just didn’t happen as often. We called it a mid-life crisis. Today, it happens more often, and will continue as the job market evolves. According to a 2017 report from Dell Technologies, 85 percent of the jobs that will exist by 2030 have yet to be created. Technology and increasing automation will drastically change the way we approach our careers and how we measure success.
This confluence of economic, social and technological realities will lead to a very different employment market, but it also offers an opportunity to create a world more suited to our needs and desires. Until now, much of our identity as individuals has been centered around what we do. This is an opportunity to concentrate a little more on who we want to be.
In a recent interview with Quartz, Laura Carstensen, a psychologist and the founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, said we will need a new model to adapt to the changes in life expectancy and the job market.
The current one “doesn’t work, because it fails to recognize all the other demands on our time,” she said. “People are working full-time at the same time they’re raising children. You never get a break. You never get to step out. You never get to refresh...we go at this unsustainable pace, and then pull the plug.”
Carstensen suggests that we redistribute our time, so that formal education and practical learning last much longer, with full-time careers not beginning until the age of 40. She believes that people should then transition to part-time work and fully retire at around the age of 80.
Embracing the idea that the future may consist of multiple careers as our interests and the economy change can help us to develop our flexibility. It will involve rethinking our traditional ideas of success, but it may also be key to maintaining interest and enthusiasm and preventing professional burnout. It could also lead to a more sustainable work-life balance.
We are living longer in a time where the future is rapidly changing. Individuals, institutions, corporations and society in general will be required to adjust and adapt. But is beginning a full-time career at the age of 40 practical? Some may say that is becoming the reality for those who aren’t able to secure a full-time job out of higher education or are voluntarily moving from one gig to another.
What do you think? Will following Carstensen's suggestions prepare us for the future? Would you prefer to start your full-time career around 40? What about student loans, starting a family and rent/mortgage? Share your thoughts!