With younger workers entering the workforce every year, and each of them with increasing well-glazed qualifications, many old-timers in the workforce are feeling the pressure of losing their jobs. Most people believe that to compete with fresh faces, further education or retraining is a sure-fire to keep them relevant.
After all, you have more experience than recent graduates, and now, you have degrees like they do. Plus, if you always show up on time and have good relationships with coworkers, there is no way you will be out of class by some beginners. Or, at least, that’s what most of us like to think.
But if you look at the details of why older people are losing their jobs, you would see why getting an extra degree may be all just about giving yourself a false sense of security. People need to feel that they are in control of their lives, or at least, they need to feel that they are putting in an effort to change their fates. The truth, however, couldn’t be further from what they think.
Staying Relevant
First like talk about staying relevant. Unless you are in an industry that is facing revolutionary changes in technology, such as in the 80s when computers began to replace most of the paperwork processes in the economy; You can’t be irrelevant in your work when you actually do it every day (well, almost).
An engineer who works every day, but without the last degree from college; less relevant than recent graduates? If you are the boss, will you really rely on new graduates? Of course, a company needs to constantly bring young blood, but the new man will need training from the old man, that’s for sure. Whatever it is, a financial diploma or MBA will not make engineers more relevant as well.
The part of being relevant is really nothing more than an easy way out for the employers. If you’re performing well at your job, what reason is there for your employer releasing you? The truth is all about money. All businesses are out to make money. If they could get someone to do your job cheaper, then they would. Will taking more degrees or getting more training make you less replaceable? Hardly. Unless, of course, doing all that helps you move up, and usually it is harder to replace if you’re at the top. But then again, you probably know better. The ‘experts’ tell you that getting further education and training is to help you keep your job; nothing about getting a promotion.
Don’t Waste Your Time
Don’t waste your time trying to get more and more education. There is no better training ground for your job than your workplace. Training and education aren’t really going to help you keep your job. If anything, all that disruption and additional workload might affect your job performance. Get training only if your company sends you to one. That’s true when your job requires a certain skill and needs you to have it. Otherwise, you’ll be busy wasting some time on something that your company probably doesn’t need.
