Age 56. Can't be arsed at work anymore.

I retired and thought I rey something completly different from the stressful HR post I had. I did 4 years partime retail, then 3 years parttime in a GP, took a year off for surrery and started at another GP today (16hours).

”boomer parents” retired in their 40s/50s…..really?
I assume those ones came from very affluent backgrounds, but most likely not the majority

Both parents working class, Dad went to grammar school and did very well in switching many companies over to computers. He travelled extensively towards tge end of hos career, auditing business, as far as i can remember.
Mum was SAH house wife for most of her life once married.
She returned to work when we were teens, clerical in NHS.
They made some shrewd property moves over 50 yea, Dad fiscally savvy. We weren't overly 'rich' growing up. He preferred to reduce his mortgage than take lavish holidays. I remember a fairly frugal childhood.
They will say it was all hard work, i agree but think they were lucky to ride the property and computers wave of the late 80s early 90s.

I've heard of Quiet Quiting, did it with my last two jobs until I found a better place to work !!😄😄

@Skybluecoat
without looking up “quiet quitting” I already like the sound of it.
im not going to bother looking it up - im devising my own adaptation of it 🤣

”boomer parents” retired in their 40s/50s…..really?
I assume those ones came from very affluent backgrounds, but most likely not the majority

"Anyone want to move to Sri Lanka with me? 🥳"

This sounds fab! Maybe woman hitting the cliff should just go rogue, pool resources and live the rest of our lives with purpose, doing whatever we please.

That may look different to different people and might include childcare, caring for elders, travel, scaled back hours or volunteering.
All of which ease the burden on society.
After all we've done our bit, ensured the next generation have successfully launched.
I agree that some of our bodies are wearing out along with our give a damn and last nerve.
Many of us will cross the 67 line with illnesses, replacement joints and a barely liveable pension.
I look at my boomer generation parents, many retired in their late 40s and 50s. All seem to go from one holiday to planning the next, punctuated with doctor and dentist appointments.
Many are mortgage free, I've obviously not got this to look forward to, as my marriage failed early on (illness) and I've remained single and dedicated my life to our 3 children.
I try not to feel resentful at how things have turned out. The future looks bleak if I focus too hard and crunch the numbers.
I'm not saying it is any less hard for men but 67 is too old for the pension and there's talk of highering the age at some point.
Many will be long term sick long before then.

I've spent the last few days keeping across this thread - fascinating.

I think keeping the brain going is a good thing to try to ward off dementia but it doesn't have to be through working. The very worse thing people can do is retire and sit on the sofa watching TV all day you must keep your brain going. I witnessed this happen with my mum who retired at 55 dementia is the most awful illness

Yes, but that suggests market adjustments are needed to restore wage share following its long term decline, or enhance flexibilities and job design, or improve British management, so that incentives are rebalanced. To give one example, the French work much shorter hours, and have a better quality of life, AND have significantly better productivity.

I’m 63 and didn’t work for over 15 years - kept by my partner, I suffer from a few autoimmune illnesses and coupled with caring responsibilities for my elderly dad (before his death) felt I was needed at home. I started to feel very controlled by my family, both financially and mentally. I was reliant on my partner for money so after a particularly nasty row I started to realise I was stuck in this awful abusive situation and it needed to change fast so a year and a half ago I got a job. I love working now. I enjoy having my own money and also enjoy the company of other people, yes I am often knackered and feel old and worn out. People say to me “why do you work when you don’t really need to”. I can’t tell them it’s an escape route from home but I’ve never been healthier even with all my illnesses (in the background) and feel this is my last chance to do something. I don’t want to give up on life as I feel young in my mind, I’d be very sad if I had to leave. Retiring makes me feel like I’ve got one foot in the grave. I work in the NHS and it’s very overstretched and the staff are abused by “over zealous managers” and targets but I love it because it makes me feel I’m still alive. My partner says to me “I’m addicted to the drama of it all” and maybe I am, but I’m not dead yet!

When I was younger, I had a well paid highflying city job but I think I got burnt out and worked with some terrible narcissist that affected me, I lost my confidence and I gave up. I’ve obviously done things back to front. When my manager at work talks about personal development plans, I just say “I’m trying to ward off dementia, that’s it”… it’s horrible getting old, especially when you’ve got the mind of a 20-year-old and enjoy a good laugh.

It was an obvious joke.

I agree with @AngelInBlueJeans this is a disgusting thing to say. Many women have had their lives affected deeply by sexual harassment at work! And as that poster said, some women have been bullied out of their job - as the man sexually harassing them gets the bosses on side, and the woman either isn't believed, or is told she is asking for it.

Shame on you for that comment @Horrace !

It wasn’t financially or practically feasible for me until I did it. Mid-50s you often have fewer commitments than when you are bringing up young kids. It doesn’t have to be setting up a business (though heaven knows we’ve got to grow the economy somehow) It could be traveling the world, taking up a challenge. Whatever. But life is short. You might only have 20 good years left. Maybe less. Why waste it in a CBA job, dragging down an employer and blocking others’ progress. Be brave. Live life.
There was a thread recently asking why the UK is a bit shit (spoiler - it’s not) but if you have quiet quitters in their 20s and CBAs in their 50s it’s not hard to see why economic growth is so hard to come by in the UK.

This is a nice idea but not financially or practically feasible for most people…

This, exactly 💯.

I'm back at work after a career break as a SAHM for 6 years, and my health going through hell and back over the past decade after a head injury and post concussion syndrome then being injured by an off label antipsychotic 😢💔

I lost the ability to read after my head injury, not ideal when I'm an editor and journalist. I'm now a freelancer but it's part time so not highly paid but fits around the children's school hours etc. So in many ways, I can't retrain and don't want to as it's not practical or financially viable.

I was incredibly lucky to get this job a month ago and it is a million times better working from home than commuting.

I've had this; 3 of us middle aged women being patronised by a 20 year old. It's hard to bite your tongue when she was stupid as well! She was outright rude to a colleague, telling her she was "the queen of the lazy bitches" while we were having a drink after work. It was meant as a joke, but no one laughed. Everyone seemed in thrall to her for some reason, even the colleague who was the target of the remark. I left 4 years ago, during Covid, and at 59 I'm semi retired, wising my state pension was closer!

.

I'm in my late 50s and feel the same. At my work, all the older managers have recently left (driven out) and been replaced by people a lot younger, probably because they are cheaper. It is not their fault but the lack of knowledge and experience is grating on me and I can't wait to retire now. Just received patronising praise from a 30 year old for pointing something out before it led to a huge/expensive error and felt like telling him it wasn't "well spotted". It was bloody obvious to anyone who knows how to do the job properly.

Was just going to say that….
presumably she would have built up a good financial stability to be able to pack up and retrain…..she would’ve also be able to dip in and out of temporary or consultative positions if the coffers were being depleted

This isn’t remotely funny.
Trust me, you wouldn’t say that if you really were on the receiving end of genuine sexual harassment! I’ve been there and I definitely didn’t want or welcome it. I dreaded going into work everyday, and when I made it clear I wasn’t interested, guess what, I was bullied out of my job.

I completely agree. But building on that, I think it's very selfish and entitled for people to be moaning about things like change initiatives and annoying young people.

Maybe I'm being jaded and cynical. But no job is perfect. Having stayed in jobs with toxic managers, bullying that actively destroyed my mental health.
I'll take one with constant initiatives any day!

Yes, if you are dedicated to your job , the lack of progress might annoy you. But as @Rainbowdottie you pointed out, we often need jobs to get on with the others parts of our lives.

So why moan. Just do what works for you within the hours you're contracted to work.

Now if you're actively being pushed out as an obstruction or something that's a different story. But a lot of people on here are just irritated by their job.

I don't think for some people it's as easy as "just leave". I'm now retired (early) and if I wanted to retrain or take up a casual job, I could. I have really no restraints (I currently look after my granddaughter full time but they'd have to find an alternative if I wanted to go back to work) , I now have the time to retrain and I could also take a casual contract on minium wage because I can afford to do that.

But it wasn't always this way. I've stayed in jobs because the money was paying our mortgage. I've stayed in jobs because the benefits at the time were what I needed. I've stayed in jobs because coming out of them ,meant I was only likely to get a temporary contract, and I couldn't do that with a family relying on me. I couldn't afford to retrain and start on the bottom wage again, let alone all the schmoozing that comes with a new job. I had a family at home who relied on my money and also my hours. I worked in teaching so I could predominantly have the longer school holidays off with my children. I couldn't go and retrain as a doctor, lawyer, chef whatever because I didn't have anyone to look after my then small family.

It's easy to say just leave, but it all has to add up, all the factors have to right. Of course, if you can afford to leave and have the support infrastructure, go for it. I just couldn't.

Then take out the money and benefits, some people are in minium wage jobs with neither the money or any benefits and they still stay because there is little alternative. It's hard getting a job these days on minium wage, a lot of people are chasing them. It could be that your minium wage is still highly needed for your family or giving the right hours,circumstances or commute.

I'd love to tell people if it's not the right road for you, start paving another, but I don't believe it's just a case of "get up and leave ". I've wanted to leave my job so many times but it was a very selfish thing for me to do.

Leave! Find a casual job. Help out in M&S or another store over Christmas on your terms till you get straight.
I worked for a big camping organisation, dream job. Outside interacting with clients and running a smooth ship, paid just over minimum wage and put in a whole load of unpaid hours of work but great fun. That was until the young bean counters took over. Funnily enough they’re all on bonuses too! Smart ideas and increased workload all to make money. Nah! Slowly but surely the staff are all either leaving or only doing the hours they are getting paid to do. A great job with a work/life balance to die for ruined.
If your unhappy leave.

Smile and nod.