What jobs for 60+ year olds?

[Llhvj]

Reading all the threads about redundancies, AI taking over jobs but pension age going up - what jobs are all the 55/60 plus year olds meant to have? In my own company, most of the people are in the 20s/30s age bracket, same with DHs work place. What jobs are all these people meant to be doing?

@Llhvj surely they just look for other jobs in their sector - why do you think no one would hire over 50s. In my sector - infrastructure - older workers are sought after for their expertise.

Fabulous! I used to work in labs and there were v few over 50, so that's good to hear.

I'm nearly 60 and if I were made redundant I really don't know what I'd do. I work in tech, but realistically, tech companies will not be queueing up to hire a 60 year old woman, when they can have someone younger and, let's face it, probably male. Plus, the tech job market is very competitive at the moment - I know several people of all ages who are struggling to find jobs.

Unskilled or low skilled jobs that have been mentioned include warehouse work, retail, care work - too physical at my age, and why would they pick me over someone younger and cheaper, who will have more stamina and who may already have done a similar job?

As for retraining as an electrician or plumber, again it can be fairly physical and to be honest, I don't much want to retrain for something completely different at my age, when I'm hoping to retire in 4 or 5 years.

In my area, older people tend to step away from frontline operational roles, and become non-op, I.e. admin or specialist roles. If you've already taken the steps up the ladder into management it's much easier.

It would be very easy for me to continue doing my job until I was 67, but no way could my partner (operational prison officer) carry on until that age. A 67 year old prison officer trying to restrain a 25 year old prisoner is really only going to end one way.

Jobs are not going to be swallowed up by AI just like that.

In case of my friends some are in marketing, others HR amongst some of the sectors.

I’m a PA/EA in my 50s. Computers have been edging my role out for years as managers do their own correspondence and appointments, there’s no filing etc.

You just have to keep flexing to what is needed. I now do office management, accounts, research as well as the traditional role. And have learned to use AI to my benefit rather than resisting it.

So my plan is to just hang in there as long as possible and then retire. I really don’t want to do retail, manual or call centre work.

Not for much longer if the government has its way....

Nhs admin and school admin are both computerised jobs. I’ve done both. I worked with computers when I was in my 30’s until I retired in my 60’s. Lots of people in their 60’s are capable of using technology.

I'm 55 and quality assurance in an insurance company. Started in the call centre 9 years ago. Company quite happy to employ over 50s. We have some in their 70s still working there.

But most of the people above have presumably been doing their jobs for years. How many of those jobs could you move into from an unrelated job? Senior food scientist? I think not. Museum work? Very competitive. Teacher? You'd have to retrain.

I'm 60, work in an Accountancy firm. I've been using a computer for over 30 years.

I think it’s going to be slim pickings for anyone doing lower level general admin jobs - it will be all about specialist knowledge, contacts , ability to close deals etc within many commercial sectors

PP has already clarified her comments about the suggestion to go for roles that are not computerised. It’s about AI, not people in 50s and 60s not being able to use computers.

I’m 57 and work in an HR dept. Our jobs are not being taken over by AI. Mine involves a huge amount of experience and skill that I’ve built up over 35 years. I use AI to help me do my job but very little of what I do could be taken over by a computer.

I love being a TA but I’m nearly 60 and trying to sit on the floor mat with reception children, or running after a child that’s bolted is difficult. I can’t imagine another seven years of this.

People in professional/office jobs will most likely be fine. It's the people who have always worked in manual jobs who are screwed.

I'm in my 30s and have given it consideration in my own career plans. Can I still do this job full time when I'm 68? If not, will I be able to easily move into a related job that I can do full time?

Traditionally, people could afford to buy their own home so by the time they were in their 50s or 60s, they'd paid the mortgage off. With no housing costs to pay, they could afford to work part time. That's no longer the case for a lot of us so we have to plan how we are going to pay the ever increasing rent (no housing benefit won't cover it, rents are usually much higher than the LHA covered by benefits).

I think the trick if you're in a manual job is to change your career to something office based by the time you're in your mid 40s. I'd have said by your 50s but I've seen a lot of posts on here from people saying they're struggling to find work in their 50s.

I had to find a new job in my late 50s/early 60s and it was really hard. I couldn’t get an admin job to save my life, the interviews were not tailored to my age group (asking a 62 year old where they see themselves in five years time aargh, I wouldn’t mind but it was just a part time receptionist job). I did get work but it ended up being too physical. I’ve pretty much given up now and rely on a couple of work pensions (thank god I have those) until my state pension kicks in.

It’s AI not computers.

Operative word being ‘expertise’. Not everyone has that type of job.

I think the job market is really difficult at the moment, when I was leaving school there were far more retail jobs for example, call centres weren't offshore, recently much of the tech industry has been offshored and a lot of call centre work has been replaced by chatbots. Civil service seems like a good option for those 50+.

Over 60 and work freelance in IT mostly in the financial sector and in areas such as IAM, AFC or TM (control function).
Over the course of my career I have managed several projects covering process automation, which is a very good thing and something AI should be more than capable of doing - if given the right input.
And there's the rub. AI, whilst it can "learn" always needs to be taught and its outputs checked.
As PP have said, AI will not be replacing conversations between, say, Audit and Control Functions any time soon. In addition "relearning" is required when there are any new regulatory requirements or changes to laws governing financial conduct or changes to sanctions imposed on countries, companies or individuals, for example.
Whereas AI might be able to flag up unusual behaviour or a violation of certain rules (and software has already been doing this for decades, so nothing new there) it cannot "resolve" or "evaluate" a given situation. This will always need to be done by an experienced human being.

OP asked

Reading all the threads about redundancies, AI taking over jobs but pension age going up - what jobs are all the 55/60 plus year olds meant to have?

The point I was making is that most have their ‘own’ job, the job they’ve always done, they don’t just stop at 55.

Those that have stopped two of the teachers and a doctor) are working in events, at an estate agency and at the local museum.

So my plan is to just hang in there as long as possible and then retire. I really don’t want to do retail, manual or call centre work.

In reality a high number of retail stores have closed their doors on the high street and many call centres operate from different countries so even these options will have slim pickings on the job market. The market will become highly competitive IMO.

Very true 😬