"Blue Collar" - Hit Hard By Age Bias, Jobless But Still Don't Consider that Reset

 "Experienced workers have been slower to recognize job-market shifts that create new roles in construction and similar industries." - The Wall Street Journal, January 14, 2025

As a career coach specializing in the over-50 segment I have a front-row seat on some of the mindsets in the labor market. Among the aging - the majority of whom Pro Publica predicts will be out of their knowledge work jobs - there remains a bias against doing anything that doesn't involve the trappings of the office. That's their comfort zone: the desk, the organizational hierarchy, the processes, the policies. And the polite well-measured conversations.

That means they probably wouldn't even consider a shift to those jobs in blue-collar industries where they essentially would be doing knowledge tasks. WSJ presents the service advisor positions at car-repair chain Crash Champions. That's white-collar work in a blue-collar setting.  

With good reason, they would wonder: Could I fit in? College, advanced degrees, office work and workshops on how to get ahead all socialize them to function among similar kinds of workers. The assumptions about success, the dress, the language are all the same. 

Well, for those I coached who, usually in desperation went blue collar, the answer is, yes, the fit is possible. Even a relief from all that white-collar stuff. 

One former manager in pharma found his age locked him out of comparable jobs. Divorced, he had the mortgage on the house where his child lived with his ex-wife to pay. He opted for a $7,000 training program to be licensed for long-distance driving. He told me: "It's all the same. People need to make money. But what's nice is that on the road other drivers aren't competing with you like in the office."

Post 9/11, my industry collapsed and with that the business for my boutique dried up. My lifestyle was still middle-class, including owning a house. A cognitive therapist mandated: Get a job, any job. "At my age" what was open was a blue-collar one as a security guard in a big box. Yes, I even wore the uniform. I didn't need any further emotional upset so I made it my business to fit in. As they advise in Emotional Intelligence workshops, hover on the outskirts of groups to pick up on the norms, then slowly gravitate in. 

As my future client would tell me, in blue collar there's more a sense of we're in this together than brutal competition. When management was trying to force me to come in on a day off a co-worker stuck up for me. Never had that happened in an office.

If nothing else, time in the blue collar can restore your confidence in the ability to earn income and maybe even get ahead. I was offered a supervisory position. 

After about eight months as a security guard I had put together an idea for a digital enterprise. Within seven months after I launched that it was profitable. The fear was gone: I always knew I could return to blue collar and earn a buck. Take on two blue-collar gigs and the bucks would add up. Four years ago I made another career shift. As I said, the fear was gone. 

The beauty of blue collar is that it's so open. A former counselor was burnt out. They figured out that there were neighborhoods with the elderly who needed  patient, friendly affordable handyman services. They started that out with "free samples." Soon they had regular customers. 

Takeaway: Try out blue-collar anything. You might find it liberating from the standard angst embedded in the office. New perspectives are possible. They could break open fresh ideas about how to earn a good living.

Success is a mental game. Failure comes from being done in by the “committee” in your head.

Together, we reprogram your thinking. Then we change your story. And, unleash success.

Intuitive Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, becoming a solopreneur and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). Yes, test out the chemistry. Zero risk.

Don’t give up before the miracle.

 



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