Wage Scarring: Reversal of Boomer Salary-Hike Game of Changing Jobs

 "So how often did you change jobs?"

That's what a journalist asked me. They are doing an article on how we Boomers were probably the last lucky generation in America. Not only were plum jobs in abundance. By job hopping we could achieve significant leaps in compensation. I engaged in that ritual about every two years. 

The not-so-lucky current generations which still need to work full-time to pay their bills likely are only changing jobs because they had lost the previous one. Unlike us, as BusinessInsider reports, they are hitting up a two-part compensation disaster called "wage scarring."

One part entails accepting a job which pays less. According to Revelio Labs 40% of job changers swallowed more than a 10% cut in what they had been earning before. To that I would add an older number floating around out there from Pro Publica. That's if you were over-50, lost your job and landed another one in your field the odds were that only 10% of you would be earning comparable money.

The other part is that when you again changed jobs, either because of choice or another layoff, the new compensation would be calculated based on what you were being paid where you accepted the pay cut. That reset would probably haunt you until you could somehow loop out of that downward trajectory.

So, how to loop out?

Those I coach who got stuck in fields hit hard by cost-efficiency, offshoring and AI exited wage scarring by either retraining for a line of work in demand or starting their own business. 

Not that was easy. 

Hope springs eternal. That's especially the mental state if you had been a star in your field. The dangerous mindset is: I am so good at what I do that I will land on my feet. The cruel joke related to that is: Yeah, and the best blacksmiths in town when the Ford Model T took over were underemployed or even unemployed just like the not-so-good ones. A tech expert I coached who went from stardom, after 18 months unemployed, to a part-time contract, had to bottom out in a clinical depression before retraining.

However, preparation for the career shift is risky if it entails years of study. There are those who assume they are facing reality when knocked out of the career box by investing in three years of law school. By time they are finished, as even US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts recently warns, it could be tough to be hired. Lots of tasks will have become automated. 

In becoming self-employed, the wrench in the works is not understanding the market. Before taking the plunge research for the gap in what people want/need and how you can fill that better, faster and cheaper than any competition. In your area is there a demand for one more brick and mortar gently used clothing shop? In my region that has reached glut supply, even with the growing demand. How about doing it online? What is your expertise in doing that in an AI era?

When to loop? You will know: The pain of change will seem less than the suffering of bottom-feeding. 

Earning a Good Living in 2026 Involves Mental Combat. The enemy is usually your own thinking.

Complimentary consultation. No Pressure. Solid Guidance. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.