This is how people worked for a living back in the day.....

[Value Buy]

The new generations will never understand how the economy use to work for the people.
I am not saying it should work this way, as we all know, things change, but for many, it was a period where you felt secure about your job and your family's well being.

www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/she-held-the-same-job-for-58-years-never-looked-for-another/ar-AAuDDy0?li=BBnbfcL

Then again, unless you are T Boone Pickens or Warren Buffet, should we ever work that long before enjoying retirement?

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

New generations will never understand how anything worked in the past. That's why it's the past. 
I've stayed in the same career, but I've changed employers three times. 

I believe part of it is in the quest for self-actualization, we need new challenges. Complacency is not good. 

[Value Buy]

Jan 14, 2018 11:54:53 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

New generations will never understand how anything worked in the past. That's why it's the past. 
I've stayed in the same career, but I've changed employers three times. 

I believe part of it is in the quest for self-actualization, we need new challenges. Complacency is not good. 

I am retired now.
I started with my employer in high school, part time, went to a satellite division of IU for a year and a half while still working, dropped out, got drafted, spent 22 months in the Army, 14 months in Vietnam, and went back to work at my former employer and retired from there three years ago.
So, other than the Army, I had one employer, and did not regret it until about forty years into the job.....
I think getting drafted and spending time in the military made me look for my "safe place in the world" when I got out

[steff]

My husband worked for 9 years for his first bakery in Houston.  He's been at his current bakery in Georgia for 17 years.  He had 3 days at Earthgrains when we first moved here & it was such a shit show he left & got a job at his current employer. 

If we had stayed in Houston & he had stayed at Mrs. Bairds, he'd be the world highest paid dough mixer because they didn't promote from within.  Where he is now, he went from dough mixer up the ladder to superintendent.  They not only promote from within, they also pay for continuing education.  We could have never afforded the AIB (American Institute of Baking) degree he got thru his current employer. 

He could walk into any bakery and get a good job, but he doesn't want to lose his seniority & he's finally 1 spot under the top dog in production.  We're anxiously awaiting that top dog to go down for sexual harassment (and he will, he likes to date/hit on every woman that walks in).   It's just a matter of time IMO.

[mroped]

You are talking about the time when the milk was still delivered at your door and people were still smoking inside hospitals.
A time when you bought your house and a car, could afford a vacation and schooling for the children on one income.
The stock market functioned on things that were real.
Did you ever think in 1970 that your milk will be labeled “no fat” or that your car payement might be higher than your mortgage and your significant other would have to get a job so you can stay afloat because your wages haven’t seen an increase that would actually have an impact in 10 years?
Did you ever think that the stock market would be manipulated to this extent and that things like oil or gas would be priced 3-4 months before they are even extracted?

Technology it’s a great thing, made people’s lives easier but sometimes miserable too!
Today, at the click of a button they can find replacements for anybody within a few seconds.
And the production wouldn’t even slow down for a moment.

[kadee79]

I didn't stay with the same employer, due to the many moves I made in my life, but I stayed in the same industry for over 30 yrs....retail...doing everything from cleaning toilets to managing stores.  Management is not all that great in retail....by the time you figure hours worked or "on call", you make less than minimum wages!


I certainly remember the "good ole days", had an uncle who started with Caterpillar when they first opened in my home town & retired from there about 35-40 yrs. later.  His wife save quarters in the old Alka-Seltzer bottles and they paid cash with those for a brand new 1953 Studebaker.  I remember when they came to our house to show it to us.  

[steff]

I'll also add that it is harder to get a job at my hubby's company now than it was when he came on.   Now you have to go thru a temporary agency.  You do 90 days on the temp agency payroll.  Very few get hired beyond that 90 days, but they will keep someone for 90 days, let them go & then bring them back thru the agency for 90 days again a few weeks later.   There's a good chance my hubby would have never made it to where he is now & worked for them for 17 years if he was going thru the hiring system they use now.  I'm talking line workers, not management.  Management they promote from within or bring someone in from another plant.   Line workers they treat like a dime a dozen, they can always get another one from the temp agency.  

Another thing, my Paw Paw worked for Armco Steel for 40 years, retired with all the bells & whistles.   20 years later, he lost his pension to a golden parachute when the company folded.   So was his 40 years all that great in the end?   What he worked for was snatched away for some high paid executive that had only been there a few years.