Years ago, when I was first starting to blog, I wrote a small thing about how the 2008 recession was good for the status quo, because it kept a lot of Boomers in place longer than they maybe would have stayed, due to fiscal reasons (i.e. they lost money, the value of their home, what have you). As time has passed since that 2014 post, increasingly I think Boomers stay in place simply because they want to work and fear retirement = death. I may be speaking predominantly about men here, but I am a man, so that’s a bit more of what I know conditionally. I personally dislike most forms of work and find it to be a means to an end and nothing more, but I also cry at romantic comedies, so perhaps I’m not much of a guy as is.
This term “Boomer Blockade” I largely attribute to Paul Millerd, and it appears like his January 18, 2020 — pre-pandemic! — newsletter is where it began. To wit:
Millenials and Gen Xers are hitting a wall at work. They have been promoted several times but due to low rates of organic growth and long-tenured senior leaders, they don’t really see a path for future progression or promotion. They start to play the lateral game — jumping around to different jobs and hoping they can find a firm growing fast enough where there might be more opportunity. They may have a good title, but are still doing the same work they were doing 5 to 10 years ago and…
