One factor in the global downsized demand for new lawyers is that Baby Boomers won't retire. In addition, they are clogging the pipeline for upward mobility in the profession. Fewer senior associates are making partner.
For some, the reason is the need for continuation of a certain level of income. They might still have children in college. Their investment portfolio might have taken a hit during The Great Recession. They simply can't afford to retire. And that's that.
They will do whatever it takes to stay employed. Should the law firm have a mandatory retirement policy, they will make it their business to find work at another law firm. It may not have the title "partner." But it will still be work.
But for more the motivation to stay working is this: They have seen what has happened to so many Baby Boomers, not only just lawyers, who retire. They line the corridors of irrelevance in upscale senior citizen residential developments in locations such as Oro Valley, Arizona.
There is the social reality that in developed economies one's worth is correlated with one's ability to keep generating income.
Even in supposed neutral settings such as a coffee fellowship after a church service, those who identify themselves as retired receive that glaze-over look. Or, they aren't even acknowledged. They are treated as "invisible."
The "popular kids" are the men and women, no matter what their age, who are still in the game.
They are, for instance, useful for their connections. The guy who brought the finger food for the fellowship wants a reference for his son to get an internship at Company X or be hired at Law Firm Y.
They also are sources of just-in-time insight about professional trends. How many social network platforms do I really need to learn, I asked the head of a marketing agency after the church service. I trust hands-on players, not the supposed experts who contact me to download their e-book on digital contact marketing.
In addition, they don't have the time to take our time. The retired, on the other hand, can become pests presenting us compulsively with invitations to bus trips to the casino, early bird specials at the restaurant and the yoga class for senior citizens.
Of course, not everyone can remain employed or self-employed. Their health may be a problem. Their parents may require care-taking. They lack the drive to keep up with their field.
So, those who can continue to grow in their professions, no matter what their age, are the new class of blessed.
Unfortunately, that has grim implications for the younger generations. There have always been silos among generations. That has been worsened by the perception of the aging holding onto jobs as the enemy.
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