So, what happens if we re-shore the economy we gave away?

One of the problems I am gnawing-on involves the challenges of getting the grizzled and scarred veterans off of the bench and back into the game.

It is my perception that a vast amount of talent hit-the-silk during Covid. Some was over the fact that Covid was far more often fatal for older employees than for those who were fifty or younger. Another group left, or were forced to leave, because of inflexible mandates that were put into place by employers.

All of this is against a backdrop where employers were actively purging payrolls of high-seniority employees who may have been "grandfathered" expensive, legacy benefits packages to avoid law-suites.

There was also a "fad" that swept the business world where it was believed that all work could be "standardized" and anybody who was functionally literate could be handed an 8-1/2"-by-11" sheet of paper with everything they needed to know to do their job. Why do you need experienced employees when you can capture that expertise and clone it via standardized work?

Thus we find ourselves standing on the threshold of the future with experienced workers stacked like cord-wood in an unused corner of the barn. Furthermore, the future MIGHT include a massive re-shoring of vast amounts of the industry that was off-shored to take advantage of lower costs in other countries. If that happens, the mobilization of resources within the economy will equal the post-Depression mobilization the US experienced during World War II.

Getting the Tom Bradys of the 1990s and 2000s out of retirement will require more than "the economy" crooking its finger and calling "Come hither". But what WILL it require?

Issues that come to mind:

Stale skills

The conventional wisdom, back in the day, was that six months of unaccounted time outside of your career-path was fatal. That hoary chestnut has been consigned to the scrap-heap of history unless, perhaps, you still aspire to become the CEO.

Some of the softer-skills may need brushing up. Being able to work ten hours. Being able to show up every day you are scheduled. Those might be harder now than they were in 1995.

Accelerating technology

I don't have a good answer for this. In my generation The Company sent us to training on the software they had selected to run the business. Now it seems less likely to happen because employee mobility means that the company is likely to not be able to capitalize on their investment as their newly trained employees move to another company that will pay them more for their newly acquired skills.

One professional told me that his company LOANED him the tuition to the training and told him it would be forgiven if he was still with them after three years. That seemed like smart business on every stakeholder's part. 

The loan was structured as a "balloon" where the employee paid just the interest for the three years. If he bailed out before the three years was up or was fired(!), he had to borrow the cost of the loan from a bank and settle the balance.

If he stuck around, his paycheck increased by the amount of the interest payment that the company had automatically been deducting.

Social Engineering

This is another tough issue. Co-workers made allowances for people after they had worked together for years or decades. Today's workplace seems to have all of the mutual loyalty of a group of strangers riding the same elevator.

Many workplaces seem like grim and joyless spaces where "grievances" are stored up like Get-out-of-Jail cards, to be played when they offer maximum advantage. The concept of Statute of Limitations does not seem to apply to those grievances. Statute of Limitations falls within the basket known as Due-Process and it is sorely missed by those who get accused LONG after the presumed transgression occurred, which makes it almost impossible to defend one's self against those accusations.

Wait...there are advantages to going back to work...

Few things boost one's self-esteem more than bringing home a paycheck

Paychecks are likely to track increases in the cost-of-living more closely than pension payments.

There are major social benefits. You get to meet new people and learn new skills.

You can offer younger employees perspective they cannot have. "It takes 'stupid' seven years to walk around the block. You haven't seen the end of it, just its backside."

Twenty-seven year-old Tory Bristles tells us that never letting go of a grudge is the key to maintaining one's youthful outlook on life

Actual screen-shot of professionally developed training approved by the State of Michigan. Tell me if the text makes any sense. If you are mathematically inclined, check their calcs (hint, the fundamental unit of Mass should be slugs or 3000/32.4) and tell me if their units ("force of impact" as a unit of energy) are appropriate.

Those of us who have been around the block a few times don't take it personally when we are asked to check our work because we know we make mistakes. It is part of the human condition.

Asking for feedback

Suppose that you had a chance to share a table with a world-class, executive recruiter. What questions would you ask him? What concerns would you want him to pass on to the companies looking for you, the Tom Brady of 1995 or 2002?