From Hero to Zero

Many people are likely to wake up this year who once had high-paying jobs

and find they're no longer employable . . . this is a "complicated" space in which to find one's self

they're 50 years old, or more, made LOTS of money and have skills that are strong but not bleeding edge current and they're also "out of step" with the next wave of workers moving in to the spots they're vacating

who will work longer hours at less money and be happy to have what you've lost

that's how it rolls and how it will roll, once again

I was once this person, myself — back in 2008 . . . my corporate career, as an IT analyst, "ended" at age 53 and it never returned

from $300,000 a year (that would be about $513,000 a year today) to ZERO is a fairly significant drop

and not one that people can navigate so easily, both functionally AND emotionally

a video popped up just now on YouTube about tech workers being laid off and the challenges they face

and it dawned on me that I "know" this world, TOO WELL

and will, starting this week, start writing about the emotional and logistical fall out that comes along with this

there would be no "professional psychic" today (for me) had there not been 2008 — irony in that I predicted it long before it happened

but I would have stayed in my high paid corporate lane as long as I could . . . had it not eroded from underneath my feet

luckily, I had a "fall back" skill — way way different than my corporate one

that allowed me to survive

some, though, do not

and to that #growing sector of American life, I probably have some ideas I can share about what comes next and how, best, to survive what that all means