Dealing with my middlescence ....

An article in this month’s Harvard Business Review reveals that employees between the ages of 35 and 55 – dubbed middlescents – are apparently ‘burned out, bored and bottlenecked’. And, when I read this in yesterday’s media, I immediately recognised myself.

According to the authors, middlescents are the least likely to say that their workplace is congenial or fun. They have the lowest satisfaction rates with their managers and the least confidence in senior executives. Many feel trapped by financial pressures. In short, far too many mid-career employees are working more, enjoying it less and looking for alternatives.

Earlier generations looked to their work for security and material success – the way to combat restlessness was usually to buckle down and focus on one’s current job. Today’s generation have different goals – they want to get more out of life, and they are willing to trade some of their current success for greater significance in their lives and work.

Companies need to be developing strategies to deal with this lifeless body of workers to avoid losing good people, say the authors. But how many are even aware that the problem exists? I suspect very few.

My view is that companies can’t change things but the individuals can. I have been doing my job in various forms, for a variety of organisations and companies, for almost 30 years. I am in the middle of the middlescent age range. And I am bored out my skull. Everything I do, I have done before, in some form or other. I wonder how many people are in the same boat?

The first thing I believe people need to do is recognise that they are in this position. Like many things, acknowledging the problem is the first step to curing it. I acknowledged the truth: bored with my job, bored with my profession and slipping into what Pink Floyd famously called ‘quiet desperation’.

I have done something about it. Firstly, I identified another area that I was interested in and could train in. I am studying at college for the second step towards eventual qualification in a whole new discipline. This has given me a choice for the future, as well as important personal development at a time when it is easy to say: ‘been there, dunnit’.

I have also made the big leap – I negotiated a deal from work and will be leaving in four weeks. I am not sure what the future now holds. All I know is that it will be different, unpredictable and a challenge - three words which would not have appeared in any description of my working life during the last five years.

So, my message is – if you choose to hear it – don’t be a disgruntled middlescent. Be a very gruntled one!





Michael Douglas shows how not to deal with his 'middlescence' in the film, 'Falling Down'.