Where do older IT workers go?

Not too many gray hair folks in IT. Just curious, where do the older, over 50 group go? They certainly are not in Information Technology anymore. I should know, I'm a dinosaur possibly soon to be extinct in my current job. There are no others like me.

"Not too many gray hair folks in IT. Just curious, where do the older, over 50 group go? They certainly are not in Information Technology anymore. I should know, I'm a dinosaur possibly soon to be extinct in my current job. There are no others like me."

Well, I'm sitting on acreage about 300 yards from a lake, enjoying clear air, beautiful sunsets, peace and quiet, and retirement. I actually retired from the high tech madhouse at about 57 and did other things for a while. I suspect many others have done the same.

HPE has its share of greybeards (I'm one)

The problem is that if you get laid off, you'll never work in IT again (except for short term consulting gigs). Just plan on it. If you really think you're on the list to be made "redundant", jump now and don't wait for them to make the decision for you.

mtnredhed said:

HPE has its share of greybeards (I'm one)

The problem is that if you get laid off, you'll never work in IT again (except for short term consulting gigs). Just plan on it. If you really think you're on the list to be made "redundant", jump now and don't wait for them to make the decision for you.

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Or you could just wait for the right offer, like I did.
I am now planning my retirement on a laidback job as "the IT guy" at a local correctional facility, while I am enjoying good food and wine without any stress or meaningless hotel weeks.

I jumped ship from a high pressure IT gig 4 years ago in my mid 40's and opened my own consulting practice doing tech projects for the event industry. I cherry pick what I want to work on, and have been stupid happy. I've been traveling the world working on a project for The Game of Thrones for the past year, among other things. Visited 12 countries last year. I take 6 to 8 weeks off in the summer. My plan is to retire in 7 years at 55. But I'm having so much fun, I may not be able to give it up so quickly.

I'm in engineering and software development, and I don't really see any particular loss of older folks (myself included). There seems to be a pretty good balance. Experience is pretty important in development, though. I presume you're talking more about support type IT, system integration, etc. That may be more youth oriented.

Government service apparently. LOTS of "older gentlemen" working for the IT department here. Most are probably prior service (as it is very difficult to even get into fed service without it) but presumably at least some are civvie IT guys. I hired one once.

become a government contractor and teach Army Soldiers.

Thanks for the responses so far. I can relate to the madhouse high stress comments. 2015 was the worst, and probably only bad year I can recall in 30 years in the field.

I am a software developer, a darn good analyst, and a fair part-time database admin. The region I live in may be a limiting factor to some degree. Probably gonna have to relocate but that's ok.

well, i'm 59 and still going, although i can't wait to retire (or hit the lottery, whichever comes first)
I work for a non-profit, wear all hats - doing this for over 30 years, since punch cards (IBM system 3 anyone? - programming, web, networking, security, laying cable and punching heads, you name it.
I like what i'm doing but sometimes it gets to me.... i'm still amazed how the younger folks without a GUI are totally lost, for them Putty is like a cursed word... not to mention AIX, PHP, RPG or any kind of scripting.. Even Cisco CLI scares the heck out of them.
I don't know what i'll do after this, maybe jockey at Belmont Park?

They go up into the cloud !

Where do older IT workers go?

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I think they spend a lot of time hanging around B&B.

I work in state government and we have a lot of guys and gals who are 50+. My view is that if you are able to keep current and can do the job...who cares how old you are. Good luck with your career.

BradWorld said:

I jumped ship from a high pressure IT gig 4 years ago in my mid 40's and opened my own consulting practice doing tech projects for the event industry. I cherry pick what I want to work on, and have been stupid happy. I've been traveling the world working on a project for The Game of Thrones for the past year, among other things. Visited 12 countries last year. I take 6 to 8 weeks off in the summer. My plan is to retire in 7 years at 55. But I'm having so much fun, I may not be able to give it up so quickly.

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Wow that sounds awesome!

Let me know if you are hiring as my hair is starting to gray, and I've wondered the same thing about what the future holds for my IT career.

/dev/null I guess.

efsk said:

/dev/null I guess.

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You realize that only like .001% of the population here will get that, right (and only about .5% of the likely readers of this thread, actually)?

Déformation professionnelle the term is, apparently in English as well.
Still, for me it was an open door. I'm not known to not kick these in

Myself, I became a hosting provider

AND

A B&B regular.....

Same place younger IT workers go. Applebee's.

The only common denominator I see amongst IT guys is a universal penchant for mustard stained ties.