The average age of workers starting new positions has risen sharply since 2022. 
65 and Still Clocking In
Revelio Labs discusses 65 and Still Clocking In
The share of workers under 25 starting new positions in the labor market has been declining steadily since the mid-2010s, falling from around 16% to single digits by 2025. Over the same period, with a marked acceleration after 2022, the share of workers aged 65 and older entering new roles has risen sharply. These opposing trends now define who is actually moving into new jobs in today’s labor market.
This shift is often framed as a demographic inevitability, but the timing suggests something more cyclical in nature. The renewed inflow of older workers coincides with higher interest rates, slower hiring, and a pullback in employer risk-taking. When growth is abundant, firms are more willing to hire for potential and train workers on the job. When growth slows, hiring does not disappear; it becomes more conservative. Experience, immediate productivity, and role readiness suddenly begin to matter more, making older workers comparatively attractive.
The change is visible in the average age of new hires. After rising gradually for years, the average age at position start increased sharply after 2022, reaching over 42 years old by 2025. This is the opposite of what typically happens late in an expansion, when tight labor markets pull younger workers into new roles and lower the average age of hires. Instead, the current cycle shows a labor market that remains active but is increasingly tilted toward experience.
A decomposition of the change in the average age makes clear that this is not a story about the economy reallocating toward occupations that skew older. Nearly the entire increase, for just over two years, comes from aging within occupations. Shifts between occupations contribute very little. In practice, this means that the same jobs are being filled by older workers than in the past, rather than new jobs emerging that inherently require older employees.
That pattern is mechanically consistent with two forces operating simultaneously: fewer young workers entering the labor market and fewer older workers exiting it. Entry-level hiring has weakened across much of the economy, while older workers have become more willing to stay in the labor force or return after retirement. Together, those forces raise the average age even if the underlying occupational composition barely changes.
Older workers are also not re-entering the labor market at random. Workers over 65 are disproportionately starting new roles in sales, strategy, community-facing, and teaching positions. Sales representatives stand out in particular, with workers over 65 overrepresented by more than ten percentage points relative to other age groups. These roles reward credibility, judgment, and networks. Such qualities compound over time and often offer flexible arrangements that make re-entry more appealing later in life.
Over 65 Sales Roles
Conclusion
Taken together, the data point to a labor market that is aging not simply because the population is getting older, but because economic conditions have changed. Slower growth, tighter financial conditions, and higher hiring thresholds have reshaped who gets opportunities and at what age.
Older workers are staying longer in the labor force or returning from retirement, while younger workers face higher barriers to entry. The result is a workforce that looks older, turns over less, and blurs the once-clear line between working life and retirement.
What It Means
Older workers don’t have enough money for retirement.
Younger workers don’t have the necessary skills or demand too much lifestyle preference over working.
And some jobs have labor shortages for a reason.
5,000 Job Openings at Ford
The Wall Street Journal reports The $160,000 Mechanic Job That Ford Can’t Fill
The automotive industry has faced a shortage of mechanics for decades, and Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley put the issue back in focus in November. Speaking on a podcast, Farley said Ford dealerships have 5,000 open jobs.
“We are in trouble in our country,” Farley said. “A bay with a lift and tools and no one to work in it.” Farley said the jobs can pay $120,000 a year, but they take five years to learn.
Only a small sliver of mechanics stick around long enough to get to that level of pay. The work is physically grueling. It is costly to start because mechanics need tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools. And the starting pay is closer to fast-food wages than to six figures. The 2024 median pay for a dealership mechanic or technician in the U.S. was $58,580, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The costly path to six figures
It was these sorts of promises that helped lure Hummel into the profession. Hummel got a two-year degree focused on automotive technology that cost about $30,000.
“They always advertised back then, you could make six figures,” he said. “As I was doing it, it was like, ‘This isn’t happening.’ It took a long time.”
Hummel’s automotive trade school helped him land his first job at a muffler shop in 2007. He said he earned less than $10 an hour. After a stint at another shop, he joined the Ford dealership in 2012.
Hummel’s path to a six-figure paycheck with benefits required him to put up his own money.
Like most dealership mechanics, he had to buy his own equipment, frequenting “tool trucks” to finance thousands of dollars in gear on payment plans up to $200 a week. These days he owns his own tools, like specialized torque wrenches—required by Ford—that cost up to $800 apiece.
Racing the clock
One of the hardest parts of the job—and the reason it can be so lucrative for skilled operators like Hummel—is racing the clock.
The way pay works in most dealership service departments is essentially a piecework system called “flat rate.” Technicians are paid a fixed amount per job, regardless of how long the work actually takes. Making six figures requires working fast, so you can bill more hours than you actually work.
Rich Klaben, president of Klaben Auto Group, which owns Klaben Ford, said the flat-rate pay system is the best way to reward fast workers like Hummel. “We need productivity. If we get productivity, we can pay,” he said.
Consumers are paying, regardless. The costs of car maintenance and repairs have been rising faster than inflation—up 6.9% in November from a year earlier, according to data released in December. But wages aren’t keeping up. While car-repair costs rose 59% from 2014 to 2024, mechanic wages grew by 34% over the same period.
Ford said senior master technicians like Hummel average about $67,000 after five years on the job, while only those “at the pinnacle of the profession” earn $120,000 or more. The company said it is working to address the mechanic shortage. Ford operates 33 technician training centers around the U.S. and offers scholarships to help with tuition and tools, among other initiatives.
Jim Eisenberger, 37, was another transmission-changing expert who earned six figures at Klaben Ford. But the physical wear got to him.
Eisenberger, who is married with two children, had a pair of hernias and put off surgery as long as he could. If he was out, he wouldn’t earn a paycheck.
But after finally getting the surgery, he said he still felt creeping discomfort in his midsection. “I still pushed, and I tried to turn as many hours as I could, but it was never the same,” he said. He left the job a year ago to pursue a startup producing digital guides for mechanics.
Cynical Engineer Reader Comment
To get a job wrenching at a dealership, you typically need to start with a two-year degree in Automotive technology. That’s two years of full-time school with very limited earnings potential during school. Typical tuition/fees/books is around $30K for the program.
Then you get hired, and immediately have to borrow another $30K for tools. In order to be “certified” to perform manufacturer warranty work, you typically have to go through the manufacturer’s training program. Most dealerships will cover the cost of that training, but demand that you have to sign a two or three-year contract where you promise to repay five-figures of training costs if you quit sooner.
And now your starting pay is around $20/hr. Between the student loans for that two-year degree and the payment on your tools, you aren’t making enough money to live on. This won’t begin to change until you’ve paid off your tools and outlasted the initial “training” contract.
All this for a highly physically demanding job done on a piecework basis (frequently without benefits) where the average pay is $60K/year. And you can’t count on that number because if the shop has a slow week, your income drops unexpectedly.
We don’t need to look any further for why Ford has 5,000 unfilled positions. It’s a crap job.
Two Questions for Ford
1: Dear Ford, how many zoomers can afford to buy the tools for your alleged $160,000 job?
2: Given the move to EVs, how long will these jobs last anyway?
I know someone who went that path. What Ford doesn’t mention:
To get a job wrenching at a dealership, you typically need to start with a two-year degree in Automotive technology. That’s two years of full-time school with very limited earnings potential during school. Typical tuition/fees/books is around $30K for the program.
Then you get hired, and immediately have to borrow another $30K for tools. In order to be “certified” to perform manufacturer warranty work, you typically have to go through the manufacturer’s training program. Most dealerships will cover the cost of that training, but demand that you have to sign a two or three-year contract where you promise to repay five-figures of training costs if you quit sooner.
And now your starting pay is around $20/hr. Between the student loans for that two-year degree and the payment on your tools, you aren’t making enough money to live on. This won’t begin to change until you’ve paid off your tools and outlasted the initial “training” contract.
All this for a highly physically demanding job done on a piecework basis (frequently without benefits) where the average pay is $60K/year. And you can’t count on that number because if the shop has a slow week, your income drops unexpectedly.
We don’t need to look any further for why Ford has 5,000 unfilled positions. It’s a crap job.
Nicely put, and not seen it done as such before. TY!
It’s very ironic to me, that you listed $20.00ph as the pay scale, after you do everything else and are in debt already. Where I live, they can’t fill positions for $20.00ph and they are plentiful, with no prior experience or tools required.
You guessed it! Fast Food / Service related fields are a dime a dozen and $19ph min, but $20+ ph to hire someone that will last more then a week.
There’s a society-wide prejudice against unskilled or blue collar workers that keeps wages down in addition to supply/demand factors.
One good example is furniture movers. Only a tiny percent of the population is physically able to do heavy manual labor, yet the job pays minimum wage or not much more. You would think since the work is valuable and so few can áctually do it that it would pay more, but it doesn’t.
Other example is cleaning people. Society just doesn’t think cleaners deserve more than minimum wage. And that attitude cuts across all class lines, so even the workers themselves think that way. (In India, the untouchables do the cleaning)
I don’t think it’s about what “society thinks”. I respect anyone who does however work, but those are no-skill jobs that can’t command higher pay. When it comes to housecleaning, the consumer has to weigh the direct cost as well as the cost of theft. With movers it’s more about how much damage they’ll do.
Cleaners should emigrate to Australia. A part-time cleaning job in a shopping mall pays about US$19.90/hr Mon to Fri, $28.60 for Saturdays, $37.25 for Sundays and $45.90 for public holidays. (Plus another 12% paid into superannuation, plus four weeks annual holiday)
My local shopping mall has been hiring lots of Brazilians on working holidays lately – one is a chemical engineer back in Brazil, and another is an architect….
I managed “aftermarket” shops for thirty years starting in 1976. Even the best technicians rarely made more than $1000 a week and most less than $600. With basic tools costing thousands (even the tool box to keep them in often costs much more than $5000) it’s hard to make much more than poverty wages after expenses. Back in the day at the larger chains, Midas, Aamco, Tire Kingdom etc may have provided uniforms, some insurance and if you were smart you made sure their building insurance would cover your tools in the event of theft or fire. But today most of that is gone tools are even more expensive, a tool box (empty) is often over $10,000 alone. Most smart owners paid a basic salary plus commission reasoning that the commission would drive speed and the base salary kept the tech there on slow weeks or months plus when not busy techs were required to clean and maintain the facility.
There was a reason tool boxes were on wheels.
I upvoted you……..$20 and hour? Jesus Panera is paying $18.50 to stand on your feet and type orders. No tools required.
Some people dont want to sign in using the Kiosk to the right of them
There will still be a big need for mechanics even with dedicated electric vehicles (which is a dumb idea vs electric vehicles with a gas engine that also can make electricity, but anyway …) All vehicles still have tires and brakes and steerting and electrical systems. Thats what I spend most of my car money on anyway.
I did my part. I quit at 58.
Barriers to entry include but are not limited to
Minimum Wage and other governmental regulations and encumberments
I have a couple of friends that are Porsche mechanics. They make about $225,000 and love their jobs. They report that the first few years were a struggle but now in their late twenties or early thirties they have started families and are making real estate investments and funding their investment accounts aggressively.
One thing about the mechanic trade is the constant flow of vehicles that need repairs that people can not afford to fix and the ability to buy, fix and flip those cars.
I must admit that I live near a dynamic and wealthy community that borders on hard core farming/forest land. Transition zones tend to provide opportunities for the creative.
At the end of the day, salaries are a function of supply and demand, and value to the society.
For example: What should you expect when US society rewards media influencers:
The average income for influencers varies widely based on their follower count, with nano-influencers earning around $195 per post and mega influencers earning up to $5,000 or more per post. Some top-tier influencers and celebrities can earn six to seven figures for a single post,
You might have been able to get a better picture of what is going on in the job market if you hadn’t massively distorted the axes of the under 25 vs over 65 and had included the rest of the workforce between those ages. The population of those 20-25 (and I am being generous to include all those in the group who are going to college as potential workers) is 21 million. The population of 65 to 75 is 60 million. In 2010 it was 33.1 million representing a 52% increase. It is the fastest growing age segment and is expected to grow to 80 million by 2050. Do your figure include only full time work or is part time employment included. Demographics is the main driver. That and the fact that a large portion (not all) of the under 25 incoming workforce is unprepared educationally, emotionally and socially to be reliable productive workers they want to work at all.
Finally a large portion of your article centered around the one specific profession of auto mechanic.
Interesting. Two posters with the same handle.
In 20 years people like you will instead be Mohammed so that should help a little,
Quit and do what, exactly? And who’s saved enough to insulate their family from medical costs?
Once you get to the stage of life where you’re complaining about the younger generations, you’re pretty much out of the game.
Basically every other commenter here lol
You know Phil, I gotta give you that one lol
100% old sport. my fellow 65 year old pals are mostly little fucking pussies. born on 3rd base in the richest empire in the apex of wealth and ease. and they think they hit a triple.
LMAO. Even though its Football season I love the baseball analogy
Born on 3rd base and thinks they hit a triple
I’m stealing that one
I generally don’t brag.
This ‘pussy’ has sailed offshore alone in 78 knots. Alone!
Does the same apply to older generations?
Do I need to explain that logic? It might be too profound.
One of the most important things I learned in business was from my first job as a 16 year old waiting tables. My GM said, “No matter how busy you are, when you approach a guest you need to physically slow things down and give them your attention as if all the craziness of a restaurant doesn’t exist and they are the only people in the entire world. Talk to them as if they’re old friends and you’ve known each other for decades.” Business is so much about relationships and making a client feel like you’re invested in them and the things they care about. Being a business owner now, it’s a struggle to hire younger people because that face to face connection can be uncomfortable for them. Those standards are understood by older workers and actually add value to a job for them.
Bingo. Well said and so true.
– it’s a struggle to hire younger people because that face to face connection can be uncomfortable for them.
> Awhile back, for a couple of weeks, when out I viewed the tables/surroundings to see what people were doing. 85+% Every Single Time was on their phones. A person, or in most cases people were at the table/with them. I stopped because it was so very disappointing to me, and the person with me.
my kids and all their friends have been chefs, servers, bartenders…………while going to college and after and don’t seem to have any problemo with any of that. i’m talking 20 and 30 somethings. they all bust their chops with school and work and savings and decent humans. i recently went to a big party in an old german beer hall in queens with about 100 of them. i just don’t see it with my nephews and nieces and kids and all their friends. i think it’s mostly bullshit. old men do this. they trick themselves. i know plenty of young 30 something wall street people who are aggressive as hell in face to face dealings, too. i am partners with a few of them.
Boy, really had to stretch the right axis of that chart to make a point, didn’t you? I could see why. 0.2% increase (maybe 0.3%) really doesn’t look good if you use the left axis….
Some folks working past 65 that have told me they are not having money problems. Older women teachers told me that working keeps them involved as they have already completed lots of travel and they still like the teaching interaction with students. Some older guys on jobs that require skills but not muscle find working is still enjoyable compared to massive amounts of free time.. Many seniors have not found significant hobbies to keep them stimulated for large amounts of retired time. Maybe if A.I. keeps growing it will lead to even more mentally skilled older workers to decide to keep working for more than just the money ?
I knew before I retired that I would never be bored in retirement and that’s how it turned out for me. People who never had any hobbies or couldn’t just enjoy free time for what it is are the ones who have trouble in retirement.
I have a bunch of lifetime hobbies that I now have more free time to pursue. Even if I’m doing nothing I’m never bored. My mind is always engaged.
Good for You! Me and some friends got Pets. That’s working out well, and far more exercise than I expected! That and Golf for a good chunk of the season is another outlet. A few others I know fish.I agree with you, that hobbies are a must! They keep you engaged in something, and your mind getting stimulated.
You realize this is why they hate you. You’re enjoying yourself.
I agree.
Full time retirement for many can be a bit over rated for people that had desk jobs their entire life. They need more mental stimulation and they are used to working with other people in a unit or group setting. They miss that, I think
You know you can only kill what 4 or 5 hours hours a day playing golf and have some afternoon delight with your wife for so long.
Sure the golf round is about 4 hours and 56 minutes but at some point you get bored
We need more people to volunteer. I retired at age 47 and did full time volunteer work for multiple charities along with doing almost everything for the household. Volunteering was very rewarding seeing all the lives you had a positive impact on. I was lucky my parents taught me the value of money at an early age. I saved, saved saved and lived within my means. I knew I wanted to spend a lot of time traveling instead of spending money on clothes, shoes, hair, nails, new smartphone, etc.
47???? Did you marry for love or money?
I’m joking! Hey my hats off to you
Honestly, I have been thinking of transitioning into something where I help guide our youth , something I would enjoy, but I’m not at the point in life where I can do that for free LOL.
Not sure about your area, but Special Olympics is a great avenue to do so. Scheduled events etc. I helped them with putting Home Depot projects together as an example. Very rewarding!
Nice. Thank you. I will look into that
Nicely done Laura!
Life insurance actuarial tables eventually resolve this “problem”. If people want to use their thumbs instead of talk, that’s on them.
“Retirees are re-entering the work force”
Not me. Not ever. I will live in a cardboard box under a bridge and eat tree bark before I ever work again.
I retired last year and it was the most euphoric & satisfying moment of my life. I’m done. I’ve adjusted quite well to a lifestyle of not working and not waking up to an alarm clock.
I’d have to burn through a lot of assets before I’d ever need money again. The way I look at my gold stash is that one ounce of gold pays for taxes and home insurance for one year and I have enough to last me for the rest of my life and then some.
Now for the most important issue…………..Are you still married????
That estimated budget of living expenses always seem to go into the red when there is a female involved………..
Hate me, go ahead. But I guess if you will live under a bridge and eat tree bark there is no way in hell a woman is involved.
Your my idol.
No longer married, so that is not an issue for me.
Moon shot see the tape get out now…
My husband is one of the lucky ones. He brags how much his wife spends money….she spends it to the savings account! lol
Retired at 47! Wow. That is impressive
Without a college degree or a rich husband. I worked, saved and invested. When I was 11 years old I was babysitting making $100 WEEKLY. I worked 2 full time jobs to save up for the downpayment on my home without any help from family.
God bless you.
You have any sisters? Unmarried and not liberal of course…..I’m joking……kind of
I retired at 48, and tried to convince my wife to retire for about nine years before she did. My wife and I have our own money, but I pay for all ‘the basics’ like food, shelter and insurance. It’s a wonderful life.
PS My “convincing” was asking her, “why are you working?”, every time she had to deal with something exceedingly stupid going on at work. I’m guessing that’s about once a day now for everone still in the labor force. At the time I started my job, something frustrating would happen at most once a month.
Yeah but be honest, you asked that question in year 9 right?
It was very easy to ask that question dozens, if not hundreds, of times over a nine year period. It definitely got much worse towards the end. I love my wife, and I’m glad she retired.
Well I see what you did there Jeff.
She got up and worked every day for 9 years while you did whatever the hell you wanted ……………You too are my idol.
God bless
We each have our own money, other than me paying ‘the basics’ as I said. I think separate accounts is the real secret to “happy wife, happy life”.
Last warning get out now….
I think tomorrow the market opens in a sea of red George.
Another five years to go on the gold bull market according to Bert Dohmen…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wVSj1zQKNWo
And this is why socialism is catching on. Capitalism isn’t working for large swathes of the population (or the cynic would say it’s working too well; i.e., in striving for economic efficiencies, all the money gets sucked up by those who already have lots of it).
Capitalism is a big monopoly game, and this one has been going on most of the night. New players are just screwed.
The game needs to be reset, or the table’s gonna get flipped.
You’ve never in your lifetime seen “Capitalism”. You’ve seen crony capitalism with government sanctioned winners and losers!
I do agree that we’re headed for a table flipping moment!
I showed up to the game an hour in.. . There were hints.
Reset why? Because life is too hard? FYI my first mortgage in the USA was at 15%. We both worked to pay it off in 10 years. We skimped on everything.
Sorry, but the current economic system is closer to communism than capitalism. What we have now is ‘crony capitalism’ and regulatory over reach in every nook and cranny. For example, there used to be over 100 automobile manufacturers in a given year in the early 1900s. Now, the government regulates everything down to what screws you are allowed to use, when it is just not necessary.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_automobile_manufacturers_of_the_United_States
You can’t even bring, literally, a few cubic yards of dirt onto “your” property without a permit in some places. Where’s the freedom in that?
No. They want the lifestyle without the effort.
I started with nothing except a brain. I did get a loan from my parents to buy my first fixer upper, which I repaid with interest. My college bill was zero… Still zero after 3 graduate degrees.
Cars are too complicated. The market is ripe for a rear engine VW bug.
That’s where they are in the EV Bug! You Win!!
Nope a 1985 Mazda B2000 pickup.
I had one, great truck but very slow.
“fewer young workers entering the labor market and fewer older workers exiting it.”
That’s a nice way of saying demographic death spiral. What none of these articles or analysis ever gets deep into is the fact that there is no way to fix this with the existing US population. Median age of females in America is pushing 40, not exactly reproductive ready.
Only immigrants were slowing the demographic collapse and that’s all over now with this anti-immigrant administration so expect it to accelerate at a time that all baby boomers will be 65 in 2030 and hitting up the dole.
It’s good that 65+ year olds want to go back to work but let’s not kid ourselves, this age group is one fall away from a broken hip, busted knee or shoulder. Don’t forget all the ailments these workers have and need to take time off (e.g. more susceptible to flu, covid, etc). They represent a huge potential liability to companies if they are doing any kind of heavy lifting like at a Home Depot.
The Fed can’t fix this jiggling interest rates, changing tax policy won’t make babies instantly, it takes 18 years to get a new worker out of a woman and few seem receptive to the idea these days. Venezuela oil won’t fix this either nor will Colombia cocaine or Mexico fentanyl or Greenland or Canada.
Here is a thought experiment, sort the list at the link below by Females age oldest to youngest and then ask yourself which nations are on the rise and which ones are on their way down. The correlation may surprise you.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_median_age
I award this post 2-star Mishelin for insights and bringing light to the perilous question that no one can address.
you are dead on correct. i’m 65, too. the only reason life was so easy mid century last was after 1945, the usa had same percent of world population but probably at least half of the wealth, including factories and such until the world took decades to catch up. it’s really not that more complicated. plus Russia and china went commie and disengaged from the world. the world changes. we are competing with the globe at more of an even footing. and of course this over extended evil empire will collapse inward financially. it’s better to be young than old when this occurs. seen this in russia in the 90s.
No one likes a level playing field except the guy running downhill.
The US’ biggest problem is a crappy education system, which is largely due to lobotomized liberals. It will take decades to fix .
Good call! The Somailans are self replicating like crazy…..good luck trying to breed the fraud out of them!
ok adolf. sort of like the jews and the wops of yesteryear. do i really need to say this is sarcasm.
I don’t know man he has got a point…………..
How exactly were Somalians committing fraud? Who was giving them the money and who should have done a better job at reviewing the money handouts?
But a wise sage from 2000 years ago foretold how it all ends, “the meek shall inherit the earth” and everyone else gets what they deserve.
If you are getting paid by the federal government(or anyone) for a contract to perform a specific service(s) and you do not perform said service well what do you call that?
Even Tim Waltz used the word fraud. He even said he fired a government employee, which is probably bullshit but come on now you are going to exonerate whomever did this?
I am not exonerating anyone. I know nothing about the case because it’s not worth my time, I can’t profit from it so what’s the point. but i have seen no one explain the fraud just rants and feigned outrage that some one got a few bucks.
You want real fraud, go look at the Pentagon, social security, and medicare, those three things are bankrupting America not the pennies and nickels in Minnesota.
Sorry man but If you know nothing about the case then when someone explained to you what is going on, while you dont have to believe me, look it up or dont ask exactly who is committing fraud
And actually it is multiple cases of day care fraud and medicaid fraud . Granted that is nothing new but now we are going to let every new immigrant get away with that?
I luv ya man but come on
Blame the cop because you were speeding and he caught you .. very cool approach
Realizing is 10% of the issue. solving it is 70%. Carrying it out is 20%. Does Mish have a solution?
We went from a being a society where one lower middle class income could support a family of six to one where it took two incomes to support a family of four. They sold it as women’s liberation. With 75 year olds now working to support their grandchildren, they just need some way to sell it as “freedom to work” or “75 is the new 55” or some such bullshit. Make sure they clog their arteries and die right after retiring.
crumbling evil empires always make shit more expensive as the currency is debauched and productive work is replaced by more and more warfare and grifting and kleptomania. nothing new. gold and silver the only way to keep one’s head above the deluge that is upon us………
the geezer generations have been bitching about the younger generations since the ancient greeks wrote about this. nothing new. dumbfuck old men complain about their grandkids generation. same as it always was. i find it quite funny. you cannot stop human nature as dumb as it can be. LOL, from a happy and content human primate.
The problem mentioned by a very popular Toyota vlogger:
Many repairs have an hour rate that can hardly be met even if really nothing goes wrong. Any complication and the 2 hours may become 6 hours, so many mechanics find that being a plumber is less of a headache and earns more. In addition, there is little respect for a car mechanic.
There’s not a lot of respect for plumbers either, though there should be.
My brother is a master plumber. Been doing it since tech center at 16.
Now 69.
He said every day rolling out of bed it takes him 15 minutes every morning to stretch and breath and bend so that the pain and inflammation of 53 years of plumbing subsides
turned 65 in 2025. been semi retired since 1995, work like activity of 6 hours per week as a stock and currency trader……and r/e investor……. . the amount of inflation and currency debasement is making me even a little nervous about having to go get that awful W word. WORK
As a stock and currency trader you should have been making bank due to the inflation of stocks and the debasement of currencies.
Selling weekly covered calls is insanely lucrative!
My PM mining stocks are up an average of 350% in three years. If you are not killing it in the markets these days there is something wrong with your strategy.
Real estate has been fantastic as well (unless you are a soy or corn farmer).
Spending is always an issue, so if that is out of control…
You think this is bad, just wait till they start cutting Social Security.
Those under 35 have a general tendency ti lack people skills and are unwilling to learn from older workers which reduces efficiency.
Those from 70 on down to 50 thought not across the board, have better and more flexible computer skills.
Add to that the part that younger workers have little ability and desire to communicate with people the age of managers and you identify the problem.
I taught my kids to respect older people and to listen. 2 successful engineers, an army major, a mental health licensee and an appointed by a governor judge . The mental health provider has the highest income potential. All these 35 and under.
Young people learn to respect and learn from more experienced workers.
There are subsets of younger people. I tend to find really fantastic kids in economics, biology, geology or botany studies from our colleges. My targets also almost always have athletic backgrounds and I hire them for their physical capacity as well as their creativity, problem solving skills and interest in the profession.
With farming as my primary business, it is a blast to see what a variety of things are going on with both the interns I hire and those that create a niche for themselves on a permanent basis. I expect multiple skills and a desire to learn more.
If I’m interviewing someone that is chubby and they even look at their phone? They are gone with a polite thank you.
I am looking forward to buying more land so I can hire more dynamic, fun people.
I don’t think any 65 year olds taking new sales jobs feel they’re choosing to do so, They need the money. In many cases, it’s because they’re still covering expenses for their unemployed or underemployed “adult” children. So it’s symbiotic dysfunction.
Our economy is designed by the predatory capitalist overlords to do exactly this. That’s why it is going down. The Chinese will organize a better mix of socialism and capitalism when they finish buying what our oligarchs are selling, which is everything.
We have been in a specialised robotic era for about 40 years (where cars are designed to be built by robots). However we are only now entering the generalised robotic era in which robots can do human tasks as a human would. So soon, it will not be just AI but robotics which steal entry level jobs (whereas before it was just in the factory). If Ford is struggling then they will start designing cars that make it easier for generalised robots to do repair tasks on specific sub-assemblies.
Aged politicians don’t understand or care about this. So changing the demographic mix of politicians seems important to me. I just ran a query – 41% of congress are >65. This compares to 18% in the general population.
It seems useful to have some older experience but not that much. I wouldn’t set a strict age limit – but term limits would be good and have other behavioural benefits too.
BINGO. watch this series for some LOL,
Sunny is a sci-fi drama series on Apple TV+ starring Rashida Jones, about a woman in Kyoto whose life is upended by her husband’s disappearance and who receives a domestic robot named Sunny as consolation; it aired its single, cliffhanger season in 2024 but was later canceled by Apple TV+. The show blends mystery and thriller elements, exploring grief, memory, and hidden truths through Suzie’s relationship with her homebot, Sunny, and explores themes of technology and loss.
My firm has had quite the turnover the past few years. A lot of older folks retired, and the new people we are bringing in are not that good quite frankly, especially the youngsters. Mind you, the folks who retired were here 20, 30 even 40 years so this is a stable place to work. We are in trouble if the next generation is this bad.
Every posting we’ve put up has gotten thousands of resumes, but it’s still damn hard to find somebody good. I suspect age discrimination will run the other way for a while.
This is exactly as it should be. If you are twenty years old today you have a good shot of living to 100 years old. Thus retirement ages should be expected to go up as well.
– The automotive industry has faced a shortage of mechanics for decades, and Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley put the issue back in focus in November. Speaking on a podcast, Farley said Ford dealerships have 5,000 open jobs.
> EV’s will take care of that, and quite rapidly once they are fully embraced…
I am not sure EVs are going to reduce the number of mechanics needed by a meaningful amount. Those cars still have plenty of parts that have to be replaced or repaired (accidents). Just the ICE engine part goes away (swapped for battery + multiple electric motors + infotainment tablets).
In my personal experience in the last 20 years or so I’ve only had actual engine issues a couple of times, the rest of the time I went in was for parts / issues that EV cars also have (brakes/tires obviously, but I’ve also had A/C failures, steering issues, power window issues etc).
computer techs. been this way for decades now. not the old grease monkeys. it’s great. all us geezers remember how often tires blew out on some cold and rainy night in some shithole hood if you are a city fella. i remember onetime some gangbangers just were LOL at me in brooklyn in the early 80s. i wasn’t so humiliated as i was cold and they gave me a good laugh. they did not offer to help. even with cash.
Yes,I agree with all of that, but some of that is basic stuff a beginner would know. I was more referring to the drop in GV’s, due to EV’s presence. They will have no shortage imo, on the lines, and in the field far fewer will be needed for GV’s of which man of those owners, like myself, will fix it themselves.
The American automotive industry really screwed up EVs when they buried the battery and recharged through a fender port. If they had all agreed on the same battery configuration and made them unbolt from the bottom, the car could be charged by pulling into a pit garage like oil change pits, Just drop low charge battery install a full charge battery in minutes, pay for the charge. Battery tested quickly to verify it’s expected future life, charge for dead cells as necessary. Batteries could be easily rebuilt, dead cells replaced and back in service. Would have been better for the customer and maybe the car companies could have actually sold the damn cars.
– “Age 65 and Won’t Quit as Younger Workers Struggle Finding a Job”.
> I don’t see it that way at all? I would say it is more like:
>> “Age 65 and still forced to work, in order to Eat, Stay Warm, Afford TV (Vital) and take baths (Vital). As expenses grow out of control, the elders must still work in order to live in any condition, even considered comfortable, which most are not, but rather in constant pain from being on there feet at cash registers.
>>> “Age 15-25 Don’t want or wish to work, as Parents pay for most, and they simply benefit. No Rent, No Insurance, No Bills, and spending allowances. Once they hit 27 and have to work, and need insurance, and a place of there own, NOW they wish to kick out the Elders, who never had a choice to skip the responsibility of there Lives, to leave the job that keeps them alive. I guess they need a new cell phone, tablet, car, and to travel more and more. Their motto is: Get The F$*# Out Of OUR WAY Grandpa and Grandma!!!
That’s the way I see it…
P.S. “CAN’T QUIT” as Younger Workers “Wish They Would DO…
Real world inflation is so high that older workers can’t retire. With companies culling out higher paid older workers, they have to re-enter the workforce.
To me the two different scales on the first graph make it seem misleading. We’re talking fractions of a percent here. Is this really such a big deal?
When you consider the elders have to work, but understand how to, and have ethics, and an ability to speak in a way that the people they are dealing with, will understand, and respect, then YES!
When you consider that most of the stay living at home youth, don’t know how to work, have questionable ethics, speak fun talk, and unicorns and lollipops, will not warrant respect, and probably do more to harm deals than make them imo…
This isn’t what I asked but thanks for that dumb take. Do you listen to yourself grandpa?
What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders. They disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets, inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them? – Plato
Youth, It is and will be as it always was.
Only when I talk to myself… You apparently did however. TY
Anybody watching the tape get out now…
Wildly different scales on opposite sides of the graph are an old trick to mislead the casual observer. The shape of the curves are the only valid data on the plot.
The proportional increase/decrease on both sides is roughly the same….
Yes indeed, small percentages of very large numbers still make for very large numbers.
this article is confused . Mish starts saying that young people enjoy too much “lifestyle” what could that possibly mean? Then we hear about how Ford cant find mechanics… then we find out it takes 5 years of grueling work and putting up your own money to make a whopping $65k which goes a long way towards explaining why people arent knocking down doors to sign up. So what are we advocating here for exactly?
Not sure myself?
I am not a math expert, but if repair costs go up 59 percent due to inflation, shouldn’t the increase in pay be similar? Or does that interfere with the greed on the part of whoever owns the dealership?
Most of that 59% is probably just be the cost of the parts themselves and the cost of running the dealership (land tax, electricity / water cost, payroll tax and so on).
So the employees aren’t facing rising costs, just businesses, even though employees are the same people who have to pay for increasingly expensive services? You didn’t finish thinking this through. Or are you arguing that we should all just accept being poorer?
Obviously pay has to increase too.
My point was that the 59% increase isn’t the dealership making 59% more profit. Rather it’s a whole lot of little processes each adding a few percent here and there that total up to 59% overall on the repair cost.
When inflation happens it tends to start in goods first and move to services (labor) second. We are still seeing the labor side catch up to the good side that happened during the Covid years.
it was a bozo argument that mish layed out. no doubt. the empire is failing and the younger generation are the weakest . in a decade they will be alright as they are mentally equipped to start over with worthless currency and a busted up empire into 50 state solution. the geezers will freak out north of 40. saw this live and in person in russia in the 90s.
The younger generation will not be alright; a huge percentage of them are terribly physically unhealthy and most that I know have severe psychological problems.
They’ll still be fit enough to eat the geriatric wealthy. Old people move real slow.
agree. no doubt. i’m just surprised more don’t off themselves. the most demographic who is depressed and suicidal are middle aged white men. i think it’s because life was so easy. so getting old is the first speed bump they have to endure. however remember the most opium addicts and suicides, in amerika were post us civil war. the great depression was 2nd worst situation in our short history.
Gettn old aint for sissies.
So no age discrimination then?
The Kids have gotten whatever they wanted for so long, that it’s now demanded I guess. They will push the elders out of the way and walk over them, if it means they get to have fun, and have what they want. These are our next Politicians, Ugh!!
And you see with the way they handle money.
Funny how they cant pay any of their student loans back but they went on a European vacation every year, drink starbucks coffee and order door dash almost on a daily basis
It is very sad David! Many, once Biden / Harris said Taxpayers will foot their College Expenses, they started traveling and blowing their money as fast as possible. It was a gift to F Off until the money was gone, and then deal with it, or push the Elders out of the way.
Worst case stay living at home for awhile longer…
You probably come from my error. Graduate HS, and Go to College, or Get Out! One reason college became such a big choice so quickly during that error.
I paid 1/2 for both of mine, stated up front. Then get out! They both graduated and well schooled, and are doing wonderfully in life!
I know it is anecdotal, but my one son went to the USMC and is now a successful entrepreneur. My older sontook a long time to “find himself” but is now an extremely successful entrepreneur as well. Neither got a gender studies degree or expected their employer to let them focus on the activism on work time or to demand that their employer echo and support their views on social justice … so that likely helped them succeed.
Exactly . And its why I say in America today, a college degree is even more overrated than my Dallas Cowboys
And I get majority downvotes.
It’s usually from those on the left that do not want to admit how deep they have fucked up our education system
Congrats on raising intelligent kids.
if you are caught up on the fictitious Left v Right in pax dumbfuckistan i cannot do anything but LOL. it’s one big nihilist empire of assholes. funny how the fact is the younger generation works longer hours, takes more AP courses, does less drugs and booze……than the middle aged and geezers north of 40. amerikans don’t like facts. they just keep on voting for more imperial suicide. since the scam of the amerikan empire founded on letting folks vote like ancient rome did. the real stupid shit is the romans offered citizenship to the folks they were going to invade first. why the roman empire lasted 2000 years. amerika is burning out like the other recent empires in only a few short centuries. keep on rooting for your red v blue team like some junior varsity pom pom girl. it’s darling. i mean that . don’t ever change. hat tip old sports.
I’m not rooting for either team at this point.
Just someone to fix it.
But growing up in NY, surrounded by liberal douche bags and virtual signalers I do enjoy calling them out because they seem to be getting a pass in all this
Guilty as charged
Well done!
Almost as if payment plan companies like Klaarna and Sezzle might be good investments.
i was pals with guys who set up a hedge fund in 90s to invest in the student loans. home run. got the gov to guarantee not being able to discharge in bankruptcy like all debt. i know it’s gov sponsored, so spare me the elementary bullshit fellow mish commenters.
…that’s a tired old trope with no connection to the real world. When I was in my teens high school kids could afford restaurants, shopping for clothes, cars, and insurance. When I was in my 20’s we could afford to go out drinking every night, have apartments, and date.
Kids these days have a tiny portion of the spending power that we did.
Yes, things are more expensive today for them
My point was these kids do not know how to manage money.
Then they spend money they do not have .
And they think vacations are an automatic, whether they have to charge it on a high interest rate credit card or not.
Are you telling young people are not living beyond their means?
Not just kids. Half the middle class was living beyond their means and in 2008 it blew up on them
We are training them well, watch our current politicians walk all over us and push us around. What are you expecting here? It sounds unrealistic.
the blame is in the mirror of amerikans. representative democracy works. schumer and trump and the 435 in house, are literally perfect reflections of their voters. we are them. they are us. hat tip “the republic” penned by plato and socrates and the boys
I don’t know about that. If you look at corporate leadership and government the positions are occupied by the oldest cohort in history. It’s a gerontocracy.