Despite being employed with a manufacturing company for the past six months, I have yet to meet an employee over the age of 50, either in my own company or in others that I’ve visited.
My office is located in Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon, and on my commute, I pass through the BPO/Service companies’ office cluster at Cyber Greens. Assuming my observation isn’t skewed, I’ve seldom seen employees who appear to be in their fifties.
Certainly, we may have department heads, CEOs, CFOs, etc., who are in their fifties, but how many of us have seen a floor manager or a general manager who is fifty or older?
Not everyone can climb the corporate ladder with age. The working age has indeed decreased, and it seems that older individuals have vanished from our corporate surroundings.
Two possible scenarios could explain this:
a) Except for those who ascend to roles such as CEO, others aged fifty plus may have opted for early retirement. They might be working part-time jobs or experimenting with their entrepreneurial skills.
b) They might have transitioned into other sectors like chemicals, textiles, steel manufacturing, etc., typically located outside the city limits or metros.
While this observation may require further investigation by research companies, it’s an early warning sign for those of us in our mid-thirties: Adapt and grow, or risk becoming obsolete.