The Business Contract: Career and Retirement Advice

I’m writing to share the career and retirement advice I gave my three adult children and anyone else interested, based on my own experiences transitioning to retirement. I also want to address issues discussed in psychology articles about handling career changes and retirement challenges, and I’ll do so with my usual bluntness and honesty.

The Hardline Reality

The basic hardline advice is this: it is a job, treat it as such. It is not your life, and it should never be your life or your identity. Every time you hear in the work environment how much you are appreciated, how valuable you are, or that “we are like a family,” this is nonsense and bullshit. I worked for three companies, all great, but I knew I was a number, and so should you.

The Terms of the Deal

When you get a job, it is a business contract and employment at will, meaning you can be let go for any reason. Let that sink in.

So what does that mean? The company pays you “X” dollars for you to do a job. That means you should do that job as well as possible, with honesty and integrity, and deliver your best work year in and year out. You have to deliver as promised, and they pay you as promised. No shortcuts, no crappy work. Be the best you can always be, and they give you a paycheck and benefits as agreed.

That is the end of the contract. You do your part, they do their part, and at the end of every day, you go home.

The Caveat of the “White-Collar” Mantra

Now, of course, there is a caveat, and I lived that too; there is a mantra that they pay you for when you are not there. That means as a white-collar worker, I did not work the typical 40 hours, far from it. I was also available when needed; at home, maybe on vacation, maybe sick. You know, that is part of the deal.

The Shift: You Are a Number

Always remember that at any moment, even when the company is doing well, priorities shift, strategy changes, and goals get adjusted. That means sometimes people are not needed; they can get laid off. That’s the point: you are a number, and you can be let go at any time for any reason. Because of that, no matter what you did or how well you did it, your number came up. Keep that in perspective.

The Advice: Protect Your Identity

The job is a job and should never come before your identity, your family, or your health. For me, I never really did or engaged in activities outside of work. Keep your life and your work life separate, no matter how close a friendship at work might appear; keep them separate. Perspective.

The Retirement Myth

This brings me to the articles about people in retirement struggling with a loss of structure, meetings, people, and a sense of “doing something.” I struggle with none of this, mainly because I never made the job part of me, and after 40 years, enough was enough.

The lack of structure and more freedom is your opportunity to relax, try something new, anything. I think there should be a course or lesson, maybe this is it: know the difference, create separation, keep perspective.
Trust me, there will be a day, and it happens to everybody. You will sit in a room, and one of those “family members” who said how valuable you are will now say your job has been eliminated. Back in the day, it was called a lay-off. Now, to pretty it up, it is a RIF (Reduction in Force). Funny how it tries to make it impersonal.

The Gain

If you are just starting out, I hope this gives you something to think about as you move through your work life. If you are approaching the end, you might see this and consider what the next phase is. Start now to put it in perspective so you don’t have that sense of loss.

Trust me, you did not lose, you gained. You just need to stop and think about how much you did and how much you gave, and now it’s your time.

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