Too Young To Retire, Too Old To Be Hired By Google
Allan Tennent is too young to retire but too old to be hired by Google. He’s a computer professional now aged 59. He can’t be officially retired until over 65 but he says IT is a young industry. Sitting at home, my husband Allan told me that the skills he used in office environments are largely outdated. He used COBOL and other languages as a mainframe analyst programmer for decades, but this work has been transferred to server based systems. Work is often just at the maintenance level now so that can be outsourced to cheaper countries like India.
I asked if people can get training and update their skills. Allan agreed that they can take training courses and go to college, but they need to be young to get work. When you’re facing a company boss over the interview desk, they’ll look at your age and the recent gap in your CV.
“You don’t have to forward information if you’re not asked; once you are asked you have to be honest. A five-year gap for health reasons is enough to disqualify anyone. Employers can’t legally discriminate, but let’s be realistic. They want a reliable employee who’ll always be in the office and work long hours at short notice.”
Allan’s doctor describes him as having an interesting medical history. In 2007 his heart started atrial fibrillation, which is when the heart beats in a wrong rhythm. This was brought under control over a period of couple of years, by medication and several procedures. In 2013 both his hips fractured. This early-onset osteoporosis turned out to be caused by low calcium due to vitamin D deficiency. His indoor job, devoid of sunlight, may have been partially responsible. The hips were pinned together, but over a period, even with added vitamin D and calcium daily, the hips crumbled away. By 2016 he had to get bilateral hip replacement joints. As his bones were so weakened previously, he is still recovering and has suffered a few minor stress fractures. Also, Allan adds ruefully, his thyroid became underactive and his asthma worsened, which required hospitalisation, for two days and six days respectively.
The hospital Allan has had most experience of is Beaumont, Dublin, where he was treated very well. After a few years of being out of work, he had to drop the health insurance as he simply could not afford it.
“I found that on the medical card, if you present with a life-threatening condition you’re seen immediately and given whatever is needed; if you have something less urgent or tests are inconclusive and more tests are required, you’re in a queue.”
He’s been treated in several departments by now. Initially with the heart trouble Allan had to attend a Warfarin clinic every six weeks, which meant a worker would be taking time off work; that necessity was eventually removed by newer medication. While an in-patient he’s had to entertain himself but he reads a lot, and he has a Kindle. A few years ago, free wi-fi came in for patients, which he found marvellous. The first time he checked e-mails through his smartphone. On later hospitalisation he brought in a netbook which meant he could view videos individually, and this was better than the single TV in the ward. In a men’s ward this tends to be left showing sports.
I asked about the average age in wards. Allan says there was a mix of older and younger than himself in many wards. But in the ward for lung-related problems, the others had issues like COPD and had such difficulty breathing, it was obvious that they would not work again.
The persistent disadvantages are that Allan can’t move as quickly as before and gets tired easily; he’s on a number of medications, such as beta blockers, blood pressure reducer, statins, blood thinner, which interact and slow him down but are keeping him alive. He doesn’t cope well with walking long distances or uphill. When he travels abroad he has to sleep for a day at each end to recover from the journey. Increasingly, asthma kicks in if he catches a cold — he gets the flu jab each year. Allan needs a walking stick for any but very short walks and this helps with stability as well as taking pressure off the worst hip. Some days, he needs a crutch.
I asked if this meant he became isolated. Not too badly, Allan said. He has free travel with his disability card, and the Dublin Bus app shows real-time data on the next bus he needs to catch. He uses the internet daily in preference to television. He’s a lifetime library user. He’s thinking of joining a wargames club. And he’s at college.
College is a huge advantage because of the local community college offerings. On disability benefit, Allan can attend a college course and inform the social welfare office, without losing benefits. Those on job seekers’ allowance can’t unless it’s an evening or Springboard course, as they would not be available for work. He’s been to Colaiste Dhulaigh, Grange Community College and is currently at Killester College.
“College is gaining in popularity for those on disability; my classmates have included a woman in a wheelchair, one who is almost totally blind, and a man who carried around an oxygen tank.”
The college course gets Allan out of the house, mixing with people, stops people like him from feeling isolated, depressed and useless. They update their word processing skills and CVs, keeping them in touch with changing technology, and can take FETAC exams. By attending, he and his classmates create jobs. Allan previously took a few courses on PC maintenance and internet tech. These have been hugely useful at home, as he understands how the internet works, the servers, routers, switches, but he won’t get hired for that work so sees no point in taking more IT courses. He’s able to create and maintain websites, and sort out the family computers.
This year, he took a course on culture and heritage, angled at Irish culture, which he is finding very interesting and cheerful. Most of the group are school leavers, intending to be tour guides, and one classmate is an American who came over with her husband — he has a job but she doesn’t have a work visa, so she is going to college to learn about Irish heritage. This course can feed in to a degree at DCU. For those who want to learn a new language, Allan says Colaiste Dhulaigh provides some courses.
“It’s a matter of researching on line as to what is available in the area. Courses change from year to year and so will your interests.”
The fee for community college is €500 per year, but when he provides his medical card, the fee is cut to €250. Allan thinks the college must get the remainder repaid from the HSE.
“College is gaining in popularity for those on disability; my classmates have included a woman in a wheelchair, one who is almost totally blind, and a man who carried around an oxygen tank.”
The internet has other advantages for a savvy user like Allan. YouTube has many how-to videos. When the toilet cistern at home stopped working properly, Allan researched on line what had gone wrong, what part was required, and how to install it. A helpful video made by two plumbers demonstrated exactly how to replace that part. He only had to buy it and waterproof sealant in the nearby plumbing store, saving the cost of a plumber. Allan often cooks our dinner, finding recipes on line, and YouTube hosts cookery demos. Allan uses Facebook in a very limited way, as all his friends there are people he has known personally, and many of them are in England so he’d find it hard to keep in touch otherwise. The site has brought him party invitations and good news which he’d otherwise have missed.
“We bought a wheelchair on Amazon.”
While in a wheelchair for six months, as his hips crumbled awaiting replacement, Allan looked at accessibility of locations and transport with new eyes. The wheelchair was bought on Amazon. Allan found that this was cheaper than buying one in a shop in Dublin. The box was delivered within a couple of days and the chair was ready to use. Allan has also used Amazon to buy a blood pressure monitor and a pulse monitor and oximeter, which help him manage his health conditions.
“The medical monitors are good brands, the same makes as my doctor’s surgery uses. I tried a few phone apps but wasn’t convinced of their reliability; however they would be useful as out of home backups.”
Allan now has an In Case of Emergency list on the front screen of his phone, detailing his medications and next of kin contact, as paramedics are trained to check people’s phones. He can also set phone reminders for medications and doctor appointments.
Allan hasn’t used online grocery deliveries yet, as I do most of the shopping, but he is within reach of a couple of major supermarkets which would deliver. The local convenience store is only a short walk away, which gets him exercise, but he can’t carry much, and he prefers to use a backpack to leave his hands free for walking sticks and doors. He has changed his bank so that the post office can double as a bank and he can check his account online; his pharmacy is close by and would deliver in emergency. Our library is wheelchair accessible and users can renew books on line. With his health conditions Allan doesn’t drive, so we are lucky to be in this kind of location.
Allan also registered for online government services, which meant going through the process of three-factor authentication. For those who haven’t tried it: you input your details to a state website, and it sends you a letter in the post. When the post arrives, you input some details in the letter to the website, confirming your address, and the site sends a text to your phone, which you also interact with to confirm your number. After that you can get on to the page and check your taxes. Allan approves of strong net security.
When I looked into the matter of activity provisions for people who are retired or coming up to retirement, I found that men’s sheds, yoga and allotment gardening are increasing in popularity. The Council has put exercise machines in parks which help strengthen muscles.
Silver Cinema is a praiseworthy move from the Odeon Cinema, advertised on their website. And it’s not just Casablanca on repeat.
ODEON Silver Cinema is our series of weekly film screenings for our guests who are over-55. Tickets are just €3 each and include hot drinks and snacks before your film. Unwind and catch up with friends over aromatic tea and coffee and buttery biscuits as you get ready to be transported to another reality. Whether you’re watching a critically acclaimed classic or talk-of-the-town new release, we’ll lead you to another time, another place.
At time of writing, showing is Welcome To Marwen and other offerings will be The Children Act; Crazy Rich Asians; Christopher Robin; Mamma Mia! Here we go again; Mission Impossible: Fallout. Silver Cinema hopes to draw an audience at a slack time, noon on Tuesday, and chase the grey pound, but it provides a useful social service. Our family never thought we’d be part of the target market so early in life. The internet, and fast broadband, have revolutionised life for people who are retired or out of work with health issues. Long may this continue, and may it spread to every corner of the land.
Would Allan get hired again by a firm like Google at the age of 59? Would he want that kind of job?
“No, they only want young fit people. And truthfully I don’t need the pressure any more of long hours of projects, being told I’m working through the weekend, queues of staff at my desk when I return from lunch, a constantly pinging mailbox and the director watching over my shoulder as I write some essential code. Not to mention the lengthy quarterly staff meetings on videolink in an American company. I do sometimes miss my colleagues and friends from that time, and being a contractor gave me great opportunities, but I’ve done all that and someone younger can do it now. When your body stops working properly it’s time to sit back and lead a quieter lifestyle.”
