Officially I am still working. I update my business website every month. I sometimes post about work-related things on my social media (although I’m more likely these days to be posting about books and music). And I still go on LinkedIn, although I hate it.
And one day last week I went on LinkedIn and in just a few minutes I saw an ex colleague who’s been out of work for six months and is desperate for a job, and three freelances advertising their “availability”.
I have “availability” too. In the past everyone was embarrassed to admit it, because there was a stigma about not being successful. But when it’s happening to everyone, it has to be said.
I’ve been freelance, this time round, for over 12 years and I’ve always assumed I could continue for as long as I wanted. But maybe that’s no longer true.
Yes, there have always been ups and downs, but (apart from during lockdown) it’s never been like this before. There have even been periods when I’ve had so much work that I’ve had to turn jobs down. The last time that happened was in the summer of 2022, when things finally seemed to be bouncing back after Covid. Then Liz Truss happened…
And before we could bounce back from that, generative AI became a Thing…
And now we are all screwed.
I’m old enough to remember the disaster of the Thatcher years, when the post-industrial revolution hit blue-collar jobs hard. Now, in the digital revolution, unemployment is coming for the white-collar workers. It was scary then, and it’s even more scary now because I can’t see where this is going except for some kind of dystopian future when there are no careers for ordinary people, just the gig economy.
I guess I am one of the lucky ones, because of the life stage I'm at. I have a cushion against poverty because I have a state pension, and a cushion against boredom because I have a book coming out. But I feel sorry for the friends in my local business networks who are mid-career or starting out. They are not going to enjoy the sort of freelance career that I had.
So, yes, officially I am still working. But, most of the time, I don’t have work. It is starting to feel like Schrodinger’s retirement.
One of my sisters is actually retired: she had a job, and she left. She has a routine. She walks the dogs, minds the grandchildren, makes things, reads lots of long books. Enjoys the rest she deserves.
I don’t have dogs or grandchildren. I make things with words and I read a lot of books (although not usually long ones). And I wonder if I am retired yet.
Obviously not or I would not be on LinkedIn. A friend around my age gleefully announced his departure earlier this year. I’m not about to do that.
Actually I don’t want to stop working. Because I’m a geek, I’ve often used the phrase “fun and interesting” about writing and editing jobs that most people wouldn’t describe that way. And I want my life to carry on being fun and interesting.
The last time I got a good chunk of client work I remembered two things. I bloody love copy-editing. And, after all these years, I’m bloody good at it.
But does anyone care any more about that stuff? Some do, because I am still working, a bit. But maybe not enough. There’s a whole conversation to be had here about AI slop and ultra-processed information, and I care a lot about that, because I value good writing and clear communication. But that’s another story, and other people have said it better than me.
Meanwhile, I am practising saying the phrase “semi-retired”. And I don’t think I like it.
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