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OT: Longest Running Career?

7K views 86 replies 36 participants last post by  Winston of the Woods 
#1 ·
I should be thankful.

January 9, 1980 I started working at Nordair Airlines and my toolbox has yet to leave the building.


Has anyone else been blessed with this good fortune?
 
#2 ·
I should be thankful.

January 9, 1980 I started working at Nordair Airlines and my toolbox has yet to leave the building.

Has anyone else been blessed with this good fortune?
Congratulations, Chris.

Not quite that long for me.... Since May, 1982. Basically my second job after my first went belly up after almost 10 years there.

However, we just had a surprise luncheon a few weeks ago for one of the guys I work with who had just completed his 40th year. His only job, he started when he was 19.
 
#3 ·
However, we just had a surprise luncheon a few weeks ago for one of the guys I work with who had just completed his 40th year. His only job, he started when he was 19.
IMO, you aren't going to be seeing much of this in the future; but I worked with someone who had been working at that company (not a small, family company, a real, Fortune 100 company at the time) for 50 YEARS. You definitely won't be seeing that again.

True: I was at my first wife's aunt and uncle's 50th anniversary party shortly after I got married. My father in law asked me if I could imagine being married for 50 years. My response: "Yes, I certainly can - but not to the same person". This was prophetic.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I certainly am (thankful),

2013 will mark my 33rd year with the same employer, and thus far has seen us living & working on 3 continents in 5 separate countries (truly blessed). likewise, my BIL retired Dec. 31st after 39 1/2 with his same employer - and you're right.....

we've been very fortunate
 
#5 ·
The laws changed in Canada where there is no mandatory retirement age.

What??

Fuck that.

Beating the longevity record is not in my plans.

Getting out with some good retirement years ahead of me is my dream.

Alas, my daughter's have dreams of their own which include the schooling I never pursued.

We'll see.
 
#11 ·
The laws changed in Canada where there is no mandatory retirement age.
Don't get me started...

Almost the only ones who can retire at an early age are those who don't do physical work and who could continue. For the poor sods who actually WORK for a living there's not much hope.

Luckily, I can chuck it in at any time. It's just a matter of waiting for when I feel it's the "right" time.

More accurately I'm waiting for SWMBO to allow it. :D
 
#6 ·
well, forget the law (retirement age) as its something each of us control in terms of when, why, etc.

in my case, not in my plans either.

turned 58 this week, plan to go 2 more i.e. end 2015, then call it at 60 irrespective of any gov. subsidy, etc. and in the event I still wanna work, do something after, etc just to keep me occupied - then it'l be something simple and part time and more so on my terms in that I'll do it for the enjoyment more so than income.

also have to think about if me and the missus can actually live with one another full time vs my normally being at work throughout the day....still have my hair but could find myself pulling it out in the years to come...know what I mean?
 
#7 ·
There is no longevity around here anymore. I've managed to do a max of 12 years before something changes. The last layoff saw a 3 years hiatus from a full-time position. My wife and I have no expectations of lengthy employment at this point, just saving as much as we can, where we think it might be safe! And the wife and I both went to school, got our degrees- That is no longer job insurance.

The next step? I'll be opening a tiki bar in Belize.
 
#9 ·
It IS warm.

Just picture this- Thatched roof, ocean breeze wafting through the place, beach sand tracked in on the floor and a bunch of BW 107 guys yakking it up over their Belicans (the beer of Belize) and their rum punches. As long as Rowdie brings his avatar and her friends, it sounds pretty good to me!

And Chris, congrats on your 33 years! Tempus fugit
 
#10 · (Edited)
Nobby-

You have me beat by about 6 months. I started with GE Aerospace on 5 July 1980, which was bought out by Martin Marietta in 1992. I left (plant closing) to work for a competitor (Loral) which was eventually bought out by (then) Lockheed Martin. So, through all that convoluted corporate gobbling, I got to keep my pension service intact for 32 years. I hope to catch the next "downsize" buyout within the next couple of years.

Yeah, it's becoming a rarity to know anyone with 30+ years service. With defined benefit pensions becoming passe, there's not much sense being anything but a whore for the money.
 
#13 ·
I guess I'm just a square peg who tried to fit into a round hole. I hold a degree, but could never handle a large corporate culture. I worked for a number of fine companies, but never felt fulfilled until I started my own business at age 48. Now 71, I have absolutely no regrets other than I did not retire with a nice company pension, but managed to sell off a property which which will yield good mortgage income for the next 30 years. (I should live so long!)
Good wishes to you, Nobby, and the others who braved it out all these years. :thumbsup:
 
#14 ·
...January 9, 1980 I started working at Nordair Airlines and my toolbox has yet to leave the building...
Nice roots. That's showing them!


My career began in earnest 39 years ago but the invention of the Leveraged Buy Out made retail management a vagabond's lot in life. My current gig is only the second time I've made it into double digits.
 
#15 ·
Forty years a meteorologist, all over the world and this great nation of ours north south east and west, never out of work but had 6 or 8 different employers, the final 25 years with NOAA/NWS which allowed me to retire with a modest pension and savings just in time.

For our forum friends facing retirement, you're gonna like it!
 
#18 ·
It hasn't been fun for me since the merge with Air Chaos 12 years ago.

But it still pays the bills and I get my personal work satisfaction from working for myself on the side.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I never officially retired.
I worked for 5 different and diverse employers after college, with sometimes-long sabbaticals in between.
I quit at 52 and just didn't bother finding another job.
Fifteen years later I still tell people I am unemployed, although unemployable would be more accurate.
 
#19 ·
40 years with the same company. retired when I qualified for full pension. started home remodeling part time. quit that a year ago. at 68 decided to sell my place and buy a house near where my son lives. staying with him while i'm waiting for the house to close ( it's a short sale so has been taking forever).
he jokes that i'm probably the only homeless person in the country that drives a Mercedes!:D
 
#20 ·
I'm a new 107 owner so definitely need to find some time to clean the barn & remodel it into a respectable shop. Just starting my 29th year in the semiconductor industry (one location, 3 companies) and have been very fortunate to live in Maine ... boating, skiing, no traffic jams, lots of fresh air ... and travel the world on an expense report. Anyhow, the countdown is in place - 3 years or another bad downturn and a buy-out.
I'm not one to sit on my butt so a fun job is probably on the horizon; for cash flow to support all my bad habits. And believe me the 107 will be the least of my cash drains ... my Grand Banks 36 is definitely the proverbial hole in the water.
 
#24 ·
Just turned over 35 years on October 23rd with a Major Communications Utility that has been broken up, deregulated, re-engineered, and sold down the river twice so far. I figure that unless I hit the Lottery, my retirement anouncement will be the appearance of my obituary in the local paper. I have a job that keeps me interested, and there are very few people that can fulfill the requirements: Smart enough to do the job, but dumb enough to take it. I'm the lowest in seniority on the crew.:eek:
 
#33 ·
41 years spanning four organizations. Turning 66 next month but still enjoying what I do. Everything has its ups and downs but I've had a satisfying and challenging career with mostly ups. I have a good team who now does the heavy lifting and I've been asked to stay aboard for a couple of years. So, I'm enjoying the last few miles of the ride.

Cheers,
 
#40 ·
23 years in the same industry, 11 years at my current job. I've been through 3 mergers and always wound up with a place to sit but December 27th they just announced that we are merging yet again. Lots of overlap and their management comes in on top. I'm not getting a good feeling this time around...
 
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