Lifelong Learning and Career Switching: The New Normal

Early in the 2002 film "About Schmidt," the title character sits in a dreary office watching a clock tick slowly toward 5:00, signaling his retirement from a decades-long career as an actuary for an insurance company. According to panelists at last week's "Innovation and America's Future" forum, the days of retiring at 64 are long gone. In fact, multiple careers and the need to continually acquire new skills is the norm for the 21st century worker.

 
The theme of lifelong learning and the idea that academic credentials no longer provide job security struck a chord on Twitter among those who were following the forum's live webcast (#AtlanticAmericasFuture). Comments ranged from "continuous access to education for adults will become a competitive advantage" to "[a] constant career-changing future is right up the alley of our ADD-ness."
 
Whether it's a short attention span or the reality of longer lifespans, a study by the Urban Institute revealed that adults 50 and older made up for 31 percent of the workforce in 2010, as compared to 20 percent in 1995. Further, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the labor force participation rate of adults 55 and older was 40.1 percent in 2010, up from 32.1 percent in 2000.
 
If we're working longer in a marketplace that is constantly shifting with economic and technological trends, it would stand to reason that the academic credentials we earned 30 years ago may not be relevant in a new workplace. On-the-job training and development can indeed help workers acquire new skills, but if a downward economy leads to a layoff, the burden and expense of acquiring new skills to remain competitive or enter a new field rests solely with the individual.
 
As one Twitter user noted last Thursday, today's worker may still enjoy 20-plus active and healthy years after retirement. Initiatives geared toward making lifelong learning accessible and affordable to workers of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds is the key to the health of our economy.
 
What are your thoughts on the relationship between education and workforce readiness? Is career-switching the new normal or a symptom of the recession?