Mike Causey

Age Envy At The Office

Is there a civil war brewing in your your office? Are young workers envious of old-timers and their pay and perks? Senior Correspondent Mike Causey wonders if t...

Federal News Network Staff

July 29, 2008 4:00 am

3 min read

“To be 70 years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be 40 years old.” Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Many years ago, before any of us had ever heard of Ryan Seacrest and Angelina Jolie, the motto of young people was “Don’t Trust Anybody Over 30!” A few extremists even advocated euthanizing folks with too many candles on the old birthday cake.

Times change…

Now that most members of that generation are concerned about Social Security, demanding senior discounts at the movies and outraged by young men who wear the underwear outside their outside wear.

With that in mind, consider this long-time fed who thinks everybody would be a winner if he could get a $25,000 buyout. He says the mere presence of a 55 year old CSRS employee is likely to cause a civil war in his office which is growing younger by the day. Here’s what he said:

I turned 55 this year and I have 35 years in, so I can retire if I want to. I’m more expensive than younger, new and all FERS employees. USPS is giving something to the 50 – 54 year olds, giving them insurance coverage for a few years. They are not offering me anything, at least not so far. It can’t be good for morale to have CSRS working next to FERS who do not get paid for sick leave, get crappy Social Security retirement at 66 or 67 when we get great deals in our 50s?? Don’t they benefit if we all just go? I need the 75% or 80% pension to leave with my TSP down and the high inflation in the stores and gas stations. So I stay and my peers stay and we are no longer the best workers… We try but age and repetitive motion arthritis takes its toll.

You would think they would benefit most if I would retire along with my older CSRS friends. Many of us are not as quick and fit as we once were and most of my peers plan to work at least a couple/few more years to get the recent pay raises accounted for in our “high 3s”. People with white collar jobs can work until 65, even 70 or so but those of us doing physical work are not efficient and we have lots of sick leave to use. I have over a year that sooner or later I will access screwing up schedules for a year. I need shoulder surgery for instance, according to my doc.

So why not offer us expensive employees buyouts, a couple years seniority extra to go or do you think they will get their “quota” with just 50 – 54s? USPS will have kids and old folks. No middle aged workers who are the ones at the peak of abilities in the physical sense? Makes no sense to me!

So, is he the equivalent of the soldier who falls on a grenade to save his buddies, or is he trying to rationalize his way into a buyout?

Is there an age imbalance at your office? Do young folk resent older workers or vice versa? Is there a civil war brewing in your building?

Let us know.

Nearly Useless Factoid

National Cheesecake Day is tomorrow. Why this is “nearly” useless information: to kick-off its anniversary celebration and in commemoration of the day, The Cheesecake Factory is offering all cheesecakes at $1.50 per slice – the same price as when they opened 30 years ago.

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com