Let’s face it, the economic recession is sending many retirees and senior citizens back into the workplace, or better yet, some have decided to launch their own business. It’s tough to compete when you haven’t been working for a while, and it’s even tougher if you don’t have adequate computer skills. You have to go beyond Microsoft Word and doing simple searches on Google these days if you want a competitive advantage. Learning social media marketing and networking skills is one way to get customers and employers to consider you as much as, or more, than your younger and social media savvy competitors. A story in the Telegraph, MI5 dumps spies who can’t use Facebook and Twitter, highlights the same issue but from a different perspective:
“MI5 is turning out dozens of its older staff because their computer skills are not sufficient to master social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Mr Evans said: “I think some of the staff perhaps aren’t quite the ones that we will want for the future.”
He added that the programme would include both “voluntary and compulsory redundancies” believed to mainly impact upon older workers.”
An older worker is often classified as someone over 50. If that’s you, and you don’t know anything about Twitter, Facebook and other social media websites, then it’s time to get started. Don’t dismiss this as something just happening in London. The actions of MI5 are indicative of what is taking place in many companies, and we will see more of it in the near future.
About Brandon Leibowitz
