What's Old is New Again
The model of school-job-retire has to change. Sixty-year careers and multiple careerpaths may become the norm.
By Manar Al Hinai
Illustration by Pietari Posti
A chance encounter with my university professor seven years ago upended my perspective about work. “What do you want to do next?” he asked. I didn’t understand the question, I had a corporate job I loved and planned to climb the career ladder. Retirement held the promise of more time for creative writing. He continued: “Surely you won’t be doing the same thing 20 years from now?”
What my professor suggested wasn’t new. The region’s arid climate, coupled with a nomadic lifestyle for many, meant that historically it was normal for people to work at different jobs throughout the year. The more skilled people were, the better their livelihoods, my great aunt explained. Some would work as pearl divers in the summer and in agriculture in the winter. Not only did people do multiple jobs in a year, the work they did evolved as they aged. There was no retirement age. People worked all their lives, or until sickness or old age prevented them from undertaking certain tasks.
My professor and aunt made interesting points. Now that life expectancy is higher, more of us will find ourselves in a situation similar to our ancestors. Research supports this. According to the report The New Map of Life: 100 Years to Thrive from The Stanford Center on Longevity at Stanford University, by 2050 up to half of today’s five-year-olds in the US can expect to live for 100 years, meaning that 60-year careers may become the norm, and that the traditional path of school-job-retire must be replaced by more flexible career options and lifelong learning. That will happen here in the UAE, too. Retiring at 65 will likely be a thing of the past and some of us may work until we are 80 years old or more. Like me, and my ancestors before me, it will be the norm for people to explore different or multiple career paths throughout their lives.
How can we fit into this new work model? Upskilling and re-skilling have never been more important. In its Future of Jobs Report 2020, the World Economic Forum predicts that half of workers will need reskilling by 2025. Some entities in the UAE are already leading the way. Dubai Tourism is upskilling employees in artificial intelligence and user experience design to keep up with the changing demands of the industry. The country also launched a freelance visa to attract top talent to live here, as people look for flexible work options. A report by job portal Bayt.com and market researcher YouGov—Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa 2021—revealed that 62% of UAE residents would prefer to be self-employed given a chance. Working on different projects, rather than taking a traditional career path, will become the norm for many.
I eventually quit my corporate job, established two businesses in the creative industry, and have more time to dedicate to creative writing now, not in retirement. Many of us could be pursuing more than one dream career path in our lifetime. That doesn’t sound like a bad deal at all.
Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writerand entrepreneur
