Learning a New Skill Won't Save Your Career

Forget the old rules of career success. In today’s nonlinear world, midlifers can no longer rely on a single job, a predictable career ladder, or a traditional retirement plan.

Instead, we need a different approach—one that prioritizes adaptability, leverages our skills in unique ways, and diversifies income streams.

This three-part series, The Midlife Career Revolution, will show you how to take control of your midlife career, build resilience, and create a future on your own terms.

• Part 1: Learning a New Skill Won't Save Your Career (You're Here)
• Part 2: Skill Stacking: The Key to Career Resilience
• Part 3: The Midlife Portfolio Career Playbook

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Introduction - Don't Count On It

The corporate world relentlessly champions reskilling as the antidote to career instability. But what if this fixation on perpetual skill-building is a smokescreen?

What if the race to collect certifications or pivot to the latest tech trend obscures deeper, systemic flaws in how we define professional value?

For decades, we've been told that the key to career longevity depends on learning 'in-demand' skills - or reskilling - to stay relevant in a fast-changing job market. Post-pandemic, this narrative has only grown louder as policymakers and businesses push reskilling programs as the ultimate solution to workforce challenges.

But for midlifers (45+), particularly those who plan to stay professionally active into their 70s and beyond, reskilling is not the silver bullet it’s made out to be.

The real question is this: Is pouring time and money into learning a brand-new skill truly the best strategy for career adaptability in an era of automation, economic change, and rampant age bias?

In this first of our series, we unpack the reskilling myth, look at why it falls short, and suggest what midlifers should do instead.

The Reskilling Mirage

At face value, the concept of reskilling makes perfect sense. Industries are evolving, automation is reshaping the job market, and lifelong careers in one field are becoming rarer. Governments and corporations worldwide have reacted by investing in upskilling and reskilling initiatives.

For instance, the UK government introduced free college courses, digital bootcamps, and apprenticeships aimed at equipping workers with "in-demand" skills. This sounds promising, right?

But there’s one glaring problem—there’s little evidence that reskilling works at scale.

Take the example of Claire Winterbottom, a 42-year-old from Leeds, who, according to a BBC article, joined a four-month coding bootcamp targeted at women. She was assured by the program that most graduates secured tech jobs right after completing the course.

However, after finishing her training in 2020, Claire found herself competing with an oversupply of newly trained developers and sparse job opportunities. Seven months later, only four out of sixteen people in her cohort had secured jobs in the industry.

Unfortunately, Claire’s experience isn’t an anomaly. Even pre-pandemic studies have cast doubt on the effectiveness of widespread reskilling initiatives.

The Myth of the Skills Gap

One of the key narratives supporting reskilling programs is the so-called skills gap. The assumption is that workers remain unemployed or underemployed because they lack the right skills for today’s job market. Policymakers and corporate strategists use this idea to justify shifting responsibility onto individuals.

But does this argument hold water? Research suggests otherwise.

• A US Department of Labor study revealed that while tech and engineering have been labeled “high-demand” fields, the only profession showing real wage growth and strong demand was law (Shierholz, 2018).
• A 2017 report by the UK's Office for National Statistics found that 16% of UK workers were overqualified for their jobs—a figure that shot up to 31% for university graduates.
• A 2024 study from Rutgers University uncovered that only 60–70% of US computing and engineering graduates actually found jobs in STEM. For graduates in life sciences and physical sciences, these figures dropped to as low as 10%.

The real issue isn’t a shortage of talent—it’s a shortage of well-paying jobs that fully utilize those talents.

The Real Problem - Structural Workforce Shifts

If reskilling isn’t the panacea it’s made out to be, why does the narrative persist?

According to Gordon Lafer, a political economist, reskilling programs serve as a convenient way for governments and corporations to sidestep larger systemic issues. Why focus on stagnant wages, the rise of automation, or age discrimination when you can shift responsibility back onto workers for “not keeping up”?

For midlife professionals, this narrative becomes especially harmful. Unlike younger workers, midlifers typically face more financial responsibilities, such as mortgages, childcare, or saving for retirement.

Taking time off to acquire new skills involves a significant cost—and it doesn’t guarantee results.

Challenges Midlifers Face That Reskilling Doesn’t Solve

1. Automation Outpacing Training

Automation continues to eliminate jobs faster than training initiatives can replace them. Certain roles that midlifers are urged to retrain for—like software engineering or data analysis—are already seeing parts of their work automated by AI.

2. Nonlinear Industry Transitions

With careers becoming increasingly nonlinear, switching careers is no longer a straightforward process, especially for workers in their 40s and beyond. Retraining doesn’t always translate to securing a job in a new field, particularly if the market is oversaturated or geographically constrained.

3. Age Discrimination

Age discrimination in hiring is a persistent barrier. A 2019 study by AARP found that 61% of workers over the age of 45 reported experiencing age-related bias in hiring. Compared to younger applicants, midlifers often face additional obstacles—ranging from salary expectations to perceptions about adaptability.

The Path Forward for Midlifers

Should midlife professionals abandon the idea of learning new skills? Absolutely not. But in today’s rapidly evolving work landscape, depending solely on traditional career paths is no longer enough.

Adapt an Entrepreneurial Mindset

Why fight against age discrimination? When you are your own boss, that goes out the window. You don't need to raise millions in investment capital and be the world's next unicorn to be an entrepreneur. You can consider consulting, advising, freelancing, or becoming a creator.

Diversify Your Income and Protect Against Vulnerabilities

Relying on a single source of income poses a significant risk, especially in midlife. Reduce your risk by mixing it all up through a combination of freelancing, passive revenue streams, a traditional role and a side project.

Focus on Skill Stacking

Instead of completely retraining for a new, high-demand field, consider building on your existing skill set.

For example, if you want to enter the personal development field, you can combine psychology + writing + speaking. Or, if you want to start a real estate business, you can combine negotiation + property evaluation + marketing. Just be realistic and make sure you have the right skills and experience.

Relationships Beat Formal Qualifications

Remember the old adage: people buy people! Career pivots often rely more on human connections than qualifications. Identify mentors, former colleagues, or industry peers who can guide you toward opportunities—even in fields you’re unfamiliar with.

Final Thought

The era of relying on a single, linear career path is over. As a midlife professional, you must reject outdated ideas and embrace 3 rules:

• Own your trajectory!
• Keep stacking and re-stacking your skills and experience!
• Build in financial autonomy!

From now on, treat your career as a dynamic portfolio with lots of potential paths: consulting, side gigs, freelancing, a "traditional" role, becoming a creator. Build resilience by not relying on a single employer.

Forget the "Reskilling" Obsession

While developing new skills is essential, remember that reskilling as the ultimate solution fails to address broader challenges like automation, evolving labor markets, and age-related biases. Many reskilling programs emphasize quick fixes over long-term empowerment, leaving you scrambling to keep pace with fleeting trends instead of shaping your own futures.

True resilience isn’t about collecting certifications—it’s about strategic reinvention. This involves:

• Merging your existing expertise with complementary skills to create unique value.
• Building multiple income streams that endure beyond any one job or industry.
• Leveraging networks and relationships to unlock opportunities beyond relying solely on a résumé.

Redefine "Relevance"

The goal isn’t simply to “stay relevant.” Your objective is to define relevance on your terms.

Start by prioritizing adaptability over conformity and taking control of your career over blind loyalty to an employer.

Not only does this help you turn uncertainty into opportunity. This approach also empowers you to craft a career that aligns with your evolving goals and values rather than the shifting demands of a company.

What’s Next: Your Toolkit for an Adaptive Career

In Part 2 of this series, we offer a step-by-step guide for building an adaptive career framework through practical tools like skill stacking.

Remember–the future belongs to those who build their own opportunities—not to those who wait for change to happen.