A Career And Beyond

"To And Through A Career" summarizes the story so far so it omits the next imminent development:

8 (vi) A new national all age careers service, presumably removing the careers guidance function from the local Young People's Service.

Thus, the entire development 8 (i) - (vi) will have moved from local age-specific careers services to a national all age careers service, passing through stages that were not careers services. Between now and retirement, will I have stayed with the YPS or have moved to the new service? Does it matter? Does anything matter after all this? I prefer to work for a public authority than for some other kind of agency.

Is the pace of change and the rate of re-organisation approaching a limit? One local careers service had three major re-organisations in two years but that was local and was an extreme example, even at one stage involving the closure of all public access centres and the location of advisers in places like schools and colleges. Nationally, we currently have a five year cycle of re-organisations but three years might be the absolute minimum possible? I aim to stay on the full salary as long as possible until the conventional retirement age. I also enjoy the work and the contact with colleagues and am curious to find out how the current changes will be implemented especially after everything we have been through, all the major changes that seemed as if they would last. We will soon be out of touch with work when no longer at it but retirement will be a continuation and extension of current non-work activities, including writing about the nature of work.

Added, 8 Sept, 2011: Early retirement with an enhanced redundancy package is now expected at the end of March 2012, just one year and nine months earlier than the originally planned retirement. It is now clear that the re-organised Young People's Service will simply be a much reduced Youth and Community Service without careers guidance. In our District, two Centres originally open to the public five days a week are now open only four half days a week and soon will close completely. However, a big public sector strike is expected on 30 November 2011 and hopefully will be the start of all-out action to bring down the current government and start reversing its policies.