“HALF LIFE of STEM
STEM careers have a half life of only a few years.”
Friend, I’m sorry you experienced this. In STEM and probably most other disciplines, you have to continue learning and innovating. If you dont, you will stagnate, to be sure.
I have recast my career at least a dozen times in 30 years, and continue to do so.
I was unemployed for 45 minutes once.
In STEM there is always something to learn. Adding knowledge from other disciplines even art and literature is fun and interesting.
Probably half the programmers I know threw in the techno-towel when they approached 60. They didn’t want to keep up anymore. In the corporate world, that gets you laid off.
But I still get inquiries about COBOL jobs so they are out there.