Hybrid Boomer in the Labor Force — Am I Still Relevant?
I don’t remember the first time I asked myself this question, but I remember how it felt.
It wasn’t loud or dramatic.
It showed up quietly after a meeting where we had just discussed transformation and change. I suddenly felt like I was standing slightly outside of where the organization was headed.
Am I still relevant?
I’ve spent decades working, adapting, learning, and leading. I have witnessed my entire reporting structure change, more than once. Technology that once ran everything became obsolete. My pay has survived recessions and reinventions. And yet, in today’s labor force that is now dominated by rapid change and constant talk of what’s “next”, it is so easy to feel like experience is something you have to defend.
Transitioning into a hybrid work model made that feeling sharper.
Working from home, collaborating with my peers and team members across video screens, and navigating the digital-first cultures all happened fast. Not because I couldn’t adapt, but because suddenly adaptation was assumed to belong to someone younger.
When Experience Gets Quiet
No one ever said I wasn’t relevant. That’s the part so hard to explain.
It’s more subtle than that.
It comes in the way speed is sometimes valued over thoughtfulness. It is releasing things before they are finished, in phases and not really reliable. The way new ideas are celebrated before they are tested, and history gets dismissed as “legacy” instead of context.
I noticed myself pausing before speaking. Second-guessing whether my perspective still landed.
Afraid that my steadiness would be mistaken for resistance.
That’s when I realized the real issue wasn’t relevance.
It was visibility.
What Hybrid Work Revealed
Hybrid work stripped away a lot of what used to signal value.
You’re no longer seen walking the halls.
Your presence isn’t physical.
Now your contribution has to travel through screens and messages.
What remains is judgment, communication, and trust.
And that’s where I realized something important: experience did not disappear in the hybrid era, it became more valuable.
When things are unclear, people don’t need faster answers.
They need better ones.
Adaptability Isn’t New to Me
There is a myth that adaptability belongs to younger generations.
But I adapted long before hybrid work was a concept.
I adapted from paper to digital and from desktops to laptops.
From command-and-control leadership to collaboration and servant leadership.
Roles changed from fixed to evolving expectations.
I didn’t just survive change, I learned how to move through it without losing myself.
That is not irrelevance.
That’s resilience.
The Real Question I Had to Answer
The hardest part wasn’t learning new tools or navigating hybrid systems.
It was deciding whether I still trusted my own voice.
Because relevance isn’t something the labor force gives you.
It’s something you claim, quietly, confidently, and consistently.
The moment I stopped trying to keep up and started showing up as myself again, my mindset shifted.
I stopped performing urgency by setting boundaries without apology and speaking from experience instead of defensiveness.
And people listen.
What I Know Now
I know now that relevance doesn’t mean being the fastest learner in the room.
It means knowing what matters when everything feels urgent.
It means offering perspective when others bring noise.
Stability when things feel uncertain.
Context when decisions feel rushed.
Hybrid work didn’t make me less relevant.
It clarified my role.
Final Thought
So, am I still relevant in today’s labor force?
Yes.
Not because I refuse to change.
But because I understand change, and I know that it is inevitable.
Relevance is not about age.
It is about judgment, presence, and trust.
And those don’t expire.
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