Rekindling Purpose: How Seniors Can Illuminate the Path Forward in a Post-COVID World

The pandemic cast long shadows over all our lives, but for many senior professionals like myself, it wasn't just the virus that threatened our existence—it was the aftermath that slowly eroded our sense of purpose and belonging.

COVID-19 drew a cruel dividing line. For some seniors, the threat was immediate and physical—many contracted the virus, fought brave battles, and either emerged victorious or slipped away from this world. But for others of us, the pandemic dealt a different kind of death—a slow, invisible diminishing of self-worth as our professional identities were systematically dismantled.

We didn't lose our lives to COVID. We lost something else: our livelihoods, our financial stability, the respect that comes with being a provider, and perhaps most devastatingly, our belief in ourselves.

The Silent Casualties of COVID

I've spent years working in startups where I was often one of the senior persons in the room—sometimes even older than the founders themselves. Never once did I feel embarrassed by this age gap. I would remind myself: "I'm not just the person with the highest number of birthdays—I'm the one with the deepest well of experience and expertise."

I made a silent pact with myself: my age would become irrelevant if I consistently outworked, outthought, and outperformed my younger colleagues. And for years, this philosophy served me well.

Then COVID swept through, and suddenly the very qualities that had made me valuable—my experience, my institutional knowledge, my measured approach to challenges—became liabilities in a world frantically scrambling to cut costs and "innovate" their way out of crisis.

I watched as fear took hold. Colleagues began to view my competence not as an asset but as a threat. If I performed too well, would I make them look dispensable? The whispered worry that spread was not about my capabilities, but about their own job security in my shadow.

The Age of Ageism

Even now, with the acute phase of the pandemic behind us, I see ageism flourishing with renewed vigour. Browse through any job portal and you'll notice a stark pattern—opportunities abound for junior and mid-level professionals, while senior positions have all but vanished.

For a long time, this reality crushed my spirit. I felt discarded, like a book with too many pages in a world that only has time for headlines.

But something has shifted within me recently—a perspective that has transformed my bitterness into clarity, my despair into determination.

The Wisdom of Adaptation

The truth isn't that employers don't need senior professionals—it's that many can't afford us, especially in the startup ecosystem where young founders are navigating unprecedented economic turbulence.

This realization has awakened something maternal in my approach. Just as I would still nurture and guide my younger siblings through their struggles regardless of how they treat me, I now see my role in the professional world through a similar lens.

These younger leaders and colleagues—even when they dismiss or devalue my contributions—aren't acting from malice but from inexperience. They haven't weathered the storms I have. They haven't yet developed the patience and resilience that only comes from seeing cycles of crisis come and go.

A New Covenant With Ourselves

My fellow seniors, here is what I propose: let's stop tallying our losses. Instead, let's redirect our formidable energies toward creating value in ways that acknowledge the current reality.

When we collaborate with younger colleagues without resentment, when we support floundering startups with our steady hands without demanding immediate recognition, we're not capitulating—we're strategically repositioning.

Perhaps most importantly, we must embrace the necessity of making ourselves affordable. By accepting more modest compensation packages, we accomplish two vital things: we make our employment sustainable for struggling organizations, and we cultivate greater financial discipline within ourselves.

This isn't about devaluing our worth—it's about recognizing the economic realities facing many businesses today and demonstrating our adaptability. The financial constraints we face can become catalysts for innovation in our personal lives, teaching us to derive meaning and satisfaction beyond material rewards.

As we help these organizations and individuals succeed, their anxiety will gradually subside. And in that new space of security and abundance, our true value will become evident once more. Recognition and respect will follow—not because we demanded them, but because we made ourselves indispensable in ways that transcend job descriptions and salary expectations.

The Triumph of Experience

There is something magnificent about standing tall when everyone expects you to remain fallen. There is profound dignity in transforming rejection into reinvention and obstacles into opportunities.

So I challenge you, my silver-haired comrades: Instead of being defeated by this moment in history, let's be defined by how we respond to it. Let's turn our crises into catalysts, our setbacks into setups for an extraordinary renaissance.

The wisdom we've accumulated over decades isn't diminished by market forces or hiring trends. In fact, it may be exactly what a chaotic world needs right now—even if it doesn't yet know it.

Your journey isn't over. It's simply taking a turn none of us anticipated. And if there's one thing seniors know better than anyone, it's that the most meaningful chapters often come later in the story, when experience and perspective illuminate the path with unparalleled clarity.

Remember what Maya Angelou so powerfully expressed:

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats,so you can know who you are, what you can rise from,how you can still come out of it."

We rise, not despite our years, but because of them. Our time to shine isn't behind us—it's unfolding right now.