0:00
/
0:00
Transcript

genXy - The Podcast | Episode 4: genXy Responds to the NYT Article "The GenX Career Meltdown"

“Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline”

’s March 28, 2025 article in The New York Times, “The GenX Career Meltdown” is so on-topic and on-brand for genXy that we couldn’t let it go by without commentary. To say that it inspired a wide range of feelings in us would be…accurate.

Then our podcasting tool told us we were cut off for the month, so we decided to try our weekly podcast Live. And it was fun. When GenXers face a challenge, we’re resilient and can adapt to new technology—which was one of the primary points we found lacking in Mr. Kurutz’s story.

Yes, GenX is facing unprecedented challenges in the workplace. It’s the end of work as we knew it, and we’re not feeling fine, indeed.

But we’re not just “making candlesticks when electricity came in,” as his article asserts,

We helped build the damn electrical grid in the first place.

Representing all of Generation X as “obsolete” and “thrown away” in the workplace does us an immense disservice.

Listen in as we discuss what resonated with us, what inspired us, and what made us angry in this article.

We also share our own nontraditional career paths—including

’s almost-path as an acupuncturist and ’ time as both a speech pathologist and music writer—as well as our job hunt challenges as GenX candidates.

Give us a listen, and let us know what you think in the comments!

Thanks to the very fine people (including

, , !) who showed up to listen and participate—we’re so grateful to all of you, and to all of our subscribers.

Love you, mean it! Bye!

PS: This isn’t the first time Dana has blasted a New York Times think piece. As mentioned in the podcast, she wrote Getting Hired as a Woman Over 40 Just Got Even Harder in response to a story they wrote on menopausal women in the workplace. If you like this response, you’ll probably appreciate this story as well.


Thanks for reading genXy! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Share

Get more from GenXy in the Substack app
Available for iOS and Android

Discussion about this video