I'm 68 and started working at 15. That's 53 years of steady employment, though not at the same place. I'm not a career person, nor do I stick to one occupation. The longest job I've had was 13 years, running an overnight freight crew. 13 years of graveyard shifts really screws with your body clock. In just the 70s alone I worked in a Texas gas station, was a cop, was vice-president of a security company, then joined the Army. A varied work life.
@Jeber I was with a Combat Engineer Brigade HQ though never deployed overseas during the VietNam era…. ‘69 - ‘75, degrees in Forensic Psychology, and Rehabilitation Counseling. After 12 years, moved to computer and network security. Retired 33 years later, a couple of years before Covid. 😉
@Jeber In large part yes, I found a good spot in the organization (30K + staff with another 5K contractors) and built on it. Although few if any people are truly indispensable I was lucky enough to find some that I believed were! I retired as a CISO /CSO of my Agency,