It's a language that works very well. The performance is really pretty impressive; it's amazingly backwards-compatible; there are a wealth of modules available on CPAN; it's available on a wide variety of platforms; there are lots of user groups available; there are still conferences about the language going on; there's still development going forward on the current version and on two other efforts (Raku and Perl 7); and you can still find work writing and maintaining Perl.

PS If you feel like Perl's made a different to your career, you can always donate to the Perl Foundation. :)