It is much harder for people in their 50’s to land good jobs with decent pay, even when they have the right education and the right experience. Employers are skillful at finding subtle way to discriminate against older candidates. Ageism shows up as hidden discrimination during hiring.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/economy/sd-fi-older-workers-20180902-story.html
“As a steadily growing share of baby boomers are opting to work well into their retirement years compared to past generations, the challenges of remaining employed or re-entering the workforce at an older age, even in today’s tight labor market, haven’t necessarily eased.”
“Whether provable or not, perceptions of ageism in hiring persist, as evidenced by recent surveys in which a sizable share of workers report having experienced or witnessed age discrimination.”
“And even as Labor Department data show more individuals 55 and older are employed than ever before and have a lower jobless rate — 3.1 percent compared with 3.9 percent for all workers — they remain out of work longer than their younger peers when they lose a job. Their hourly pay also starts to decline as they enter their 60s, regardless of how much education they have.”
“In a reversal of a decades-long trend toward earlier retirement, 55-plus workers made up 22.4 percent of the U.S. workforce in 2016, up from just 12 percent 20 years earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2026, when baby boomers will have reached ages 62 to 80, that share is expected to rise to 25 percent.”
“The gradual phaseout of traditional employer pensions and a corresponding rise in more volatile 401(k) plans have also discouraged earlier retirements. At the same time, an increase in the Social Security full retirement age (now 66 and rising) has induced more people to stay in the workforce longer by rewarding them with higher monthly payments.”
Ageism during the Pandemic
According to AARP, early in the pandemic “workers age 55 and older were 17 percent more likely to lose their jobs than employees who were just a few years younger. That difference in unemployment rates translates into a staggering toll on the livelihoods of older adults. Roughly 1 million older adults would still have jobs right now if their unemployment rate matched that of mid-career workers between the ages of 35 and 54, according to a new report from the Retirement Equity Lab at the New School.”
“This is the first time in 50 years that older adults are experiencing higher unemployment than mid-career workers. And researchers don’t think the higher rate is just the result of older people choosing not to work because they are worried about possible exposure to the coronavirus.”
A recent NPR interview said: “Older workers have not returned to the workforce at the same rate as the under-55 set. Many college-educated older workers in particular are financially secure enough to retire.”
Ageism in hiring is still present, even though some companies are laying people off, while others are hiring selectively.
Career Counseling with Elaine Korngold
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- Managing office politics
- Dealing with layoffs and finding a new job
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- Interacting with difficult colleagues
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