LOOKING FOR WORK
The number of older workers in the U.S. who are officially unemployed soared in the recession and has fallen as the economy has improved. It has not yet come back to pre-recession levels.
2006 – 754,000
2007 – 831,000
2008 – 1,070,000
2009 – 1,913,000
2020 – 2,110,000
2011 – 2,044,000
2012 – 1,953,000
2013 – 1,773,000
2014 – 1,493,000
2015 – 1,313,000
2016 – 1,330,000
Note: Annual average. Counts only those actively looking for work.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Considering how much the unemployment rate has fallen, people like Norris Knox are sure having a hard time landing a job.
Metro Atlanta’s jobless rate is down from double digits a few years ago to a pre-recession 4.8 percent. All through the decline, Knox has sought – in vain – a full-time position.
“I don’t consider myself old or disadvantaged,” said Knox, 57, of Cobb County. “In my 50s, a job search became easier because I know who I am. But my age made it more difficult too, because so many other, younger people are going after the jobs.”
Some might hear sour grapes. After all, the jobless rate for workers 55 and over is just 3.4 percent, and older workers with jobs are more likely to keep them.
But older workers also account for a bigger chunk of the unemployed than they used to, and they make up a bigger share of “dropouts” who leave the labor force after failing to find work.
Knox and other older job-seekers say no one tells them that age works against them. That would be illegal.
“They won’t come out and say it, but you can tell,” said Knox, a former radio announcer who lost his last full-time gig about eight years ago. He’s looked beyond his old field and has kept his skills sharp by helping out on an AARP program to assist other jobseekers.
The hints that age is a liability can be fairly overt, said Romell Cooks, a former financial counselor and federal agency manager who lives in Augusta.
Cooks, 72, had retired but wanted to return to work so she could help family members. She’s looked for nearly a year.
“I had an interview where the person said, ‘I just thought you’d have a problem working for somebody younger than you,’” Cooks said. “When she said that, I knew it was over.”
She thinks the hiring hesitation is rooted more in fear than bias.
“I think what scares people is if you made more money in your last job,” Cooks said. “So they think that you won’t stay, that you will be hassling them for more money.”
Retirement worries
The challenge of finding new work at an older age comes amid concern about retirement preparedness. Surf the web and you will find plenty of financial advice suggesting that people worried about outliving their savings should simply work longer.
That’s easier said than done for some.
Tom Stricker, 68, of Duluth, is a data analyst with a long and varied resume’, going back to Army service in the 1970s.
His last job ended in November. Since then, he’s applied for more than 100 openings. Lately he’s done some short-term contract work, mostly because “that is what has been available.”
“I feel a little frustration and I feel a little resentment,” he said.
He drives for Uber 15 to 20 hours a week to have some income.
“I’ve never had a hiring manager ever mention age as a factor,” Stricker said. “To me, it’s more of a suspicion than anything else. I always thought that in IT, what’s important is how well you can perform the work and how well you know the systems.”
Twenty years ago, workers 55 or older made up 7 percent of the jobless. In April 2016 the share of older workers nationally had more than doubled to 16.4 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Jon Gabrielsen, 59, of Smyrna, has been a consultant since getting laid off four years ago.
“I really like consulting,” he said. “I just don’t have enough of it.”
Like Stricker, he’s applied more than 100 times for jobs in manufacturing, distribution or logistics, to no avail so far.
Sooner or later in the process, the employer gets a pretty good idea of the applicant’s age – and that seems to be that, Gabrielsen said. “You hear a lot of companies complaining about a lack of skills, but businesses seem to be leaving out people like me with experience.”
Dropping out
Older workers also make up a higher share of people who have dropped out of the job search because they are discouraged, BLS data shows: Two years ago, older workers were 27.7 percent of that group. Last year that was up to 28.5 percent.
Andy Decker, Atlanta-based senior regional president for staffing company Robert Half, says occasionally clients will hint at a preference for younger workers.
“They’ll say they’re looking for someone with say, five to eight years experience or an up-and-comer who is looking for their next promotion,” he said. “And we’ll say, ‘We’ll provide you with people who are the most qualified for the job.’ ”
Decker agrees with Cooks: the hesitation is often not about competence or energy, but rather concern that an older worker will feel underpaid and won’t stay long – which creates the expense of hiring and training a new worker.
But Decker said some older workers let their attractiveness get stale and need to do more to keep their skills fresh.
“You have to remember, the half-life of your degree is about three years. If you are not evolving, you are being left behind,” he said.
To avoid that, Diane Dew, 59, of Atlanta enrolled in a Georgia Tech program to earn certification as a project manager.
After years as a controller, financial analyst, accountant or manager, she took a buyout in 2011, figuring she could easily find another full-time job. All she’s gotten so far are temporary gigs.
“Sometimes six months, sometimes three months and that’s it,” she said.
The closest Dew came was when an agency scrubbed the dates from her resume. After an interview she was hired and started work. A few days later, she was asked to fill in details, including her age. Not long after that, she was told the job would be short-term.
“To me, that had to be some connection to my date of birth.”
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