I heard a sad story this morning on the radio – it was from The Osgood File – about David Reed, a soon-to-be 62 year old former salesman with 30 years of experience in his field. He has found and been laid off from 3 jobs in the past 3 years!
According to the story, to start with, older workers take twice as long to find a job than younger workers, and then they are often laid off again. For David Reed, it’s happened 3 times. His wife has returned to work at a $30,000 job, and he is doing anything and everything he can to find work including applying for an Assistant Manager position at a fast food restaurant, for which he was declined.
I have read countless articles about the plight of the older workers – how difficult it is to find a job given the dual discrimination of being older, and being unemployed.
What does this say about our country and our culture? It seems that American corporations have lost an appreciation for the experience, knowledge, maturity and reliability of our older workers, and as we know, their compassion as well.
I have presented and worked with numerous local job support groups, and the vast majority of the participants are older workers – in their 50s and 60s. I see the growing discouragement and despair. I see and hear the loss of hope. They grew up during a time when jobs were plentiful, people felt comfortable and confident in their jobs, and people looked forward to retirement. Now, they scramble trying to find something to keep their financial heads above water, and to keep some dignity. I think corporate America will someday regret that they have thrown away so many qualified and dedicated workers, and our country will regret losing this generation of workers. It affects our morale. It affects our economy, our real estate market, and more. It is perhaps changing our view of work, loyalty, stability, the American dream and much more…
Please share your experiences and feelings.
Career Specialist 