IMMEASURABLE 
VALUE OF HIRING OLDER WORKERS Human resources managers across the country agree and attest to the advantages of employing highly committed older workers. In surveys of 500 + companies with 50 or more employees, HR managers identified invaluable qualities only present in experienced-mature workers
- Punctuality – reliability tend to be a given for older workers who regularly arrive on time ready to work and take little or no time off.
- Pride in a job well done is an increasingly rare commodity among to day’s employees. Mature workers tend to be more willing to stay until the job is done because of their sense of pride in the quality of the finished product.
- Honesty – personal integrity are commonalities of group values among older workers
- Loyalty - older workers understand the worth of a good employer; priorities are commitment to job and providing value is high.
- Communication skills–knowing when and how to communicate – evolve through years of understanding workplace politics, and diplomacy in conveying ideas to their managers and co workers.
- Good listeners– understand and follow directions well with little explanation required
- On-the-job education, honed analytical — personal skills, problem solving in crisis situations and a willingness to share these resources with co-workers and others only comes with maturity and experience.
- Detail-oriented – skilled in reading, writing, math, attentive workers offer an intangible value in identifying others’ potentially costly mistakes in accounting, misspellings, pricing and more; saving thousands of dollars.
- Setting a good example – for other employees is an intangible value many business owners appreciate. Excellent mentors and role models makes training other employees less difficult and cost effective in both time and training costs
- Older workers are the pillars ,mentors and foundations that built this country .Their mentoring abilities are vital to eliminating the re-inventing the wheel cycle and learning curves that slow progress and productivity .
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Newly hired workers armed with the knowledge provided by mentors will have a head start and a much better opportunity to use their new ideas and creatively to make a difference.
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By utilizing the intellectual resources of each generation and working together, our multigenerational work force will create a smarter-stronger-cutting edge team work atmosphere and once again we will be leaders in the global markets.
Hiring Managers, the next time you make a hiring decision, seriously consider older workers for all of the right reasons! It’s a simple matter of economics; rethinking the exorbitant costs of high turnover, training and recruiting in a more youthful workforce vs. the benefits of proven successes,abilities, experience and mature standards older workers bring to the mix.
Together All Things Are Possible. Join the Fight to End Age Discrimination & Ageism Injustices Against The 99%.
Great site I was really inspired.
Have a blessed day and keep up the good work!
I’m a in my 40’s ,professional worker ,masters degree, wife is in education, two children, a nice home, two cars a nice middle class life.
We really thought we did all the right things. Worked ourselves through college, had savings ,college funds , retirements funds and NEVER believed we would ever apply for unemployment benefits and be in this spot.
I thought extending unemployment benefits was just so much bull-
that people who wanted to work, were. The unemployed were just lazy-on wellfare or drugs -already living in poverty .
How could I have been so wrong.
I was down sized 5 months ago, my wife is a teacher & will not be returning to her job next year. I have sent out hundreds of resumes, contacted recruiters ,companies, gone to job fairs, applied for food service jobs. No one returns my calls, can no longer afford Cobra -
You can see where this is going .
I now respect what you are doing and appreciate yours site.
keep it up.
T. R.
Hello!
I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great
info . I am posting this on my FB and passing it on.
Will be coming back to your blog for more soon.
I worked for my last company for 15 years and planned on staying there until I was at least 70.
They went out of business in February 2009 and at 64 years old, I found myself out of work.
Needless to say, I am totally aware of age discrimination, as even with my experience and skills, I cannot get a job.
To make matters worse, my husband was laid off in June 2009. We will run out of unemployment at the end of November and I am extremely anxious about our future.
Even if the unemployment is extended, eventually it will run out
and we will be surviving on a small pension and social security.
I want and need to work, but the chances are slim to none.
What are we to do? Any suggestions?
I too was laid off 2.5 years ago just before my 62 birthday.
Thousands of applications and numerous interviews…
I still can’t find a job.
I have found that I do extremely well in phone interviews, long detailed ones, but in person….when they see that i am not 35 or 40…..it ends right there. They even look away .
I hate to be so negative, but reality slapped me in the face…it is totally age discrimination.
The glowing statements about the older workers sound great,
but unfortunately I find that companies rarely keep their
word or put their money where their mouths are .
I retired for the 1st. in 1994 from Southwestern Bell Telephone co.
At the time I was 57, I am a devorced mother of 5. I didn,t start my career until I was 37, and my youngest child entered kindergarden.
Today I live off of my retired income from my 401k and social-security. I can relate to all of the stories above.
*I lost my home to foreclosure in 2008. Since than I have been living in a 1bedroom apartment. My point is that I am happier than I have ever been in my life. I do not miss all of the stress, that it takes trying to fit in to the world order of things.
I now have time to do what ever I feel like I want to do, with no guilt.
All 5 of my childern are living the dream of the young. They have careers and families, and I get to look at how Blessed I am . I feel that I did what I was suppose to have done.
I raised 5 beautiful Spiritual Beings.Out of all of this I now have 13 grandchildern 7 grandson,s and 6 grandaughters. They all look to me for advise when times or hard. They can look and remember the things that they went through doing their childhood, and see how we overcame. I have no desire to own a house anymore.
I don,t want the responsibility, I go and visit my children and grandchildern when ever I feel the need to be with family. My health is good and I am greatful to God for His Grace and Mercy. I feel that life should be lived one day at a time. I don,t worry about my furture because God has promised that all of our needs would be met if we just keept our eyes on Him and not to worry. What do you gain by worring about things you can,t change. The only thing we can change is our attitudes about the lives that we live.After all we are the sheep, and we know that sheep or not very smart. They need a shepherd, “God is that Shepherd’ if you just surrender all of your cares to “Kim’ and stop trying to take care of yourselves, everything will turn out all right.Because our journey here on earth is all about “GOD’ not about us. I now spend the time that I would be using on a job, to take time each day to pray and search “GOD’,s Word for ansewers as to what part I am to play , not my will but thine be done. I pray everyday for all of the widows and ophans, animals and plant life that there will be fresh water, shelter and what ever the need be. Walk by Faith not by Sight, and look for the “Good in everything. “God is Good’ and “His Mercy endues forever!!!
THE UNRAVELING OF A LIFE
by Teresa Wood-Woolard
On December 19, 2008 my beautiful horse and I lost our jobs on the same day. He broke his leg on the track and I was the victim of a hostile takeover gone bad. Bunch of 30-somethings cleaning house in an industry they knew nothing about took down the entire company.
By the new year, my greatest gift [and 22 month long endeavor], Joey’s Mandate, was well on his way to recovery and I was in a hopeful frame of mind and looking forward to CHANGE!
I was elated, free from an oppressive counter-productive atmosphere, optimistic and high on pursuit of glorious, evolutionary CHANGE. Not chump change;but that’s what I got!
ESC here in NC processed us online because the company opted out for them to come onsite to transition us, clue number one that we were getting the shaft! It was the holidays, after all…Merry Christmas to us! We still had the cursory 4 week wait. I was grateful for the assistance, and hit the search HARD…and I still average 3-5 jobs a day if I can find them.
Then last summer one of my friends had a completely different ride through the system than I had, he was two months behind me with his lay off. He’s older and a veteran. He was put directly into Workforce Developmental training, education paid for. They never even mentioned that to me despite the fact I needed web design training and told them so. I tried to go to school for the training, but had to get a loan and got ripped off so had to abandon it. They bogged me down with pre-requisite courses, wracking up debt, never even got me near the web courses I needed. There are predators everywhere!
I live in a county that has been holding at 11% unemployment. ESC and the state should have been doing ALL THEY COULD to help us. They failed. They are still failing, ill-equipped to handle the volume of those in need and not evolving the system to accommodate. If the numbers now show just over 11%, imagine what they would show if the 99ers like me, out of benefits yet still unemployed, were calculated in!
I have, to date, logged in just shy of 700 job applications. All for legitimate posted jobs in the design field that has been my career for the past 20+ years. Nobody told me, or my growing skill set, that just one birthday would render me useless , despite my efforts, thinking outside the box and creativity. ESC is even missing the valuable mentoring opportunities we represent.
I am a lifelong learner, maintained a high standard of ethics on the job and in my personal life. I have used every job experience, AND unemployment, to grow and become better at my craft! I have always refused to let even a subpar job situation keep me from learning and growing my skills. I enjoyed the collaborations and learned from the mistakes ;kept up with the changes in my industry, learned the new tricks of the trade. Added marketing savvy and media placement to the feathers in my cap with the last job…determined, as usual, to excel.
I am an inner driven, classic over achiever. Imagine my dismay that I cannot excel or over achieve in the job procurement arena because SOMEONE ELSE decided that my age was a factor. Can’t see it in my work. It’s NOT there. My hair started turning grey in my late 20s, but since I have only had a handful of face-to-face interviews, they wouldn’t know that either. I look younger than I am, but I won’t deny that the past two years have started showing on my face now.
This is a stellar set back…the proverbial kick in the gut. Something I cannot find a way around! It feels surreal…and is further compounded by the fact that my friends…my so called network….do not GET IT. They think this is just not happening and they opted out. One told me it was depressing, so she stopped calling. Depressing for HER? Trying living it!!! So I am out here on the shaky limb all alone waiting for the next big wind of change to snap the branch.
Design is my life. It’s who I am. I won my first painting award at the age of 6! I excelled in art and writing throughout school. I have graphic and interior design degrees and have been working in the advertising industry since I graduated, and no I do not have a Bachelor’s degree. Didn’t need one! Had the talent. Yet most of my ‘friends’ don’t seem to know what I do! I have two friends [both boomers] with 6 figure jobs that I have asked TWICE for help and they refused. One said I had to move across the country before he would help me [impractical and ridiculous request in the current hiring climate], the other one said I must have a problem and should ‘see someone.’ I do indeed have a problem…NO NETWORK. To add insult to injury, soon after the layoff, it was made quite apparent that my previous employer [NOT my hiring manager, he was great] thought I was a secretary with a creative streak! I increased his sales 65% in my first year there through savvy marketing and cohesive branding, and he has no clue?? Sad to say, it was also made clear that he’s a moneygrabber who sacrificed his entire staff and horses for the almighty dollar.
All in all, this has been demeaning, demoralizing and downright deplorable.
What I have mostly gotten for my efforts, are: NO responses, excuses and out-right lies! I’ve heard it all: you’ve over qualified, you’re under qualified [need web/interactive media skills], you live where?… the current excuse is my area code. Seriously. Recently I uncovered via LinkedIn that I was passed over for a Creative Director’s job in favor of a 25 year old…who was hiring 60 days in for a subordinate position that I also applied for, designed a test ad for and he bumped me without even a conversation. AGE again…experience and talent need not apply.
I am a professional communicator! It’s my job….yet no one is communicating with me. I am ready willing and able to work, yet I am invisible to those people hiring. This is largely due to the current trend of using staffing firms! They have taken over this year, due to the overwhelming responses most employers are getting from double digit unemployment, and they have single handedly ruined my industry. The employers are giving them a wish list, these 20-something staffers who know nothing about most of the jobs they are screening for, are taking it literally and they are tossing people in the bin rather than TALKING to them to get a handle on their skills and aptitude. I just had this miserable experience recently, so I know this first hand. They don’t even know what the software I use does, yet they are screening me? I have never seen anything like this in my life! It’s unbelievable. [And yes, I have even tried to get a job as a recruiter to help others in my situation and been ignored, probably for that reason!!]
Up until March of this year, I had not even had a day off. I have been doing contract design work, was a virtual assistant and recovered my horse from 2 life-threatening illnesses [he’s fine now]. None of this COUNTS, despite the interactive media skills and web component design skills I have learned and continue to expand upon. I have updated my web site and my resume numerous times…and I am still NOT getting interviews. Networking is the key. My key fell through the grate because other boomers think this is a virus and it’s catching! And clerical jobs don’t happen for people with my skill set….apparently running Adobe Design software at breakneck speed does not seem to translate over to clerical skills, despite all the typing and technical skill required. Most of the bridge jobs I am applying for have a minimum requirement of a high school diploma, yet they ignore me.
Earlier this year, it was suggested to me by an esteemed colleague that I start my own business. I have the skills and the drive to do it. Not that I had not thought of it, I’ve had a myriad of ideas since I was free to think about it and dream about it. So off I went to the Small Business Center at the local community college, plan in hand, and there I was told, despite overwhelming Internet ads and TV ads to the contrary, there really is NO grant funding available to women starting businesses! AND I had been unemployed too long to get a loan.
DOES THIS EVER END?
No it doesn’t. I have endured over 2 years of take, take, take. I can’t take it anymore. This is the unseen reality of this situation. I feel like a little car in a box bumping into wall after wall and getting nowhere….my batteries are running out now. I have gone thru my IRA, and my savings are nearly gone. My house, which has been on the market for almost the entire two years, is next. My horse will be housed, I will not. I’ve been told to give up my horse…my hero….my silver lining. NOT happening. This is NOT his fault. He has been my rock, and the thought of this now affecting him has me coming unraveled. I don’t even want to get into the equine [and cross species] tragedies that are a serious by product of this massive national upheaval. I am active in equine rescue and adoption through which I have learned that animal slaughter has become the new cottage industry in FL. This is not the life I designed for myself, or him. I see no end in sight. It’s a nightmare.
So, this is the New Economy. I am not impressed.
The children we baby boomers raised are kicking us….their parents, aunts, uncles, friends and neighbors… to the curb. They have created a disposable society and we are the disposed. Everywhere you go they are standing around ON THE JOB, tweeting, texting and talking on their cell phones. Clueless. Ask them a question, they don’t know the answer and they don’t take one step to find it out. The customer service standards in this country flew out the window along with our pensions. I worry what good this flood of disregard and cluelessness will do for anybody. It’s NOT edgy or clever or smart. It’s part of the dumbing down of our nation.
It’s REGRESSION, not progress! And we are being erased systematically on a daily basis. Scary thought for some, reality for me, and the many others displaced, struggling to become once again productive citizens.
Anonymous says:
Gray Matters Coalition,
I salute you for carrying this flag.
I would prefer my letter is posted anonymously because despite the incredible frustration , I have not and cannot give up on my job search. If my name is there for everyone to see, including prospective employers, I know I would be automatically labeled a “loser” damaging any chances I may have .
I could be the poster child for age discrimination in this country. My job was eliminated in January 2007, two months shy of my 58th birthday. Now, just a few months short of FOUR YEARS and after applying for over 500 positions in 36 states, the District of Columbia and even exploring expatriate opportunities abroad I am still unemployed. I know ageism is in play because as a multiple finalist I’ve lost out to younger, less experienced individuals for several executive positions. Then, when I apply for warehouse, delivery truck or graveyard shift jobs I also never get a call, either because I’m overqualified or too old.
Ironically, I don’t feel or look my age–now 61, I regularly lift weights, road bike and walk–but like a recent article in the New York Times illustrates I fear that I’ll never be able to get another job despite my experience and qualifications. I’ve written President Obama, my congressmen and my two senators about this problem in the workplace. Surprisingly or maybe not so much, they all admit ageism exists but have done nothing at all to address it.
Instead of being able to look forward to a “normal” retirement I face potential bankruptcy and losing my home of 23 years to foreclosure because I’ve been without an income for so long that I’ve had to drain my entire retirement nest egg to help my wife of 37+ years who works full-time to meet our monthly financial obligations. About the only thing I have to look forward to is taking early SS retirement at 62 in April 2011–if and only if I can hang on that long.
It’s shameful that nightmares like this are happening to people like me. I bust my butt for over 35 years in the workforce, started at the bottom and worked myself up to C-level executive management status and now I face financial ruin because no one will hire me. I talk to people everyday on the Internet in equal or worse shape.
Some people who achieve big successes say, “Only in America.” I say the same thing but the meaning is far different for me–no respect, no dignity and no hope. I’ve even thought about suicide. Sadly, I think the moral compass has gone far askew in this country and no one even cares anymore.
Older, proven and thoroughly experienced senior executives are tossed into the gutter like road kill.
There’s no compassion. Talk about a sorry state of affairs!!
God help us all.
Yup me too.
Looking for a new job and have even been told at one place it is my age because the job is too fast paced.
So I am trimming bushes and doing yard work after my other job that is soon becoming extinct. I do like working outside but once winter comes ; what will I do then ??
I do have several skills but they take one look at me and it is clear what is going on in their minds. It is sad and so depressing. I am older, wiser, loyal, timely and value work. From what I have observed these things are rare.
Being self employed is even a down fall -considered to some not working, though my skills are good -so valuable. I have great customer service skills which from everywhere I have been is a lost art.
It is so discouraging and disheartening.
Who would have thought we’d be in this position? Just like you, this is not how I pictured life at this age when I was younger. So much if our problem really rests on today’s economy, however. If companies were doing well and desperate for workers, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. We’d be working. The “over qualified” excuse isn’t a new one. I’m ashamed to admit using it on job candidates 25 years ago. I often think about my parents and where they were at my age now, and they had setbacks, too. They were able to overcome them and move ahead, and my father worked up until the day he was hospitalized fir cancer at age 72. I have been self employed for the past couple of years and that’s no picnic either.
If we can all help each other remain positive I think it would make a huge difference in our lives. We may even be able to give each other job leads!
Kacey says:
Very interesting article you got there. It helped me a lot and I’m definitely coming back to your site again in the future.
Keep up the good work.
Hey Gray Matters!
Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I came to take a look.
I’m definitely loving the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Keep it coming.
Will
Anonymous LN says:
Age discrimination is a legitimate issue.
It didn’t play a part in my job elimination at age 52. But the after effect of financial hardship is very real.
Having one’s job eliminated at this age brings with it a number of issues.
• The still-pervading belief that the worker was somehow at fault.
• The fear of unknown security in retirement: whether retirement means cracking into your IRA or working as a Walt-Mart greeter at age 70.
• And perhaps most crippling, the isolation caused by not talking about financial hardship because of the stigma.
You didn’t work hard enough.
Weren’t not smart enough. Didn’t save enough. Weren’t good enough.
At one time alcoholics suffered in silence because alcoholism was seen as a moral failing.
Having one’s job eliminated is not a moral failing. Experiencing financial hardship is not a moral failing.
ONLY WHEN PEOPLE START TALKING ABOUT IT, WILL THE STIGMA BE DIMINISHED.
I AGREE!
53 and Counting says:
The reality of age discrimination, specifically in the hiring process, became very apparent in the summer of 2005 and it has been a battle for me since that time.
I retired at 44 years of age from a company that I had spent twenty-two years serving successfully. The company was about to go “on the sales block” for the fourth time in ten years and I could see that this time there would be no company left. So I retired to start my own business which I ran successfully for four years.
With children ready to head off to college I thought I should jump back into corporate life to help with their expenses–but low and behold– there were no takers for this now 48 year old manufacturing manager.
After 3 months and 72 resumes I finally removed all but my high school diploma (with no reference to the year of graduation) from my resume and within days I had my first interview in 72 attempts. For A job making $12.35/hour when my last position was over $31/hour in management.
It was not until the interview did they find out they were dealing with a 48 year old–but my supervisor to be was 63 years old and was relieved to see someone older and reliable apply for a maintenance position. So I got the job.
After a year with this company I decided I needed to do something to make myself a more valuable commodity to employers, so I returned to college to finish degrees I had started years earlier.
Fast forward two-years and here I am with two fresh Bachelor of Science degrees working toward my Master’s degree with 22+ years of experience in engineering management and I STILL cannot get anyone to look at me.
I am in month five and over 120 applications later I have had one phone interview.
I recently applied for an HR Assistant’s position here in the community where I live and the advertisement required at least an Associate’s degree or four years HR experience. I met the degree requirement for the position.
I never received any contact from the VP-HR.
Until a personal friend informed me that his 24 year-old daughter had finally found a job. He gladly proclaimed that his daughter had got the HR Assistant position that I had applied for. Of course he was not aware that I had applied for it and he was more than a little bit disturbed when I told him the story I am now relaying to readers of this reply.
She had no degree or HR experience yet she got the job over me who met the qualifications of the job. My age was readily deducible from the resume I provided.
I submitted this scenario described above to the advisors of my professional HR society that I am a member of. They believe that this was a poor decision on the part of the VP-HR. Since the advertisement clearly called for a degree or the Hr experience and the actual hiree had neither. I am preparing to notify the EEOC to see if they can press a case against this firm and the VP-HR.
How many times does this discrimination get buried because the choice happens “behind closed doors?”
We are not able to check the HR departments upholding of the anti-discrimination laws that are already on the books, because we cannot compare the qualified candidates that have applied to each position with the actual person hired.
An informal poll I have taken during this period of unemployment indicates that HR people say the politically correct thing in public, but then discriminate in private–because there is no repercussion.
Most people I have talked with think the following practices are legal and within the latitude afforded the hiring manager:
1.) To reject the resume of an otherwise willing, and qualified candidate because they will “likely” not stay long at the company, should the hiring manager hire them. Reason given they have made much more in their past work experience or they are close to retirement anyhow. Even when the applicant has indicated they are willing to work for the lower wage.
2.) To reject the resume of an otherwise willing and qualified candidate because that candidate has credentials above and beyond the advertised qualifications, in other word “over-qualified.” Even when the applicant has indicated they are willing to work for the lower wage.
3.) To reject a resume because the applicant has credentials above and beyond those of the hiring manager. Another form of the “over-qualified” excuse. Even when the applicant has indicated they are willing to work for the lower wage.
Hiring managers cannot hide behind the “applicant will probably be dissatisfied” or “applicant is over-qualified” excuses when these opinions have nothing to do with job-related ability and sound business decisions. At best they are fearful speculation on the hiring manager’s part.
But today most people think the above reasons are legal and appropriate when in fact they lead to “disparate impact” and discrimination against those with lots of experience (old People) and those with lots of credentials (old People).
The other conundrum faced by those of us who would try to re-enter the work force is the “what have you done lately” probe. The mere fact that you are currently unemployed bears a stigma of its own. This blemish on your record intuitively tells the hiring manager that you are lazy, a cast-off, and an undesirable worker.
I specifically went back to school so I could counter the “brick-hiring wall” that I encountered back in 2005. Now that I am “educated” in employment law it is discouraging to see uninformed or “willfully” unlawful hiring decisions that are invisible to discriminatory justice
Anonymous says:
Unemployment Insurance Denied After 99 Weeks
Hello ,
Everyone, (myself included), that are at the end of their 99 weeks of collecting Unemployment Insurance.. Has it crossed anyone’s mind that this may be considered a CRIME on the part of the legislators? (Cutting off our only means of providing for ourselves and our families; SHELTER, FOOD, ETC..(these are the basic needs of a human being). Can we bring this issue to the UNITED NATIONS?
These congressmen and women are well aware that they are allowing millions of people to suffer physically and emotionally by prolonging the denial of resources that is necessary for us to survive.
May God Bless America!
Anonymous
I’t good to see something positive said about us older workers. We really do have a lot to offer-I like seeing it in print! Thanks ! Your blog is extremely helpful.
Thanks for the update, i have been watching your blog for a while now but this post here has been really good for me! Glad to finally see positive comments about the value of being older. I will pass this along .Sid
Subject: New Look of Poverty
I am now living the new look of poverty in America, baby boomer style. I’m a 60s something baby boomer , alone on a 10 acre horse farm 60 miles north of Tampa and 40miles south of Ocala . I am making due but that could end soon.
Thankfully, I have no small children at this time.
For the past 30+ years, I’ve always make my own way on my income earned as an R&D engineer for the medical device and aerospace/automotive industries.
In 2009 I lost my job and immediately applied for jobs in my area and outside the area. In 2010 and 2011, I managed small contract engineering jobs, was glad to get the work, but was unable to secure a steady job.
At that time I had a good nest egg: a 401k and a small savings account and with contract jobs; sustained myself and paid all my bills .
I continually apply for jobs, however today I find myself unemployed and unemployment benefits will run out in September.
My farm is for sale and priced to sell. Real estate sales are very slow and many properties are in foreclosure .Unfortunately I’m in one of the poorest counties in the state; Hernando County…unemployment is around 12%. This county like many others was sustained by the housing industry –now nonexistence.
Thankfully I’m surviving, have asked for and received some generous donations of hay and feed and have explained to all of my creditors that I will pay as soon as I can. However that will not work with my mortgage company.
I sleep in my barn one night a week to minimize the electric bill in the house; spend little on food and unable to get medial treatment. I have no family here, no where to go. Should I just walk away?
I continually send out my resume, get very few interviews and rejected for having “Too much experience for the job.” Or told I
just wouldn’t fit in! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN????
I’m not the only one; Baby boomers all around this country are experiencing this; and it’s a shame because we all have such talents and a stick-to-it attitude.
Now AARP is agreeable to retirement changes in the retirement age. What will happen when the baby boomers now out of work….have to work at NOT WORKING and collect social security? We’ll create millions of welfare recipients! Is this what America’s about? Is this what my mother and dad (both families came from Europe), had in mind for me when I was growing up?
I belong to several groups, here in Florida and groups on Linked In. We are scared! Everyone wants to hurry up and become 62 so they can collect. I am in that boat too. Once I sell my farm…or walk away…I may have to tap into SS early.
As a young female welding engineer in the 70s, I remember the gov’t requiring companies to hire women and minorities if they had the correct qualifications.
I remember a discussion from one company I worked for, trying to figure out how NOT to promote me. The EEO laws worked then – the company promoted me and I earned a stellar record there and with many companies that just a few short years before would never have considered hiring a woman or minority for engineering jobs.
Now, I have even more work experiences along with my diverse credentials. Is it my fault that I turned the corner into my 60s?
I still want to work and use all my abilities, experience and education I’ve earned. However, when I do get an interview potential employers tell me I either have too much experience, don’t fit in- thanks –but no thanks.
I want to tell my story and get the message out before we boomers are bankrupt – taking early retirement, homeless or worse.
Hire us…our loyalty- proven experience- precludes us
Thanks for reading this.
Regards. Sandy
This is just what I needed.
I’m so damned glad to see this in print!! I’m going to send this out to friends ,companies , post it on FB . If people see it enough -maybe they will actually BELIEVE IT! Thanks Chas
This is good information -glad to see something postive said about older workers-it’s about time! R
Good blog, very insightful. It seems all I ever see in the news-media-blogs are the negative’s about hiring older workers . What are older workers expected to do between 55 & 65 if they can’t work ? No jobs- no unemployment benefits-no healthcare-& even min-wage is on the table. How can experienced hard workers just be thrown away-with no relief in sight?
Really good to see this in print! Exactly what i needed to day.
Thanks!
It’s nice to see something good said about mature people.
This article is so wonderful. Thanks for sharing it.
I look forward to reading your updates.
(:
Thanks for sharing the positives. All we ever hear are the negatives. I’m passing it on. Thxs have a nice day
Very helpful post, thanks for the info.
While I’m celebrating everything affirmative in the new year,
I’d like to thank you for your work.
Hi! I’ve been following your web site for a while now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Atascocita Tx! Just wanted to say keep up the fantastic work!
At 71, I want to run for congress – because by now I know all the deceptions that have been used against the will of the majority!
I would love to see some updates from some of the people who posted here last spring and summer. How are things going for any of you? Anything promising.. Are things still as glum as they were a half year ago?
Hi Molly….I was out of work most of 2010 after a wonderful career as a contracts engineer. I really wanted to go fulltime with a company so I didn’t accept jobs out of the Tampa Bay area….needed to be more attached to home. Then, in 2011, I was in and out of some of the worst jobs…things I can write about for our SYFY channel!!!!!
In Nov 2011, I finally got a great job (with half the pay) as a contracting engineer and I am still there with an understanding that I will go fulltime with a much better salary….I am hoping that they keep their word!!!
However, I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about other contract work because these are small companies that want top execs with 25-30 years experience.
So, that being said, I am doing better and am hoping to work with my mortgage lender to finalize my last mnortgage….if that happens, I’ll be back in the driver’s seat!
Your articles are very inspiring indeed. I’ll keep coming back!
The problem in our plant is management does not care about the reasons given here. Our years of experience mean nothing, they are incharge and they control the spread sheets.
The only way to end obvious and blatant age discrimination in both the firing and hiring process in American business is to tell our stories, share the trials and tribulations and understand that unless we stand and speak all together and forcefully make our positions known through the use of all types of media and activism we will continue to be misunderstood, ignored, devalued, pushed around and aside and considered irrelevant and of little or no value to employers and the national economy. The unthinkable has happened to too many of us to remain silent and isolated and struggling by ourselves. If we don’t fight back now for change and recognition of our inherent dignity and value using the experience and knowledge we developed and honed in decades of productive work and employment then we will continue to be the victims of rampant and deliberate ageism and discrimination in the workplace and in devaluation of our worth in our lives as a whole as a relevant and purposeful and necessary and needed part of the economic and social structure of this country. You can fight back and win and we can change things. If not, then those who devalue those over forty or fifty or sixty or whatever age will have their way and this country will be the poorer for it, because we are the ones who worked hard for decades and built the economic success this country has attained. We deserve the right to be able to work as long as we are contributing value and hard work and skills and knowledge and innovation because we have been doing that for decades and no one has the right to tell us it is time to go home or retire or start doing some menial tasks just to be able to survive. It is imperative that the mindset of those who subscribe to ageism is changed by making them aware that it does exist, and that it will apply equally to them when they get older, and that it will affect them and the next generation of workers as well if they continue to silently condone it or pretend it does not exist. It will take organization and vocalization and effort to make this happen. Time to take the anger and frustration and doubt and channel it together into something more powerful than individual stories of frustration and unfair termination and on going unemployment or under employment. There are a large number of former professional and/or blue collar workers out there who are very hard workers and very capable and intelligent and knowledgeable who want to get back to work and contribute to this economy at the level at which they are fully capable of. The only way to make that happen is to fight back against age discriminatory policies in the workplace and against the discrimination now becoming prevalent by hiring managers who will not even interview or hire anyone who is not already employed. Gainful, profitable and honorable work does not belong exclusively to an elite group of sub forty year old self aggrandizing people who think that once your hair turns gray you are worthless and should be “let go” and replaced by someone younger. As long as we allow them to operate companies that way and allow the laws to be written to let them get away with direct ageism and discrimination they will get continue to practice it, to the detriment of not only the older people who lose their jobs and ways of even living a decent life in retirement, but to the companies that lose their capabilities, wisdom, experience, and talents which contributed substantially to the success of those companies and business operations. What is happening now is no different than the discrimination that took place against women who had to organize and fight for the right to vote, and against the people of color who had to fight for their civil rights in the fifties and sixties on the streets to get recognized as equally valuable members of society and this country. Organizing and marching in the streets may not be the way to do it. It worked in the sixties but we have seen the brutality and clubbing and macing and arrests that take place now when the people band together to protest so it will have to be done using the Internet and electronic media and letter to the Editor and to your Congress person and elected representatives and fought out in the courts with lawsuits and speaking loud enough and unified enough for our combined voices to be heard and recognized, and for our demands for change to be made coherently enough that age discrimination in the workplace will be made illegal and will be punished severely if it is practiced as a part of HR polices and procedures. Right now age discrimination is the white elephant in the room that no one recognizes as being real, very few politicians even mention it nor care about it. It’s time to stop feeling like we are worthless because we got laid off or fired or demoted and start to fight back even at risk of losing jobs or promotions because sooner or later if it is allowed to continue, age discrimination in the workplace will harm everyone, now and in the future, if it is allowed to continue without protest and indignation and fighting back. We all get older, and we all get old, even those who now think that it will never affect them, well wake up and smell the smoke because that fire will get you too sooner or later if you do nothing about it.
[...] Source: Gray Matters [...]
Just what I needed ! And I put it on my bath room mirror!
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