The Chronicler's Web (TCW)

by DAN CALLOWAY
Published 20 September 2010

WEAVERVILLE, NC – Those of us who are in our 50′s and unemployed are concerned that finding employment again may be a task that is unsurmountable. Losing a job you’ve had for many years only to discover that no one wants to even look at you for continued employment in the current financial crisis, is something that is difficult for many jobless over-50 individuals to comprehend.

Take, for example, Patricia Reid of Vashon Island, Washington, who had a good job with Boeing as an internal auditor and analyst until four years ago. After losing her position, she has struggled to find any work in her area even though she is college educated with a degree in Business Administration and has worked for over two decades as an internal auditor for the giant aerospace industry.

Patricia, like many others in the over-50 unemployed ranks in America, have struggled to get back into the workforce without even one single offer. Patricia is very concerned that she may never work again. Since the economic collapse in late 2008, there have not been enough jobs created to provide work for those who have been displaced from the general population, let alone those individuals who are fast approaching their retirement years.

Of the current 14.9 million unemployed individuals in the US, more than 2.2 million of those are over 55. Almost half of them have been unemployed for over six months with no prospects of being rehired. The unemployment rate among individuals in the 55-year age group is 7.3%, which has set a record of unemployment since the beginning of the recession.

Older individuals who have lost their jobs are worried that they may never be able to recoup their income losses after a prolonged period of unemployment, but what is becoming a reality for many is that they may age out of the workforce before they are rehired. As is commonplace today, Ms. Reid has been struggling to find work after four years of  being unemployed, but has not even had as much as a single job offer. Submitting countless applications through the Internet has not resulted in any positive job possibilities even though Ms. Reid has also taken online courses to hone her software skills.

In an effort to survive in this economy, Patricia Reid has had to sell some of her clothes and jewelry on the Internet in order to have sufficient funds to meet her basic needs, but finds herself not being able to pay some of her credit card bills and is falling behind on other payments as well. Being unemployed at any age is devastating, but is especially troubling for those individuals between the ages of 50 – 60; this experience is even more disturbing especially when many of them feel that their resumes are being tossed aside in favor of qualified applicants who are younger than them.

I can empathize with folks like Ms. Reid, having lost my job as an IT specialist with local government in May, 2009 and unable to be rehired because no one wants to hire someone who is 57. Companies no longer want to meet you face-to-face when you’re looking for employment, insisting instead that you go up on the Internet and fill out one of their online applications. Such an impersonal approach to job seeking has become the norm today. Submitting online applications has become so impersonal that your odds of even being notified if you aren’t being considered for the position for which you applied is extremely slim. The experience of submitting applications online over the Internet is synonymous to the experience an ex-convict must have after being released on parole from prison. No one wants to talk to you let alone offer you a job.

So, what are those in their 50′s and 60′s who find themselves without jobs today supposed to do? If they can afford to do it, they should retire early and stop looking for work because they will only be struggling in an up-hill battle. Others who can’t afford to retire just yet will have to wait out the storm and sell all they can to make ends meet or declare bankruptcy and get protection through the courts to escape the abuse of the collection agencies. It’s a sad time in which we live now. The economy doesn’t appear to be getting any better. The decision on what you must do to survive this economic storm is probably one of the hardest decisions you will have to make in your entire lifetime.