Laid Off After 40

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Q & A: The Old Ageism Debate

October 20th, 2010

By Joe Redshaw

There has been a ton of traffic on sites about ageism. With retirement extending, the large number of over 40 people unemployed why aren’t businesses interested in experienced workers? I have to think the salary savings is short sighted – why don’t employers think of the opportunity cost of getting the more inexperienced worker trained and up-to-speed?

This is a tough one. I am just offering up some suggestions and maybe playing some devil’s advocate here. I don’t necessarily believe all of the following, but some might…

Inexperienced workers (which I think is the PC way of saying younger) may work longer hours, be willing to learn new things and of course are paid less than more experienced workers (PC for older individuals). Some experienced workers (in some people’s opinions) are not willing to learn new things, can be set in their ways, often more demanding with money, time off and other things around the office. Often experienced workers have stayed too long in one technology or skill. Therefore they are going to need to be trained as well. So from a company’s perspective, if both need to be trained, get the lower paid individual. Companies should really be looking at best fit for the job and not age. And I think most do this

Will the pushing out of retirement by both the government and workers who can no longer » Read more: Q & A: The Old Ageism Debate

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Laid Off After 40: Finding Work

August 9th, 2010

By Denise Gabbard

With today’s economy and high unemployment rate, there is a group of workers finding it especially hard to secure employment. This group is an extremely large pool of educated, talented and experienced workers, so why is landing a new job so difficult?

When applying for employment, they are often told they are overqualified for the lower paying jobs which are currently available, and most of these jobs go to young people who they can hire more inexpensively. To be fair, businesses want to hire workers that will stay with the company as long as possible, and they see overqualified as “I’m outta here when something better opens up.”

How can we turn this around? The answer is not easy, but there are ways that it can be achieved. You need to know where to look for resources to help displaced workers. For instance, it isn’t too late to train for a career in the health field which is in demand in any economy. Nurses, radiologists and medical billers and coders are among the top jobs expected to grow in the future. There are also job services and adult learning programs at community colleges and trade schools, and through local government. There are a lot of options available, and you should make use of them.

When you do get an interview, you need to be positive and dynamic. Be prepared to sell yourself and let them know what you can bring to their organization that someone with little experience cannot. Show each potential employer that there are distinct advantages to hiring an over 40 worker. » Read more: Laid Off After 40: Finding Work

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Laid Off After 40: Age Discrimination

August 8th, 2010

By Phil Rosenberg

This was a question posted in response to my posting on Linkedin Answers “Candidates – What’s your most difficult job search question?”  K.T. shared a question she had about her own job search, and asked:

“Age discrimination is my biggest problem. Being a face reader I can tell immediately the impression of me. It’s happened many times.”


Age discrimination is a big issue for candidates these days. It’s illegal, yet it’s also rampant. How can job seekers get past it?

I’m not sure that getting past age discrimination is a tactic that will bring a high success rate. Trying to get a company or hiring manager to change their idea of fit, to change their preconceived biases (however wrong they may be) is a tough battle with long odds. I’m not saying it’s impossible, and I’m sure readers have examples, but they aren’t the norm. Odds are poor, no matter what tactics you try, you’re not likely to change hiring manager bias.

I’m wondering why you’d even want to?

Let’s say you beat the odds, and magically convinced a hiring manager that your skills were so rare, that the company had to hire you, regardless of age, regardless that you didn’t fit their idea of “fit”. » Read more: Laid Off After 40: Age Discrimination

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