With older workers facing a tough time in the current job market, I expanded my blog post about maintaining workplace relevance at any age into a full article with additional thoughts and suggestions about staying relevant in the workplace.
A popular topic at any time, in this job market, holding on to the job you have is paramount. This topic hits a nerve, I think, because, after a certain age, older workers are often more expensive and workplace myths about their workplace habits and idiosyncrasies abound - deserved or not.
In HR, avoiding any hint of age discrimination is so important that the law allows employers to favor older workers based on age even when doing so adversely affects an employee who is 40 or younger. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the decisions of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), which was created by the Act, have defined the landscape for what constitutes discrimination at work.
The EEOC's responsibility is to "promote equal opportunity in employment through administrative and judicial enforcement of the federal civil rights laws and through education and technical assistance."
So, legalities supposedly protect older workers from age discrimination, but anyone who is job searching in this economic climate, knows that age is a liability in many instances. I am receiving an email a day from older workers who are job searching and know that they are not receiving job offers based on their age, experience, and former pay range.
In fact, some employers are telling them that they are not hiring them because the minute the economy picks back up, the older worker will move on to a better job that pays what they made before unemployment. (Most ask me if it is illegal for employers to make these decisions about older workers based on age.)
Hiring and Keeping Older Workers
I say, shame on employers. You have the opportunity to hire an older, more experienced worker who will bring knowledge and skills to your company. Why not give the older worker the opportunity to contribute for as long as you employ them?
For one thing, the economy is unlikely to improve anytime soon. For another, take advantage of the fact that these skilled individuals have much to offer your firm - for as long as they stay. Indeed, older workers often have a record of longevity and loyalty at companies that hire them. Consider whether your company provides a workplace culture and environment in which an experienced worker is happy and contributing. That employee might not be so excited to jump from a good ship where they are valued, for a few thousand dollars a year.
To round up all of the directions in today's post, older workers must stay relevant. Older workers must make holding on to their current employment a priority. Employers need to consider hiring older workers and valuing their skills and experience. Employers need to provide a work environment that attracts older workers to stay - even when the economy begins to recover.
Image Copyright Josh Webb
i think we must prioritize the young ones.. how can they be experienced workers if they dont risk and challenge themselves?? older people has done their part in serving a company or the country.. they deserve to rest..
Who takes the brunt of everything? The parents. When a younger worker looses their job, what do they do? Run back home to Mom & Dad until everything’s better. When Mom & Dad loose their job, who do they have to go to? Will the kids be able to support them? Now when will you be able to retire? Don’t forget that Social Security will most likely not be there in the future. Without the older work force to guide them, who will the younger workforce learn from?
Though I understand what you’re saying about younger people needing the experience and I would love ‘the rest’. I still have bills to pay and full Social Security has been put out farther and farther away – 67 years and 8 months for me.
I totally resent that an employer would think I don’t need the job just as badly as a younger person. And I do keep up with the latest trends in technology. Years of experience should count for something.
@Maryan_chua, ”they’ve done their part…they deserve to rest”…they also need to pay their bills just like the rest of the working world. You can’t start social security until 62 for the earliest, so what are the more experienced older people supposed to do???? Think about it, what goes around will surely come around, Maryan, you aren’t getting any younger and it will not be fun when no one wants to hire you when you’re past 50 years old.
@Julie, I agree with your comment. You are 100% right. It’s really terrible what society is doing to the older human being in the USA. If you can’t draw SS for many years, what’s a person supposed to do? Maryan’s just another reason why employers would be smart to hire older people also, the mentality of the younger people is that we can just magically make money come out of no where.
My husband just got laid off yesterday…and we have bills to pay…he can’t get SS for about 5 years from now….so I wonder if Maryan has any advice for us..we need to eat too.
Older workers know life better because they’ve experienced much and they’ve been through different life situations. I guess this accounts for how much they really want to do good on their job because they’re already wise and that sense of responsibility is already deeply ingrained. Plus, they love it when they feel that they are important and they are still needed.
I believe that every employer needs the experience and knowledge of older employees (workers) but this depends on the usefulness of these experiences. An older worker (employee) with experience in an outdated technology should know that he/she is not useful in this age of ever changing technology. Please, both old or young employees, let us try to be Multi-tasking in order to remain useful until you are ready to retire.
It is not a matter of one feeling important or not.
We all know that age discrimination is a huge no-no. Older workers are more likely to show up on time and get the job done. There are times when an older worker could be on site for giving the younger coworker an extra boost. I work at Mercy as an elevator tech, cleaning the elevators that is, and many of the younger workers that work in transport, transporting patients on gourneys agree that it really takes two to work one. Trying to manage a bed by yourself can be dangerous as the casters they ride on have a mind of their own. You really can’t load one onto an elevator these days without additional help. Most of the transporters are around 25 years old, and with me making the elevator doors shine at the age of 52, I would give that young worker a helping hand. According to a video on You Tube, I have learned that with older workers blended in with the younger workers help keep operating and healthcare costs down!