Retirees Struggle to Find Work: 'Overlooked for Jobs I Know I Could Ace'

20/12/2023

Gavin Boyter shared his experience looking for copywriter roles and the potential age discrimination at play in these job listings. Age discrimination affects many seniors nationally, a new ResumeBuilder survey indicates.

There’s a quiet kind of discrimination going on at some workplaces, and many human resources departments are pushing it under the rug, a survey’s results indicate.

Two-thirds of retirees fear age bias will affect their job prospects, according to recent polling by ResumeBuilder.com. For 53-year-old Gavin Boyter, it’s an undercurrent he feels when looking at “junior” copywriter openings that specifically want “recent graduates.”

Boyter has 25 years of experience in journalism, administration and arts management, as well as three master’s degrees. He’s also published six books and written and directed a feature film.

“Yet I’m regularly overlooked for jobs I know I could ace,” he told Newsweek.

While he can’t know for sure the exact ways in which age discrimination has affected him, he’s aware that it can often keep qualified workers from getting jobs they would excel in.

“When you have a career change, you’re effectively starting at ground level again, which means you know you’ll be applying for lower-paying jobs,” Boyter said. “It doesn’t help your confidence when you get the feeling they’re actively looking for a young person for the role.”

Companies may think they’d have to pay older candidates more, worry they will retire in a few years or even mistakenly believe they don’t have the technical skills required for the job.

“It’s hard not to conclude that my being 53 has something to do with it,” Gavin said about his difficulties finding even “junior” copywriter roles despite his range of work experience.

Boyter is not alone in feeling this way, and for many Americans who are leaving retirement to go back to work, age bias can seem real and overwhelming.

The ResumeBuilder poll, which surveyed 500 Americans aged 62 to 85, found that 12 percent of retired Americans plan to start working again next year. Many of them cite inflation and the high cost of living as reasons for going back to work.

But for those that do plan on returning to the workforce, 59 percent said they would be starting in a new industry, which increases the chances they’ll be overlooked because of their age. That means they will likely have to under-emphasize or even hide their age on a résumé, workplace experts say.

“Ageism is real, and returnees should remove anything that may signal they are an older candidate from their résumés and LinkedIn,” said ResumeBuilder’s chief career adviser, Stacie Haller.

That means not using an AOL email address and getting rid of all home addresses, graduation dates or photographs on the résumé, she added.

“Only the last 15 years of experience should be listed,” Haller said.

Because most companies are aware of employment laws, they know what they can and cannot ask during an interview. So seniors should not succumb to pressure to mention anything related to age and instead stick to why they’re the best person for the job.

“They should also be prepared to discuss and highlight their adaptability, ability to learn quickly, technical skills and their related work experience,” Haller said.

What Sparks Age Bias?

Richard Reice, a workplace lawyer at Messner Reeves, said age bias is a major concern for older job hunters, despite how much experience and knowledge they have. So why are some employers reluctant to hire the person who often has the most experience?

“Employers are concerned about how long such applicants will remain in the job, whether their thinking is current and consistent with modern trends, whether they are forward-thinking, are current in technology and best practices, and whether they have the energy for the job,” Reice told Newsweek.

For seniors looking to combat this, showing technical skills is key. Even listing athletic hobbies and community activities might signal to a potentially ageist employer that there will be no problem keeping up with younger co-workers.

“Employers would be wise to conduct Zoom or in-person interviews that focus on the foregoing topics,” Reice said. “This will tell the interviewer a lot about any applicant regardless of age, appearance and dress, energy level, enthusiasm and future goals.”

Still, many older people will continue to experience age discrimination in their careers in subtle but harmful ways.

Employment lawyer Jessica Childress said it can show up through biased hiring practices and also in unfair job terminations or even reduced career advancement opportunities for older employees. And it can have severe financial consequences.

“This systemic bias significantly affects seniors, marginalizing their experience and contributions,” Childress told Newsweek. “Nationally, it contributes to higher unemployment rates and financial insecurity among older adults.”

Women might also come face-to-face with age discrimination more than their male counterparts, statistics show.

A State of Women in Tech and Startups study from Women Who Tech that surveyed 930 tech employees found nearly 50 percent of women said they experienced age discrimination, compared with just 33 percent of men working in tech.

Altogether, a whopping one in three women said she experienced ageism.

“The bottom line is that older, white men are seen as ‘experienced’ or ‘wise,’ where women are viewed as ‘old’ and ‘not savvy,’ which could not be further from the truth,” Allyson Kapin, founder of Women Who Tech, told Newsweek.

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