Some basic but important points for midlife jobseekers in this new AARP article:
With millions of job openings currently left unfilled, there should be plenty of opportunities for older adults to get hired or switch careers now. But for many experienced workers, age discrimination continues to be an obstacle.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were more than 11.3 million jobs waiting to be filled at the end of January 2022 (the month recent month for which data is available). Yet even with so much demand to hire more workers, 36.1 percent of workers age 55 and older were long-term unemployed, meaning they had not been able to land a job in 27 weeks or more. For people between the ages of 16 and 54, the long-term unemployment rate was much lower, at 23.7 percent.
Age discrimination alone doesn’t explain that employment rate gap, but it certainly is one of the hurdles older adults encounter when looking for jobs. In a recent AARP survey, 78 percent of people between the ages of 40 and 65 said they had seen age discrimination in the workplace. That’s an all-time high since AARP started conducting the survey nearly 20 years ago.
While your job search should be focused on the opportunities that fulfill your career goals and the skills you can offer employers, it’s important to be aware that you might encounter age bias as you look for work. Career coaching experts say the following five tips can help older workers compete successfully in the job market. Read the full article on AARP.