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Age Discrimination – Who’s hiring workers over 50?

Jul 24, 2009 Careers After 50, Who's Hiring?

age discrimination workers over 50

Age discrimination can be a real problem in the workforce (See the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance on age discrimination).

My friend’s husband got so frustrated with what he perceived as age bias in employment that he went into freelance work for himself. Fortunately, my friend has insurance that covers the whole family, but it wasn’t an easy decision. He makes money and working for himself has been fulfilling in many ways. As he has gotten older, he finds that he values his time more and some amount of flexibility with his work hours is a nice thing. Still, he preferred the stability of a regular paycheck and job that paid into his social security retirement.

So, how rampant is age discrimination and are their employers out there who hire older workers? To what extent ageism in the workfore exists is a big debate that is beyond the scope of this post. Some advice I’ve come across says it’s mostly in the worker’s mind and all you have to do is change your mindset. Others say to avoid listing graduation dates, not to list your entire employment history (stick with the past 15 years), use a combination functional and chronological resume, emphasize accomplishments over experience, and so forth.

Some of the advice is good job search advice for everyone, such as keeping your skills up to date and jumping into new Web 2.0 social media networking to stay ahead of the game by making it easy for employers find you.

A few searches for age discrimination turned up sites discussing the idea that real age bias is against young people who are new to the workforce. The recent Supreme Court ruling has not made it easier to prove age discrimination complaints, putting the full burden of proof on the worker who alleges unfair treatment. The good news is that there are pro-active tools out there to help you as an older worker find the kind of job that you want and the pay you deserve. These include job search engines, job listings, best employer lists, and federal and state resources for older workers.

Job Listings and Job Search Resources for Older Workers

The AARP maintains an annual list of the Best Employers for Workers Over 50. This will be the 9th year of the awards (new winners are announced in September). Employers submit themselves to AARP for consideration. Applicants are ranked by a variety of criteria including recruitment, career advancement opportunities, accommodation and flexible scheduling, and benefits. They also include an anonymous survey of older employers at the companies.

RetirementJobs.com has a job search engine for anyone over 50 who is looking for a job.

SeniorsforHire.org also features job listings for workers over 50 as well as senior citizens and retirees looking to work.

Another search engine for older workers can be found at Jobs 4.0, which focused on jobs for people over 40 years of age. The results of the survey can be found here.

Other job sites where employers are specifically looking for older and experienced workers include Workforce50.com and RetiredBrains.com.

The cool thing with Retired Brains is that it features part-time and temporary jobs for older workers, in case you are looking to earn extra money vs. re-enter the work force on a full-time basis. Full-time jobs are also listed.

There are also national associations that receive federal government funding to assist older workers with job opportunities, including the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). You’ll definitely want to visit these pages:

National Older Worker Career Center, Inc. (NOWCC)

Senior Service America, Inc. (SSAI)

National Council on the Aging, Inc. (NCOA)

National Caucus and Center on Black Aged, Inc. (NCBA)

National Association for Hispanic Elderly (NAHE)

National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA)

Earlier, we did a post on federal and state job search resources. There are career centers in every state whose mission is to help you find a job. These centers are funded by our tax dollars. Make them work for you1

If you are looking for academic and policy information on retirement income and the aging workforce, there is a great selection of working papers at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

And if you have concerns about working and receiving Social Security benefits, check out the Social Security Administration‘s retirement planner site, which features calculators, FAQs, and links to apply for benefits online. You definitely can work and receive your benefits–although the amount of your benefits will vary based on several factors (e.g. your age). Check out the site for more details.

Tags: aarp, age, age discrimination, age friendly, elderly, older workers, over 50, retired, retirement, senior, workforce

Federal and State Resources for Jobseekers

Jul 15, 2009 Who's Hiring?

flagroll

While there’s been a lot of talk about the economic stimulus program and federal resources directed at state and local governments, and checks being paid out to individuals to promote economic recovery, did you know that federal and state governments have long had quite extensive resources to locate job opportunities? I’m not talking about registering with your local unemployment office and having to apply for low-wage jobs to keep unemployment going. What this post is referring to are the huge databases of current jobs (both government and private sector), free job search resources (like a computer, desk, stationery, office supplies and career counseling and resume help), and more.

The federal government maintains national employment centers (CareerOneStop.org), and states also have career development resources for jobseekers.

Here is a list of federal and state resources for jobseekers:

CareerOneStop.org
CareerOneStop is a U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored Web site that offers career resources and workforce information to job seekers, students, businesses, and workforce professionals to foster talent development in a global economy

JobCentral.com
JobCentral is provided as a public service by leading U.S. employers. It’s a nonprofit consortium of leading U.S. corporations that works hand in hand with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA). The idea is for employers to create a national work exchange to lower their recruitment costs. The site has direct access to jobs by member companies. Examples of companies with job openings that belong to JobCentral: US FoodService, Deloitte, International Paper, Pepsico, HSBC, Sun Trust, Maxim Healthcare, Novartis, MSC Industrial Supply, ITT, CoStarGroup, and literally hundreds of the biggest companies with tens or hundreds of thousands of employees that have found a way to keep their recruiting costs down.

Employment and career resources by state

Included here are state workforce agencies and regional onestop employment centers. The majority are government websites, but not all. The defining characteristic for inclusion is that each link lists current, active job opportunities for a particular state.

Follow the links below to state-specific job openings:

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Los Angeles
Colorado

Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana