Not Retiring

RobinWolaner
RobinWolaner
Staff

Posted: Jun 22, 08 11:12am

Provocative article in today's Times on finding work over 50. Some interesting data on age discrimination -- that will surprise none of us who've tried to get a job in our fifties or sixties -- but also some suggestions about how to cure "statistical discrimination."

http://tinyurl.com/63puft

'John Shoven, an economist at Stanford University, advanced the notion of “new age thinking” as an alternative perspective, in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper last fall. He suggested taking a fresh look at the implications of age, since people are healthier and live longer now. Using his calculation, he said, a 65-year-old man in 2005 was “effectively seven years younger than someone of the same age in 1965.”'

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2 Comments // 3 Members
cupcake3
cupcake3
Founding Member

Posted: Jun 22, 08 12:13pm

Aside from the fact that I don't think I will be able to retire..I usually find that when I interview with someone close to my age, I am much more likely to be successful.

The best option if one can take it, is obviously to be your own boss. I admire those who can, but don't see myself doing that.

Here's to zapping age spots, buying modern looking bi-focals, sunscreen, fake tans, cool shoes and all the other tricks I use( including joining a gym). It really helps to be in best shape possible when job hunting or job keeping....I have found. I just let'm guess how old I am!!

DoofsterDan
DoofsterDan
Founding Member

Posted: Jun 22, 08 10:31pm

I expect things to change slowly, if at all. Although we're dependable employees with a strong work ethic, we also know when we're getting bs'd. You can't expect us to jump as hard or as fast as people in their 20s, and when you expect us to do the impossible with poor equipment, or you come up with non-solutions, we'll probably tell you. We also recognize bad management and poor planning. These kinds of things are dangerous to most supervisors I'd heard a veteran say he was interviewed by a 20-something that HE wouldn't have hired on a bad day.

What makes you think businesses want the best employee? They want the CHEAPEST employee that can be lead....or mislead. Oh, and in some cases, we may be overqualified...and though we may want to work for less than we've earned before, that sets off red flags to the employer. So he'll go for the youth, complain about not finding qualified workers, and point to turnover as a workforce problem. And the lure of cheap wages overseas is so hard to resist.