DAILY NEWS
  • News
    • National
    • Regional
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Economy
    • Feel Good
    • Politics
  • Obituaries
  • Crime
  • Opinion
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Scioto County Daily News
  • News
    • National
    • Regional
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Economy
    • Feel Good
    • Politics
  • Obituaries
  • Crime
  • Opinion
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Scioto County Daily News
No Result
View All Result

Employment Struggles for Older Workers

Staff Report by Staff Report
November 18, 2020
in Economy
Employment Struggles for Older Workers
ShareTweetEmail


Employment Struggles for Older Workers-By Bill Ryan

Audio Assist Version

https://www.sciotocountydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/58864934.mp3

It’s happening again. One of the perverse hallmarks of the Great Recession ten years ago was the expulsion of many older workers from the workforce. A significant amount of experienced employees found themselves forced into sudden unemployment or premature retirement. Many never fully recovered financially or emotionally and their careers were left scarred and lacking in dignified closure. The current Covid-induced recession is again presenting similar employment hardship for mature workers. Since March the labor market has shed many senior-aged men and women, who possess both high and low skill levels. In other words, this elder layoff is widespread.

Unfortunately, this is not turning out to be simply a temporary furlough for these workers, but rather a longer-termed separation marked by an acceleration of egregious trends. Again, as during the last recession, newly trending labor shifts are weakening older workers’ employment security. Previous examples included labor-saving technologies and increased workloads for younger and less expensive staff, which combined to lessen the management need to restore previous personnel levels. Once again, mature employees find their bargaining power diminished when facing dismissal and rehiring. Weak or non-existent unions, the rise of the gig economy, and continued lenient enforcement of age-discrimination laws, not to mention the harmful economic disruption from Covid, leave senior workers feeling increasingly insecure and inadequate.

The New School’s Retirement Equity Lab studies the factors impacting the quality of retirement, which necessitates an examination of when a retreat from work is chosen or forced. Their assessment of the plight of older workers is sobering. Even for those older workers who haven’t yet been laid off, there is considerable incertitude about their futures. This cohort more and more knows they are less employable than younger workers. Those over age 55 often realize that if they were to quit their current jobs the chances of transitioning to one that is comparable or better is doubtful. For many, it becomes prudent to stick with a less than satisfying job, than to risk unemployment.

Relatively robust earnings have traditionally been an expectation for a long-term commitment to a profession and/or an employer. Seems fair, right? However, these days when an older worker is rehired after a job loss hourly wages are typically lower than with the former job. Workers aged 50-61 receive 20% less pay with their new job while workers 62 and older see a decrease of 27%. In addition, once a worker hits their fifties periods of unemployment after a layoff is longer than for workers aged less than 50.

The growth in uncertainty and low confidence older workers face adds to the weakness of their bargaining power. Employers know in most cases that they have the upper hand with older workers, except for those situations in which the worker possesses a unique or hard to find skill. This is unfortunate. A lifetime of work deserves value and respect. Retirement in the modern era should be a reward for the toil, dedication, and achievement for decades of work, not an imposed isolation or banishment due to the vicissitudes of employment economics.

As the Retirement Equity Lab points out, policymakers may need to intervene with schemes designed to lessen the hardships for prematurely laid-off older workers. For example, employers could offer rainy day or emergency savings plans through payroll deductions, which become available when needed to augment unemployment benefits or the federal government could step in with a guaranteed retirement account savings option to supplement what retirees receive from Social Security. Of course, more stringent enforcement of The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 would help immensely.

Careers are a vocation and a calling to develop mastery and contribute to society. For others, work is simply a means to a paycheck. Either way, growing old should not be viewed as a liability or a deficiency to take advantage of.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Bill_Ryan/317681
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10373225 Employment Struggles for Older Workers Employment Struggles for Older Workers




Related Posts

Scioto County Residents Concerned: Experts Have Doubts About PureCycle

Scioto County Residents Concerned: Experts Have Doubts About PureCycle

May 29, 2021
County Commissioners Say Don’t Wait To Go Back To Work

County Commissioners Say Don’t Wait To Go Back To Work

May 21, 2021
Tags: FamilyJobsLocal Businesses

Related Posts

Scioto County Residents Concerned: Experts Have Doubts About PureCycle
Economy

Scioto County Residents Concerned: Experts Have Doubts About PureCycle

Scioto County Residents Concerned: Experts Have Doubts About PureCycle Local officials were excited about the prospect of an innovative...

by Cyn Mackley
May 29, 2021
County Commissioners Say Don’t Wait To Go Back To Work
Economy

County Commissioners Say Don’t Wait To Go Back To Work

County Commissioners Say Don’t Wait To Go Back To Work Businesses all across the state are having a hard...

by Cyn Mackley
May 21, 2021
What You Need To Know About The Next Round Of Stimulus Checks
Economy

What You Need To Know About The Next Round Of Stimulus Checks

What You Need To Know About The Next Round Of Stimulus Checks Monthly stimulus checks are on the way...

by Cyn Mackley
May 17, 2021
Diaper, Tampon Prices Going Up
Economy

Diapers, Tampons Prices Going Up

Diaper, Tampon Prices Going Up Get ready to pay more for diapers, tampons, and adult incontinence products. Cincinnati-based Proctor...

by Cyn Mackley
April 21, 2021

POPULAR POSTS

  • Facebook page dedicated to sharing pictures of "Cute Boys" remains active

    Facebook Won’t Shut Down “Cute Boys” Page

    2 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Why Do Insurance Companies Use Funny Commercials?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Employment Struggles for Older Workers

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 4 Best Yoga Poses For Back Pain

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 25 Haunted Places in Ohio

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

[vc_row full_width="stretch_row" vc_row_background="" footer_scheme="dark" css=".vc_custom_1560500542429{margin-top: 3px !important;padding-top: 50px !important;padding-bottom: 50px !important;background-color: #000000 !important;}" footer_button_bg="#ffe414"][vc_column width="2/3" css=".vc_custom_1563777667323{padding-right: 40px !important;}"]

Scioto County Daily News

We are a grassroots team of local journalists on a mission to give our community up-to-the-second news and events for Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Western West Virginia. We believe progress inspires change and we believe our reporting has become the front-lines of Portsmouth, Ohio's comeback.

[vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/3"]

Newsletter Subscribe

[vc_column_text][mc4wp_form][/vc_column_text]
[/vc_column][vc_column offset="vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][vc_column][vc_column_text]© 2021 Scioto County Daily News. All Rights Reserved.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • National
    • Regional
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Economy
    • Feel Good
    • Politics
  • Obituaries
  • Crime
  • Opinion
  • Contact

© 2021 Scioto County Daily News. All Rights Reserved.