Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How ignorant can you get? You definitely have no grasp of what the facts really are and you don't help one bit with the struggle of seasoned professionals trying to maintain their jobs or trying to find work in this economy. Don't forget, you will be there one day yourself. And don't you have parents? I bet they would be very proud to know how much you respect them.........NOT!
It's amazing so many young people today don't realize if they continue living they will be old one day too.
I am going to take advantage of your post to remind seniors looking for work that one of the best places to look is with small, privately owned companies.
The 'looking-good' factor does not apply and seniors who are in good health (there are plenty of them) are an asset because of their maturity and experience level.
Also, because their business background is often broad, they can wear more than one hat which in a small company is a real benefit.
Where reliability and consistency is a key factor, seniors make a key contribution.
A senior in an Office Manager role is an especially good place to have one since they keep the front office ops on an even keel, do not rattle easily and can be trusted to make certain types of business decisions in the absence of the owners who may be out with clients or in the field.
When I was laid off from my office job in 2009, there was nothing on there to help me find another one. Every place wanted young, bilingual college graduates, and were paying $10 per hour, and I was making $28.65 per hour when I was laid off.
I now work as a security officer, and 3/4 of my co-workers are in their mid-late 50's, 60's, and 70's. None of us were able to find jobs in our former fields.
But for the most part in general positions, why would anyone want to hire someone full-time who is probably extremely suspectible to illnesses, probably difficult to integrate into change/a new system, and will probably retire at any moment?
As far as susceptibility to illness, there are plenty of young and middle-aged people who get hit with cancer. Are you going to ask to screen their DNA before you hire them? And then you have young women going on maternity leave. Would you plan to ask a young woman her childbearing plans when you interview her? In either case, you'd be making them very wealthy with the lawsuit they would file.
And let me tell you this: The greatest abuser of sick leave I have ever seen was a single person in her 30s. Conversely, one of the older people I worked with (in her 60s) was always running half-triathlons.
As for adapting to change, my firsthand experience working with and hiring older people says you're mistaken there as well. An older person who's still working probably really needs the job. They will do whatever it takes to keep it. They know that a lot of other employers won't give them a fair shake, so unlike younger people, it doesn't cross their mind to start looking rather than learn the new system. I'm in my 40s, and I'm far more resistant to change than the older people I've worked with.
I think you will appreciate this as you get older, but the people who make the workplace tedious are the people who have an inflated sense of their own worth--the ones who are always promoting their latest idea and not giving due respect to those of others. There is great value to humility and a team focus. Of course, there are plenty of young people who have those things, but I think a lot of older workers (especially those not in leadership positions) have them in greater supply.
It helps to stay on top of technology too, so you won't be perceived as 'old'. I'm 58 and I can run circles around most 20-30 somethings applying for the same job in my field when it comes to the software we use and the technology. Workers my age often have better communication skils (written and oral) than younger workers. When I'm asked if I have problems reporting to a younger boss, I can truthfully say "no", because I enjoy working with the younger generations. They haven't learned the phrase "we've always done it this way" I have yet to run into anything even resembling age discrimination.
Actually, "we've always done it this way" isn't specific to just people over a certain age.
It's more the sign of a closed mindset, and I've run into it in people of all ages. And yes, "younger" employees included, provided they've been worked long enough to have work habits.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have yet to run into anything even resembling age discrimination.
