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I am almost 52 and have been working full time at a job that I got just under two years ago. As far as I can tell, there is no age discrimination for hiring older people as long as the applicant is mentally sharp, up on the latest technologies in their field, and can keep up with the younger staff physically. If anything, the older workers tend to have a better work ethic than the younger staff, have more wisdom and commonsense, and don't have the bad habit of texting at work. The only older workers that aren't appealing to work with are those that are slower mentally and/or physically, have health issues, or are overweight and slow moving or are set in their ways in a stubborn and closeminded fashion.
And where would this money come from to support these chronically unemployed older people? And what if they lived in an economically depressed part of the country like Michigan?
And if they've been paying so much in taxes over the years, most likely they've also gotten many benefits from the federal and state governments like public schooling for their children. And if they have children and grandchildren and raised them properly (since raising children is so expensive), then it's time for their progeny to take care of them.
I'd support some sort of re-education program for these unemployed older people so that they can sharpen or add to their work skills. And give tax credits to companies that hire them. Maybe they can be paid to staff state run/non-profit affordable child care or senior care facilities. Or maybe they can start dipping into their Social Security money for the purpose of starting their own businesses. But no way would I support just giving them free money to sit at home doing nothing for months and years while waiting for the US economy to improve.
And where would this money come from to support these chronically unemployed older people? And what if they lived in an economically depressed part of the country like Michigan?
Federal tax base. Funded by corporate taxes.
Jobs keep getting outsourced, or even replaced. You can't keep talking about how great it is for efficiency that three men can be replaced by automation while at the same time allowing the population to grow. We are on the path to fundamental change in our economy like it or not. Or, we quit all the technology, bring the jobs back home, and put everyone back to work. You can't permanently scrap Millions of jobs and then tell the unemployed "get a job you lazy f__k."
I'd support some sort of re-education program for these unemployed older people so that they can sharpen or add to their work skills.
To what? Doctors? Nurses? Lawyers? Engineers? Every job is moving, shifting, and becoming devalued. We have Millions of unemployed degreed, experienced workers who can't find jobs. You're going to spend more money to train them to another field they won't be able to find employment?
I know a lot of 45+ year olds that have worked for a long time continiously earning good money. These people have cell phones, japanese cars, and nice landscaping, but haven't spent a dime in training or education in the past 20 years. And now they complain they cannot get work because they didn't keep themselves trained.
I interview about 10-15 people/week that are aged in their 40's and 50s. Only 2 or 3 of them are capable of working working in current office environments. The rest have no knowledge of modern management techniques. Funny though, because most of them have cell phones and the women have designer handbags. I wonder who is to blame.
And where would this money come from to support these chronically unemployed older people? And what if they lived in an economically depressed part of the country like Michigan?
Federal tax base. Funded by corporate taxes.
Jobs keep getting outsourced, or even replaced. You can't keep talking about how great it is for efficiency that three men can be replaced by automation while at the same time allowing the population to grow. We are on the path to fundamental change in our economy like it or not. Or, we quit all the technology, bring the jobs back home, and put everyone back to work. You can't permanently scrap Millions of jobs and then tell the unemployed "get a job you lazy f__k."
I'd support some sort of re-education program for these unemployed older people so that they can sharpen or add to their work skills.
To what? Doctors? Nurses? Lawyers? Engineers? Every job is moving, shifting, and becoming devalued. We have Millions of unemployed degreed, experienced workers who can't find jobs. You're going to spend more money to train them to another field they won't be able to find employment?
To what? is a good question, as well as noting the jobs are shifting/moving. The answer will vary depending on the niche. And how about automation? I can only speak for my small corner, but automation doesn't replace people, per se, rather it can increase capacity. A human is still needed to run, troubleshoot, and innovate new processes.
I'll use a woman at my co, who I was friendly with, as an example. She was let go about a month ago. She will go into the >50 age statistic for the unemployed. The whole thing was upsetting from my pov because she was with my co for ~15 yrs. Why did this happen? In part because her job, the job she was initially hired for all those years ago, no longer exists. It was replaced by automated processes. But, it didn't have to go that way. Her small group was comprised of only 2-3 people 6-7 years ago. Now, there are about 8-10 people in that group. She seemed to have a difficult time adapting to the technology. The writing was on the wall a few years ago, tho. She was encouraged to learn about the machines/robots being implemented in her job. The company offers internal/external trainings, 10k/yr for course work, etc. It was then demanded that she learn and improve her skill set. She didn't get on board. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it was just all over her head. Utilizing the most basic aspects of excel, for example, was a great feat for her.
In the end, as stated, she lost the job. Now, she's in tougher situation. She spent the last ~15 yrs in a niche field that no longer exists. What in the world is she going to do now? Certainly, nobody is going to hire her in the same field without experience and when it comes to the new technologies she doesn't have the experience. She did interview before they let her go, but her offers weren't in the same ball park salary wise. Her life is changing and I hope she has some savings.
To add, the job I was intially hired for just two years ago, in the way of day-to-day routine work, no longer exists either. I have automated 90% of the processes and this resulted in an increase in capacity. This hasn't given me less to do, far from it. What has resulted is new hires. And if anything, I have a greater work load. Also, at my co, trainings and professional development are an expectation. It's on my yearly goals and I have no choice but to fit it in.
Being from NJ and out of work for 22 months I went to a temp agency, this worked for me. It's not what I hoped for but it's keeping me sharp.
I did not know how fast things have changed in the work place in two yrs and this is the same company that downsized me. The full time people are all over worked and working harder than ever. I'm hoping that I can get extented and keep a pay check coming in. I do see that 95% of the new people hired are in there mid to late 20's. I have not seen one person over 40 hired. That's just the way it is now. I'm happy to keep my skill set up to date and that will make me more employable weather it's a temp or full time job I don't care and at 59 it's suits me fine.
I hope everyone here can find something because it does make you feel alot better on a daily basis.
And where would this money come from to support these chronically unemployed older people? And what if they lived in an economically depressed part of the country like Michigan?
Federal tax base. Funded by corporate taxes.
Jobs keep getting outsourced, or even replaced. You can't keep talking about how great it is for efficiency that three men can be replaced by automation while at the same time allowing the population to grow. We are on the path to fundamental change in our economy like it or not. Or, we quit all the technology, bring the jobs back home, and put everyone back to work. You can't permanently scrap Millions of jobs and then tell the unemployed "get a job you lazy f__k."
I'd support some sort of re-education program for these unemployed older people so that they can sharpen or add to their work skills.
To what? Doctors? Nurses? Lawyers? Engineers? Every job is moving, shifting, and becoming devalued. We have Millions of unemployed degreed, experienced workers who can't find jobs. You're going to spend more money to train them to another field they won't be able to find employment?
Why should my Federal income tax dollars go towards supporting people in Michigan? I'd rather they be spent on programs that can directly benefit my own state.
And I did suggest that some of these unemployed become workers at Federally funded non-profit child day care or senior care facilities. You don't need to have a medical degree to watch children. And much of the support staff at a senior care facility are not doctors or nurses. And I met someone that took a course to become a medical aide, and he was a dumbass.
If we could apply for unemployment compensation on the same at-will basis as employment relationships; would we have any basis to care if employers discriminate based on any criteria they deem appropriate (e.g. age)?
Exactly. We need to redraw the whole scheme. The future holds fewer and fewer conventional jobs for everyone, and we cannot just leave people starving and freezing. If you could move from job to job at will without fear of losing your home or the ability to feed your family it would level up the field for everyone. Let people choose to become unemployed for a period while someone else takes up the job. With a safety net they can pursue school, arts, whatever. All this talk of innovation is just platitudes to those who cannot afford to be innovative with their family's lives, and the days of the typical employee being able to settle into a career and retirement with a single employer are long gone.
I hope our elected representatives to government won't have to argue about where the money is coming from.
Many people in California don't think we need more tax revenue from legal marijuana and refused to authorize that initiative. We must not have any real or artificial wars either because some of those same persons believe we can lower taxes; something that is usually never done during times of war.
Quote:
WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve announced plans Wednesday to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. financial system, an expansive and unconventional new effort to try to get the sputtering U.S. economy on track.
Source: Fed to buy $600 billion more in debt | StarTribune.com (http://www.startribune.com/business/106655163.html - broken link)
Exactly. We need to redraw the whole scheme. The future holds fewer and fewer conventional jobs for everyone, and we cannot just leave people starving and freezing. If you could move from job to job at will without fear of losing your home or the ability to feed your family it would level up the field for everyone. Let people choose to become unemployed for a period while someone else takes up the job. With a safety net they can pursue school, arts, whatever. All this talk of innovation is just platitudes to those who cannot afford to be innovative with their family's lives, and the days of the typical employee being able to settle into a career and retirement with a single employer are long gone.
DELETED: personal attack. Affordability certainly wasn't an issue the case of the woman I put up as an example. Something else was going on. And I don't see how at will unemployment is remotely feasible, not with the nature of people and our government. Besides, professional development is an on-going process that occurs within a field while working.
Last edited by JMT; 11-04-2010 at 06:37 AM..
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