The Suddenly Hot Job Market for Workers Over 50

[rugrats2001]

Originally Posted by sjdemak

By 50 you should have management experience or be a expert in your field or start your own business. Don't feel sorry for those who don't participate in capitalism.

Capitalism is a pyramid shape, where 90% of the participants have nowhere to advance to. How many management jobs for people with no management experience (the 'entry level management' starter position) do you imagine open up every year in the USA?

And maybe you should google 'new business failure rate' just for kicks and giggles.

Not all capitalism participants are winners, and capitalism doesn't pass out ribbons and cash just for 'participation'. It isn't middle school.

The same goes for being an 'expert in your field'. Today's average 50 year old worker is probably an expert in half a dozen obsolete fields, and is working on being an expert now in a field that will be made obsolete in the next couple of years. Not their fault!

[Tuck's Dad]

Realizing I am not the mean for 50+ YO employees, but I have not interveiwed for a job since my late twenties.

I did a career, retired in my early 50's, and was contacted and offered a consulting position at about 20% above my terminal salary within a month of retirement. I have had three offers (people calling me and offering employment, not an interveiw, a job) over the last year.

Most of my peers are in a simular position - they have established credentials, a solid history of achievement (not exceptional, but very solid), significant professional and specialized experience, and a lot of contacts from years of employment in their feild - so the job market is about choices and options, not "can I get a job?"

For those over 50 who did not keep up their skills/education, or who were highly specialized in a feild made obsolete by technolodgy, and do not have a pension or significant assets set asside for retirement to draw on, I suspect things are pretty tough, so if the OP article is accurate, this is good news for some folks who have been in a rough situation!