Aging unemployed Americans struggle to find work

long-term joblessness is getting old at a recent Orlando Job Fair more than 2,000 showed up to apply for mostly entry-level jobs but quite a few looked closer to retirement age thank you good luck oh I need it so H how old are you um 58 executive assistant Pete vaugh thought she'd never retire from her old job now she's looking for a new one when you come to one of these kind of things are you surprised by how many people you see that look like they're your age I am I really am my age and older even so there's a lot of us out there looking statistically people over age 50 are actually less likely to be laid off but for those who do get the axe the going has never been tougher I leave you my resume or no don't give your resume just attach your resume to your make it laid off workers 34 and younger have a 36% chance of finding a new job within a year but for those in their 50s it's only 24% and past age 62 it drops even more people over 50 are really in a hard spot these days uh because employeers are very cautious to take on not only the salaries but the benefits that they expect Jordan Goodman is an author and personal finance expert and in many cases people 50 plus cannot replace the kind of job they had before um even though they have lots of experience experience is less valuable to employers today than being cheap were you looking to get back into a management experience that's not news to Sam Wade the former office manager has been looking since she was laid off a year ago and she just turned 50 I think it's my age I I do I think it's my age I think it's working against me I have friends my age that are struggling and we're all near that 5050 ET over that 50 bracket and there's so many young people coming out today um that will do the job for a lot less and that's more than just a hunch Texas A&M Professor Joanna Ley sent out 4,000 fictitious resumés for jobs she found in the help wanted ads with high school graduation dates that ranged from 1959 to 1986 and you guessed it employers were more likely to go for the younger applicants 40% more likely Wade says she's now willing to accept any job just to get back in the game and that's becoming the rule for workers of a certain age in the new unemployables a joint study by Boston college and ruter university researchers found that a growing number of people 50 plus are involuntarily working part-time or more troubling getting so discouraged that they just drop out of the workforce altogether if these people don't get jobs this becomes an issue for all of us it definitely does it's a society it's an issue for society jacn James is research director at Boston College of is it possible that some of these older workers will never work again I I'd like to say that people will find jobs and they need to keep trying but it is possible that people will not be able to and will spend the rest of their lives not working unemployed making in me best they can we are creating a new underclass of the 50 plus generation that are not able to support themselves that are going to be having a huge burden on the government because these baby boomers as they age have not saved enough do not have enough Health Care to be able to maintain themselves so they keep looking in a shriveled job market that's a far cry from what they might remember when a smile and a handshake could get you in the door we're going to talk about creating your job search plan we're going to talk about how to brand and stand out Sandy Vidal's organization holds job fairs in Orlando every two months I think that a lot of people who are in the older ages when older I say that I'm 44 so um are having challenges because it's really a different world than it was the last time they job search they're finding that it's taking longer they're also being forced to go online which they may have never done before do you feel old no uhuh Gary boxel lost his job in January of 09 after 17 years in sales at a Salem Oregon car dealership now a man who built a career on personal contact spends hours alone looking for a job online did you know Facebook LinkedIn any of these things before you started your job search I started hearing these names um some years back you know facelift and and what's the latest one Twitter or something I where did these people come up with these names um it wasn't too long ago I don't think that they just called it communication boxel just turned 65 but retirement now is not an option like a third of his fellow Americans he's had to crack open his nest egg I was able to save some money in that direction and that's what I've been living on and how much longer can you live on that oh probably another uh 2 months 6 days and 17 minutes something like that I'm just kidding but you're not counting um seriously like two months you think approximately yeah and if the waiting is tough on him it's torture for his two daughters I'm worried he's they're going to lose their house you know he's he's been out of work for almost a year and a half this is ridiculous someone needs to hire him what's it like for you guys to see him go through this it's really frustrating for me because I don't like to see his frustration or hear his frustration and so it I want to do everything I can to help him are you pretty sure in your gut that you will work again as long as I am physically able I will work and he may be able to work longer than he thinks Boston colleges Jac James a few years ago we looked at data over a 15E period and found that um the changes that occur to people from even age 65 to age 79 were not dramatic at 79 at 79 you almost as vital as you are at 65 is that fair to say that's fair to say do you think people realize that out in America today I think older people are having that experience they keep expecting to fall apart and when they don't it's it's a gift but for now boxel still has to keep looking I know there's few people out there that I know personally that that are kind of a take on the poor me attitude well I'm not taking on that poor me attitude this still the best damn country in the world I'll still send out resumés just just in case um I think that's kind of like going fishing um but I think if you really want to catch the fish you're going to have to get in your boat you're going to have to row over to the business and knock on the door Rous you shortly after our interview Gary boxel knocked on a few more doors and found a part-time job in Auto Sales it's not ideal but at age 65 it's a start

Channel: CBS News

Views: 366,184

Keywords: cbs, sunday, morning, baby, boomer, jobs, unemployment, convention, hiring, unemployed, retirement, economy, savings, resume

Id: JI1qy1Iwzl8

Length: 7min 51sec (471 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 03 2011