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State of Affairs
Last decade spelled disaster for older workers Older workers endured a staggering 331% increase in unemployment over the last 10 years, a new analysis conducted by the AARP Public Policy Institute shows. The new analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data by AARP's Public Policy Institute shows a dramatic 331.4% increase in the number of unemployed Americans age 55 and over from January 2000 through December 2009. For age 65+ workers, the increase in the number of unemployed was lower, but still a massive 235%. During this 10-year period, the number of unemployed individuals age 55+ increased from 490,000 to 2,114,000. The number of unemployed individuals age 65+ jumped from 143,000 to 479,000. Learn more at http://www.aarp.org/RealRelief. Also, read Art Koff’s reaction to AARP’s survey below. RW
Relief for older workers
Many older workers who are unable to find employment are becoming entrepreneurs. The traffic to our "Start Your Own Business" pages is way up in the past year and in the first months of 2010 is 10 times what it was last year at this time.
After searching for a job for over a year many have given up looking and are seeking alternative ways of finding extra income. Our franchise pages are getting the most traffic but so is direct selling. Since there are more women in the 50+ age group than men, working with Mary Kay, The Pampered Chef, Avon, etc. is more likely.
We provide a link to CorpAmerica which lists steps of how to start a business. http://www.corpamerica.com/Start_a_Business.html. Other areas that are heavily trafficked are seasonal jobs where we provide information but also link to the "Older and Bolder" area of the largest seasonal job board CoolWorks.com FYI the URL for this area of CoolWorks is http://www.coolworks.com/older-bolder/ in case you wish to check it out.
Many older Americans are now interested in working from home. Most do not have the appropriate skills to do so and have turned to selling on line. We have started a section to assist in this area, http://www.retiredbrains.com/Home/Employment+Assistance/Selling+On-Line/default.aspx where we provide information on how to sell on eBay... Craigslist... or Amazon.com. We even list the various kinds of products like antiques, art, jewelry, electronics, tickets, etc. that might be appropriate to sell on-line and how to go about doing so.
Lastly, the best opportunity for most older workers to find a job is by searching for a temporary
job or project assignment. Our postings for these types of employment are up as many employers are interested in saving money by not having to pay company benefits (in most cases) and since the jobs today may end abruptly, being able to off-board with little or no cost.
Of course employers often have a hiring freeze in place and temporary hires usually
come out of a different budget allowing for hires. Lastly, many older workers require less training
and take less time off--generally coming in and leaving on time which makes them even more
cost effective for employers.
In lieu of this we suggest that older workers who apply for full-time jobs should indicate their willingness to work on a temporary or project basis to start. This gives the employer an opportunity to evaluate their skills and "job fit". Most younger applicants cannot afford to work without company benefits, so there are times when this approach will give an older applicant a leg up on his or her younger counterpart. RW
— Arthur Koff, founder, http://www.RetiredBrains.com |