The U.S. workforce is getting older. We all knew it was going to happen. We’ve all been writing and reading about it for years.
So why the hell is no one ready for it?
This week, the business team at MSNBC.com unveils a series of stories about how the workforce is graying, and more Americans are going to work past age 65 because most aren’t able to afford retirement.
From MSNBC.com’s John Schoen:
With their nest eggs in tatters, the stock market in the doldrums and time running out, many older Americans are resigning themselves to Plan C: simply working much later in life.
I wrote a piece due out later this week uncovering what Corporate America has done to prepare for the onslaught of mature employees. The answer: not much.
During my research I got the feeling that most employers, employees and even senior citizen advocates think an increase in older workers at the office, factory, or warehouse, is going to have little impact on the workplace. “65 is the new 55,” was pretty much the mentality.
But unfortunately folks, it’s going to take more than a couple of butt and face lifts to help aging workers punch the clock the way they did in their 30s and 40s. From office jobs to jobs in hospital wards, changes are going to have to be made to accommodate the growing number of employees who are also in their golden years. (I don’t know about you guys, but my back is already going and I haven’t even hit 50.)
On the flip side, is thinking a 50-plus worker can’t pull their weight. Lots of job seekers write me about how they think they were bypassed for gigs just because of their age even though they could handle the workload just fine. If they can handle the work, they should get the job.
We’re just going to have to get used to old people, whether they make use uncomfortable or not.
One of the first emails I got after I put out word that I was working on the mature worker story was from Dr. Payman Simoni, a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon:
THE SIMONI “WIDE AWAKE” FACE LIFT: Can be done in 1 hour.
This is how our society views our elders. With little respect.
Instead of holding up individuals as they age, we have and will continue to tear them down. Instead of seeing the wrinkles and gray hair as a sign they’ve lived a rich life and can teach us something, we view aging with contempt. Instead of using their knowledge and experience for the betterment of society, we have already begun to cast them aside to a virtual workplace wasteland, if we hire or keep them on at all.
The discrimination charges filed by workers 55 and older is skyrocketing, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and there is little sign that things will get better for mature employees, especially in this economic environment.
It’s time for employers and employees to realize what a valuable resource they have in older workers; and it’s also time for workers as they age to respect themselves and stop making excuses for growing old.
July 28th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Good one, Eve!
I’ve always kept this old proverb in mind: “The glory of young men is in their strength; the glory of old men is in their grey hair.” I glad I was reared to respect the aged. They do have experience and wisdom that few in our age take time to ponder.
For me, though I have been loathe to see my strength gradually decline, I’ve taken comfort in my grey hair. I have lived and learned, and while not yet ready to join the ranks of the old (I’m comfortable in the early years of middle age), I realize that my role and place in this world is changing.
July 28th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Excellent post Eve!
To some degree, the current state of the economy will keep those in their 50s and 60s around a bit longer, but there’s plenty that they can do to show their younger colleagues the “ways of the workplace” so that they themselves can grow and lead tomorrow’s businesses. We who are in our 50s and 60s have a lot to offer, and that includes our energy, which, for many of us, is still at a high level.
At the same time, we need to be willing to learn as well as to teach. And we can learn a lot from those in their 20s and 30s, especially how they use technology and how we can use it to make our work and personal lives more efficient.
July 28th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I began my fifth and current career as a college prof at age 60. However, I’m not the oldest employee. The football coach is in his 80s and still going strong. Fortunately, our employer sees value in what we and other older faculty and staff have to offer our students.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:58 am
You can also point to corporations paranoia about succession planning as to why they choose younger workers over older. the fear they have that intellectual and corporate knowledge (DNA) must be passed on for the Corp to survive.
Agree that current thinking is win-loose, not win-win though!
Simon at VirtualCobCoach.com
July 29th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
I can see that Simon, but why not keep the veterans on to teach and nurture the younger workers so they can be ready to take over.
That’s how it was in newsrooms once upon a time. You held the older reporters and editors in high esteem because they knew the ropes and they could teach the rookies to go out there and get the story. Alas, that mentality died off before the Internet even took off. May be a bigger reason why newspapers are dying in this country.
August 2nd, 2009 at 1:08 am
My thoughts on this will blow you away.
Our grandparents and for the most part, if you are are over 40, our parents did what was sincerly ‘biblical’. You the men and women of these past generations had lots of sex and had lots of babies. It is primarily the only thing God wanted us to do..multiply. The problem is you had less children than the previous generation and left little resources for the generations that were going to be in front of you. Because of the all the booze and later, the drugs, you forgot that here existed an almost unprecedented discrepancy, because you did not have enough children to take your place, there is not enough jobs to go around. And by not considering the future, young people have less reasons to populate as they should. You took GOd and things that are ‘Biblical ‘ away from them.
AS harsh as this sounds, and as odd as this sounds coming from an indidvidual who is very conservative, I honestly feel that the idea of respecting older folks for their longevity is as far as it goes. When you speak of the benefits of keeping old folks around the work place, or showing young folks the ropes, you have got to be kidding!!!60 years ago, some individual like me perhaps said something like..’Could you show me how to use that cotton gin?’ to an old timer and he probably knew how to use it.
When I worked at US Steel as a young man and I started out as a laborer, I was the youngest. At first it was ‘Learn how to pace yourself’, then later it was revealed, ‘You are making us look bad.’
It is sincerely difficult to not to sound so unervingly austere. It is almost impossible to be fair. However, in my opinion, because of such huge discrepancy in mere numbers, I would make the full retirement age, or sge where you recieve the maximum SS benefit closer to 60. I would further have the laws about being penalized for pensioning out of your 401 closer to 50. This will open up a lot of jobs for young folks who are indeed, and who have always been the true backbone of this nation.THe incentive for retiring early may not appear to be there right now. THen again, if you are going to recieve a somewhat liveable monthly income for not working, this should create a boost in better paying jobs that many are keeping durng the least productive times of their lives. Let the new, younger retirees supplement their income with the $7.25 per hour jobs.
When we think about WW2, we have this odd vision of ancint gray haired grandpa running his ass off and jumping into fox holes. We forget that grandpa was the back bone, and he was also very wet behind the ears and totally inexperienced in all endeavors. Heck, he probably never been kissed let alone know anything about populating.
I guess I am really trying to make an argumant for the young folks. My 31 year old son recently went to three days a week working as an auto mechanic. He has to deliver pizzas to make his household work. My other son is an assistant manager at McDonalds and also goes to college. He is studying chemistry. He is working on his masters. Chemist for Dow, 4 year degree-$35000 per year. Assistant Manager at Mcdonlads-$60000 per year. sure he works 55+ hours, but if he made the same money 40 hours per week, he’d be in the bars a lot more too.