One reason is that a higher percentage of jobs are going to retirees. I don’t remember the break down, but I do remember that people who’re technically retired are now more likely to be working than they used to be. Some of them keep working at the same place but cut back their hours; others retire from one company and take a lower-stress job somewhere else.
Most employers would rather have someone with years of work experience than a kid just out of college. And keeping a former full-time employee on for a couple of days a week, while hiring a just-out-of-college kid for the other three means that neither one of them has enough hours that the company’s on the hook for insurance. If insurance costs have gone up since Obamacare, that’s another bonus to keeping someone on part time.
Good for the company, good for former full timers. Not so good for the kids just out of college.
Here in NJ people often can’t retire when they reach the age because their property taxes are so high; they want to sell the homes, but nobody wants them (due to the high taxes). Employers love retirement-age employees because they usually speak English, show up for work on time, and don’t spend the day texting and watching YouTube clips...