What an infuriating article. Older workers are "disappearing" because companies are refusing to hire us. I will have been out of work for a year this February and the job market is BROKEN. I've put scads of resumes out there, networked every single contact I have, written and rewritten using all the AI tools, and have been highly selective over each job I apply to. Last year I sent out 178 responses to job postings (not including cold contacts and networking contacts) and I got TWENTY interviews. Half of those flat-out ghosted me after the interview. I'm not the only one in this situation, and the majority of us are over 55. The guy who wrote that article needs to KMA.
You spend hours customizing each resume, cover letter and application, and you hear nothing back. Then a month later, you see the same damn job reposted again. I went through three interviews with one company, including the in-person interview, where I felt like the whole room was dead. I could tell they were totally stressed out and drowning. I was interviewing THEM. Never heard from them again after that, and then three months later, saw the job was reposted. The outright rudeness of these people is maddening. I even got HIRED for a freelance contract at one place and then they never sent me any work! If I hadn't known the president of that agency (which was how I got the interview), I would have been worried I was getting scammed for my personal information. Sent all of that to them, got into their payment system, then... NOTHING. I'm calling them up every month, "Got anything for me?" Nope. Then why did you hire me?! It's completely ridiculous.
“.... the job market is BROKEN.”
I hear ya sister. I’m a little older with a skill set that many should welcome with open arms yet....
My latest is.... I agreed to work for a major dealership, six days a week for a rough total of 55 hours... flag time would’ve varied from 40 to 50 hours. Got pushed a week due to broken equipment on their end (so I was told), then got an email stating they were going a different direction and would I accept an entry level position that’s generally reserved for those fresh out of high school. Inquired as to the schedule and whether flat rate still applied to the “new” position.... a week later... no answer so far. Only time I’ve ever been demoted before logging an hour of work and ghosted for asking specifics. Yeah.... it’s mega broken.
My approach is a bit old school as I will walk in and inquire about employment knowing they have a position open... letting the chips fall as they may.
I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that hanging my own shingle is the solution as the folks “hiring” these days are nuts. Being your own boss has it’s own rewards.
Years ago, my husband was let go from his job. He only has a high school diploma but is a self-taught tech wizard. He couldn’t get an interview because the computers were tossing his applications out before a human ever saw them. All required a college degree. A human reviewer of his CV might have been willing to take a chance on him, and would never have regretted it, but never even met him.
He became severely depressed for six months. None of the many wonderful things he had accomplished professionally mattered. He finally started part-timing for a trade organization in a related field, running their websites and providing tech support at their conferences. He gradually acquired clients in unrelated fields (restaurant websites, etc.) and then found an equally talented programmer buddy who was on the same path. They became partners, both drumming up business for each other. They’ve done it for 15 years. They found some jobs that really excited and challenged them. They kept learning. They then taught themselves how to do puts and calls on stocks with amazing results. He’s been happier and more successful than he ever was at that old job.
My point is, he had to start small for a side organization while starting his own business. That gave him time to acquire clients he thought were fun or useful. Along the way he found a friend of similar age, intellect, and temperament who stimulated his mind. Even though he’s “retired” they will always work on projects together.
Have you ever worked with anyone whose work ethic, personality, and mind you’ve really enjoyed? Perhaps you could contact that person and noodle taking on a side job with him/her. Or land a distantly-related project yourself and bring that person on?
That sounds an awful lot like they are posting for “Americans” to fulfill the requirement and filling with H1B or similar hires...
A JOB? (just over broke)
Start making how-to videos on utoob and reselling things on ebay.
Age has no meaning there.