Older workers keeping young adults out of jobs

Reuters ^ | 4/7/10 | Lucia Mutikani

[Kartographer]

Young adults in the United States are being squeezed out of the labor force as older workers either delay retirement or seek jobs to rebuild nest eggs destroyed by the recession, a study showed on Wednesday.

The size of the labor force fell 6.3 percent for young workers, but increased 8.5 percent for workers 55 years and older between December 2007 and January 2010, according to the study by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

[Kartographer]

Sounds like between this and Obamacare we need a new National Retirement Plan (AKA Logan's Run)

[ClearCase_guy]

Thinking the same thing — time to kill the elderly. It’s for the children!

[subterfuge]

It’s the immigrants, dummy.

[Wisconsinlady]

They might as well just turn us all in to Soylent Green!

[9YearLurker]

Sounds like youngsters are squeezing the older workers out of the market as well!

[DManA]

Nonsense. When women decided to work outside the house the economy was dynamic enough to absorb a near doubling of the work force. The problem isn’t old workers working, the problem is the economy has stalled - I blame the Federal Government and its relentless war on wealth.

[Ben Mugged]

Thats OK, 0bamacare will soon fix that.

[Ouderkirk]

At age 47...retirement at 67 is impossible. The best thing for my wife is for me to die at work in my office.

[nina0113]

If the young adults could write English instead of l33tspeak, it would help.

[DallasDeb]

This is a reversal of employment for the “elderly” (and I speak for myself) in the 70’s and 80’s. I think it proves that our education system has failed. Young people no longer have worthwhile skills to make it in the real world. The old f@rts have more to offer, in spite of our higher incomes.

[maeng]

And guess what, they get to work on time everyday!!

[mlocher]

Although the economy has started growing again and the labor market is on a recovery path, the pace is probably too slow for any meaningful change in the young workers' fortunes.

Reuters should be tarred and feathered for misrepresentation. The truth is that it is the policies of the current administration that are keeping many Americans, including the young, from getting employment.

If anyone thinks the labor market is on a recovery, they had better not hold their breath. We have been stuck at 9.7% or higher for several months.

[mewzilla]

Sounds to me like the MSM's trying to gin up a little game of lets-you-and-him fight.

If we had some flipping job growth, they couldn't try to exploit this.

[EricT.]

Now there’s an interesting excuse for why young adults can’t get a job. It totally deflects attention away from the fact that the minimum wage is too high, keeping young people out of entry-level positions. The unemployment numbers for people ages 18-25 are astronomical.

It ain’t “old people” keeping young ones out of jobs. It’s the fact that they cost too much— by law — to hire.

[T Minus Four]

Yup. Time for carousel.

[Michael Barnes]

Hell, I’d take 1337 speak over that sms messaging crap they do.

[Nonstatist]

Young adults in the United States are being squeezed out of the labor force

Of course, under socialism the employment pie is static. Theres a finite number of jobs out there and its up to government to parcel it out..

I say, the people that voted for this hippie punk ought to be the ones without jobs, JMO

[Cicero]

Same reaction here. Obama told the media to blame the old folks—not him.

The truth is that people’s savings and retirement funds are drying up, and their earned income on any savings is way down. So they need to go back into the market and do any kind of work they can in order to buy food and pay the bills. Of course that’s making it harder for the younger folks.

No fear, Obama’s Death Panels will soon step in and mop up all those bothersome old folks.

[OrangeHoof]

Well, duh.

The older ones are more reliable and more grateful to have a job.

Youths are generally less dependable and resent some of the boss/employee dynamics.

Conversely, youths can be paid less and are likely to be healthier than older employees. So, if you’re the employer, which would you rather hire?

To be honest, it saddens me every time I see a person with gray hair waiting tables or working at 7-11 and I want to say to them “Dude, what happened to you?”.

I understand everyone has their own story and some are just doing the best they can but it’s disheartening to see 50-year-olds working jobs that all my life I’ve seen done by 20-year-olds. It tells me the older employee has either been a loser most of their lives or they’ve been through some catastrophe and this is the steps they need to take to put their lives back in order.