[algernonpj]

The problem I seem to find is my years of experience and past salary deter prospective employers from considering me. In a lot of cases, I know I fit the job description perfectly, but neither I nor the headhunters receive replies.

Before someone comes along to tell you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, your problem is shared by many.

Ageism is rampant, and why hire an experienced American when you can hire an inexperienced 'guest worker' whose salary reflects the no or partial taxes they pay. Better yet offshore to a third world country where one and live well on 5-10K per year.

In tech fields one ages out between 35 and 40.

While there truly had been a decline in the quality of education and culture, this is only a part of the unemployment problem. No one mentions the hoards of proven qualified professionals with a great work ethic who are willing, proven, and able but can't find work of any kind.

Age Bias
GAO Report
Interesting graph here

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Ageism is rampant, and why hire an experienced American when you can hire an inexperienced ‘guest worker’ whose salary reflects the no or partial taxes they pay.

BLING BLING BLING, we have a winner.

If you are above the age of 50 and you are unfortunate enough to be layed off, GOOD LUCK TO YOU.

You are most likely in today’s economy to be stranded in the employment twilight zone, waiting to be old enough to cash in your 401K or be eligible for social security and twiddling their thumbs in the meantime.

Now you begin to understand why over 46 million are on food stamps.

I call this the wasted age group in the USA — the above 50 who are unemployed and looking. Most of them are productive, experienced, ready and willing to work or even re-train for new technology. In fact, many are willing to compromise with lower salaries if they could only get a chance to get back to thw workforce.

PROBLEM — too many companies don’t want them and are biased against them.

[central_va]

I’ve been doing IT and software development for 30 years and still going strong.

[edpc]

Fortunately, I was somewhat prepared, so things are tight, though not dire. The “bootstraps” are a touch frayed, but holding. My experience is in the biotech field and I’m just north of 40, so that kind of supports what you said.