The long-term unemployed will face a similar problem.
Anybody out of work for two years/99 weeks is bound to be suspect as untrained, incompetent or lazy, truth or not.
I don’t know; the biggest problem they will encounter is that they will have “reasonable” salary expectations that just aren’t reasonable any more (from a company’s standpoint); anyone I know who has lost a job and gotten another has taken a salary (and benefit) reduction. Companies who pass these candidates over for a job are foolish; they often have better skills then younger (cheaper) workers, and would probably appreciate the opportunity more. Any companies that generalize so about this wave of unemployed risk missing some real talent.