The United States Most Valuable Resource.
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I keep hearing a reading about different valuable resources that the United States has and ignores.
While I agree that there are a lot of resources we ignore there is one resource being ignored, and for the most part no one is doing anything about it.
You might ask what it is the resource?
The citizens in the US over 50 years old!!!!!!!
WE ARE A VALUABLE RESOURCE THAT CAN AND WILL IMPROVE THE WORKFORCE!!!!
Why Hiring Older Workers Makes Sense!
Today’s youth-centered society offers little in prospects for an older worker seeking a job. Employers prefer younger candidates even if the credentials of the older candidate are identical. There are many reasons for this but I believe they are based in misconception. For instance, the issue of higher health care costs is a red herring. While older workers may use more health care, they also don’t usually have covered dependents. And many are covered already anyway by Medicare or a private plan. Then there’s the false assumption that older workers will demand higher pay. Most applicants for a job position have a pretty good idea of what it pays before they apply. Younger managers whine that it will be difficult to tell the older worker what to do. This is an unfounded flaw in the supervisors. Approaching an older worker with respect for their expertise and interests can develop an ideal worker.
Here are 15 good reasons to hire an older worker.
1) BETTER WORK ETHIC – They were brought up in the days when people took pride in their work. They show up on time, they are cheerful.
2) CAN THINK ON THEIR FEET – Having juggled life for so long, older workers are more likely to be able to make quick decisions and get the job done right.
3) THANKFUL – Older workers tend to be content and appreciative of a good day’s work. They have no need to claw their way to the top.
4) KNOW PEOPLE – They have been around the block a time or two and know what and what not to expect from other people. Therefore they handle the social aspects of the job better.
5) NOT DISTRACTIONS – Days of turning heads and distracting other workers are gone.
6) NOT SELF-AWARE – Older workers are there to do a job, not to win a popularity or beauty contest.
7) MULTI-TASK – Years of experience have taught the older worker to multi-task. They are calm and handle issues when they arise. They don’t tend to make excuses.
8) UNDERSTAND – They know that things don’t always go just right. It’s okay, they will tackle it again.
9) SMARTER – Really, just ask any of them.
10) GOOD COMPANY -Older workers can see the lighter side of life now.
11) BETTER DRESSED – No dreadlocks, piercings, or tattoos for these workers. Presenting themselves well is part of their job training.
12) GETTING HANDS DIRTY – Older workers don’t get up in the morning to go to fun; they get up to go to work. Nothing is below them and they’ll dig into any task with gusto.
13) GOOD LISTENERS – There’s nothing like an older person who is not your mom or dad to listen to your problems, give advice and offer a cluck or two.
14) CAN CONVERSE – They didn’t live all those years without picking up considerable knowledge. They can add to any conversation and talk to anyone.
15) DESERVE IT – They raised you, didn’t they?
In Australia, favoring younger workers is outdated. Employers value the work ethic, reliability, and experience the older worker brings. Folks are more active at an older age and make up a vibrant work force. In many jobs, seniors rule.
Sometimes God picks you up from the road you’re on and drops you down on another. It is always a challenge to figure out which way you will go.
More reasons to hire older workers:
Top 10 Reasons to Hire Older People
March 26, 2012 RSS Feed Print
In a world where traditional retirement makes less and less sense, the need and desire of older people to retain or find meaningful jobs depends in part on overcoming bogus attitudes about older employees. Smart and progressive employers get this. Sure, Google is probably not losing any sleep over failing to train septuagenarians about search-engine algorithms. But being uninterested in crowd-sourcing the best taco stand within four blocks of your smartphone is not a disqualification for being an excellent employee.
Unemployment rates among older workers are lower than that of the general workforce. However, when an older person does lose a job, it has been much harder to find a new one. Older job seekers need to do an honest self-assessment of their skills and upgrade them if needed or set their sights on jobs that better match their current capabilities.
Employers need to make their own adjustments, beginning with tossing preconceptions of older workers out the window. Judge each job applicant as an individual. It’s the law, and it’s also the right thing to do. In assessing the suitability of older job applicants, here are 10 other things to keep in mind:
1. They are not unhappy. MetLife recently completed its 10th annual survey of employee benefits, based on extensive surveys of hiring managers and employees. It finds that younger employees are really unhappy these days. Older workers, by contrast, tend to be more appreciative of what they’ve got.
2. They are not going to jump ship. MetLife also found that alarming percentages of younger workers would like to be working somewhere other than their current employer in 2012. Among Gen Y workers (born 1981 to 1994), it was 54 percent, while 37 percent of Gen X workers (born 1965 to 1980) were ready, willing, and able to bail on their employers. The comparable figures were 27 percent for younger boomers (born 1956 to 1964) and 21 percent for older boomers (born 1946 to 1955).
3. They are not as needy. Upwards of two-thirds of Gen Y and Gen X employees want more help from employers in providing benefits that better meet their needs. Among older baby boomers, only 31 percent felt that way.
4. They don’t want their boss’s job. Older employees have, by and large, recognized where they are in terms of professional advancement. They don’t waste a lot of time, either theirs or their employer’s, with career concerns.
5. Their skills shortage may be way overblown. Don’t assume that older employees don’t know their stuff. Maybe they are not texting during meetings because they are more polite. Odds are, they may actually know how to spell complete words, too, if that’s important to you.
6. They know what they want. Personal quests are great but they shouldn’t be done on work time. Older workers tend to leave their angst at the door when they get to work.
7. They show up on time every day. Any older employee with a solid resume has already developed the kind of attendance and reliability records employers want.
8. They have few personal or family distractions. Seniors love their children but are gladly done with afternoon school runs, soccer games, and any number of other parental duties.
9. Benefits are not as crucial. The MetLife research found that much more pressure for better benefits comes from younger workers. In part, that’s because they don’t believe Social Security and Medicare benefits will be around for their later years. Older workers, by contrast, have much greater confidence in being able to count of those government programs.
10. Wisdom still counts for something. Even a rock picks up something of value after 40 or 50 years. Imagine what older employees can bring to the job if they are encouraged to share it and even mentor younger colleagues.
there is still more reasons to hire the older worker!
Four BIG Reasons to Hire Older Workers
By Mary Lloyd, CEO Mining Silver
Back in the 1970′s, I went to work for a company that grasped the advantage to tapping the female talent in the population. They were aggressively recruiting qualified women into management and professional roles when their competitors in that male-dominated culture were still expecting them to stay in the kitchen.
My company was a good corporate citizen, but this was not about doing good. By being an “early adopter,” they attracted the creme de la creme. Having capable women in responsible positions made them far more competitive than their contemporaries who were still making do with half the talent–the male stuff.
We are to that same kind of place in 2009. Only this time around, the competitive advantage is in hiring older workers.
Why?
Because they bring a lot more to the dance. Here’s how:
YOU GET MUCH MORE THAN YOU PAY FOR. It’s like getting a Ferrari for the price of a Miata. Forget the foolish business about “overqualified.” Many older workers are ready to throttle back but not ready to stop working. They will step into a non-management job after years of running the whole show and be content with that.
A former neighbor, a retired Army colonel and high-end management consultant, is happy as a clam driving a bus for the local transit authority. Do you think a 28-year-old who is “just trying to find a job” is going to handle to people part or the emergencies of being a bus driver as well? And if they are willing to manage for you, the value of their experience is exponential.
OLDER WORKERS HAVE BETTER WORK HABITS Inaccurate stereotypes lead hiring supervisors to assume that older workers can’t perform the way younger workers do. That they will miss work or not get as much done. Assuming the superstar whose resume you’re about to toss will do that, when you have no idea of her personal work history, is absurd. She may have missed two days in 20 years. Don’t rely on unfounded assumptions to rule out older workers.
A recent study of the work habits of 3000 rank and file employees in 39 different organizations found that those younger than 26 were substandard on all six categories: work standards, safety awareness, reliability/follow-through, attendance, punctuality, and avoidance of disciplinary actions. Workers age 26 to 45 were average on all six. Workers age 46 to 55 were above average on four of the six categories. And workers over 56 were twice as far above average on four of the six and above average on a fifth. If your hiring needs lean heavily on work habits, you should be looking for people with gray hair. Unless you’re selling body piercing or long boards, you shouldn’t be ruling them out in any case.
YOU BROADEN YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC APPEAL. Unless you’re selling youth-exclusive products, having someone on staff who does NOT answer “Thank you” with “No problem” is a plus. If you want to appeal to the full range of customers, you need a full range of ages to serve them.
Two weeks ago, I was checking out at the grocery store I’ve used for five years. The checker, who was young, talked with the woman behind me in line–a co-worker–the whole time she worked on my order. Then part of the order never made it back into my basket–or to my car. I had to go back to the store a second time for it.
The young checkers again barely acknowledged me. Not “I’m so sorry this happened.” Just “Well..uh… do this and this and this and then stand in that line.” It was a very long line.
I solved the immediate problem after a bit of a wait. I solved the rest when I walked out the door. I will never go back there. Lots of older customers vote with their feet. Don’t let them walk out because you have the wrong people serving them.
THIS IS THE AGE GROUP WITH THE MONEY The biggest irony in all this is that the over 50 crowd is the population that actually has money to spend. They own upwards of 70 percent of the financial assets. Their per capita discretionary spending is two and a half times the average of younger households. They hold almost half of all the credit cards in the United States.
You need people who think like them on your team so you can capture that business. THIS IS A GROWTH MARKET. Leave your competitors to duke it out over the twenty-somethings whose credit has just dried up. To curry this market, you need to have a connection to it. Your marketing, strategic planning, and customer service functions need people who can relate because they are over 50 as well.
There are other reasons to employ older workers. Those are more in the realm of ethics and law. We don’t need to go there. The competitive advantages of hiring highly qualified older workers are more than enough to justify doing it.
WE ARE A VALUABLE RESOURCE, AND WE DO NOT WANT TO BE A WAL MART GREETER!!!!!!!
I really wish our politicians would read this and enact some hiring incentives for older workers. We may not have the highest unemployment in the US, but when we are unemployed we stay unemployed the longest!
I personally am only two months away from being unemployed an entire year, and guess what that also makes it harder for me to find a job, just another strike against me! I have applied for over 500 jobs, I have had 6 face to face interviews, 4 phone interviews, the majority of my applications do not even get a response!
I am also including some responses from other people over 50 who are struggling to find a job.
“They hire younger applicants because they can be paid less, bosses like ‘stupid people’ who will follow blindly and ‘youth rules’ in certain sectors.
We have some scary people out here who have jobs while I have been unemployed 6 months. However, they are mainly in retail and restaurants (no offense just stating the 2 easiest places to get a job).
I swear half the people at my local store are ‘somewhat touched’ if you get my meaning.
Yes, it’s disheartening to see ‘weirdos’ making $$ while you are idle but maybe you can use your 35 years to be a consultant or mentor others.”
“Don’t feel sorry for me.
After working steady for 35 years, I am unemployed. I have worked hard all my life. I have put in over 500 applications, only 5 interviews. I have a very good professional resume, am in great shape for being 53, look younger than my age, clean cut, dress great for interviews. I seem to get passed up on jobs from people half my age that look like they just got out of jail. Dirty hair, smelly, tattoos, earings, etc. and they get the jobs, I don’t.
What gives?
From AARP
Older Workers: The ‘New Unemployables’
Age bias taking a big toll on job seekers over 55
Workers 55 and over have been especially hard hit in the economic downturn. Older workers not only are enduring record-high levels of unemployment, but also stay jobless longer than others, according to the Labor Department.
Now a new report has dubbed them the “New Unemployables” (PDF).
To document the trend, researchers followed jobless workers starting in August 2009, surveying and interviewing them at intervals.
The report by the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College and the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University concluded that “those 55+ may be suffering from age discrimination and employer biases.” Those in their late 40s and early 50s also cited age as the reason for their continued unemployment.
Now the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is weighing age discrimination as a factor in the impact of the down economy on older workers. The commission heard Wednesday from labor and legal experts, AARP, the Society for Human Resource Management, and one ordinary citizen, Jessie James Williams, 64, who stole the show with his personal story of racial and age discrimination.
He “got too old”
Jacqueline A. Berrien, EEOC chair, asked Williams about the racial discrimination he faced as a young man in Arkansas compared with the age discrimination in Las Vegas, when he lost his job after 31 years and was told he “got too old.”
Williams said he had gotten used to racial injustice. The age discrimination bothered him more.
Unemployment among workers 55 and over is at its highest level since the Labor Department began collecting data in 1948, William E. Spriggs, assistant secretary for policy at the Labor Department, told the EEOC.
The unemployment rate for older workers was 7.3 percent in August, he noted, up from just 3 percent in prerecession November 2007.
While 7.3 percent is lower than the overall jobless rate of 9.6 percent, older people spend longer searching for work. Workers 55 and older were unemployed on average 44.6 weeks, far more than any other age group, Spriggs said.
The outlook last month was particularly disheartening for older men. The unemployment rate for those age 55 and up grew from 7.9 percent in September to 8.3 percent in October.
Why younger and older workers lose jobs
The Labor Department tracks displaced workers who have worked at least three years for the same employer and lose their jobs. Younger workers most often become jobless when the company closes or jobs move; older workers lose their jobs because their positions or shifts are eliminated.
While the Labor Department doesn’t have data on why this difference exists, the combination of factors “raises the specter that it’s possible there’s discrimination,” Spriggs said.
Mary Anne Sedey, a lawyer who specializes in employment cases in St. Louis, urged the EEOC to investigate hiring practices. She said 10 or 15 years ago her jobless clients in their 50s and 60s typically found new jobs after a serious job search. The new job might have been at a lower level, but the workers found jobs.
“That’s simply not true anymore,” she said. Even people with strong credentials spend a year or more applying for hundreds of jobs and never get a single interview. Few people know enough about employers’ internal hiring processes to charge hiring discrimination, she said.
Under the 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act, persons over 40 are protected from discrimination in hiring, firing, layoffs, promotions and pay. The ADEA covers employers with 20 or more employees, including state and local governments.
Age bias cases at all-time high
The number of EEOC age discrimination charges related to dismissal hit an all-time high in 2008 but dropped slightly in 2009. Few age-related discrimination charges in hiring are filed at the EEOC or in court, Sedey said. It’s generally easier to prove age-related discrimination in dismissal-related cases than in hiring-related cases.
Deborah Russell, director of workforce issues for AARP, said, “Our members tell us that age discrimination is definitely a factor in their difficulties finding a new job.” To try to help, AARP sponsored 40 career fairs in 19 states with the highest unemployment rates for older workers, she said.
Finding new jobs is especially important for older workers, she said. “In addition to job loss, the stock market crash and the bursting of the housing bubble inflicted a double whammy on older workers’ retirement savings and housing wealth.
“The bottom line is that … many older workers will have no choice but to work longer, since they won’t have the financial ability to retire.”
You cannot say we are too old because we plan on retiring soon, most of us cannot afford to retire is this economy, unless you are rich, if we were rich we would not be looking for a job!
Please, please, please, wake up America, there are thousands of us out there looking for a good job, and we do have more to offer than the average worker!!!!
Are you listening Business owners, CEO’s, HR managers, politicians, and all government officials?
Age discrimination it out there and something needs to be done now to reverse this atrocity!
One last article before I close:
Hire Older Workers
By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com GuideFebruary 16, 2012
With older workers facing a tiough time in the current job market, I expanded my blog post about maintaining workplace relevance at any age into a full article with additional thoughts and suggestions about staying relevant in the workplace.
A popular topic at any time, in this job market, holding on to the job you have is paramount. This topic hits a nerve, I think, because, after a certain age, older workers are often more expensive and workplace myths about their workplace habits and idiosyncrasies abound – deserved or not.
In HR, avoiding any hint of age discrimination is so important that the law allows employers to favor older workers based on age even when doing so adversely affects an employee who is 40 or younger. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the decisions of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), which was created by the Act, have defined the landscape for what constitutes discrimination at work.
The EEOC’s responsibility is to “promote equal opportunity in employment through administrative and judicial enforcement of the federal civil rights laws and through education and technical assistance.”
So, legalities supposedly protect older workers from age discrimination, but anyone who is job searching in this economic climate, knows that age is a liability in many instances. I am receiving an email a day from older workers who are job searching and know that they are not receiving job offers based on their age, experience, and former pay range.
In fact, some employers are telling them that they are not hiring them because the minute the economy picks back up, the older worker will move on to a better job that pays what they made before unemployment. (Most ask me if it is illegal for employers to make these decisions about older workers based on age.)
Hiring and Keeping Older Workers
I say, shame on employers. You have the opportunity to hire an older, more experienced worker who will bring knowledge and skills to your company. Why not give the older worker the opportunity to contribute for as long as you employ them?
For one thing, the economy is unlikely to improve anytime soon. For another, take advantage of the fact that these skilled individuals have much to offer your firm – for as long as they stay. Indeed, older workers often have a record of longevity and loyalty at companies that hire them. Consider whether your company provides a workplace culture and environment in which an experienced worker is happy and contributing. That employee might not be so excited to jump from a good ship where they are valued, for a few thousand dollars a year.
To round up all of the directions in today’s post, older workers must stay relevant. Older workers must make holding on to their current employment a priority. Employers need to consider hiring older workers and valuing their skills and experience. Employers need to provide a work environment that attracts older workers to stay – even when the economy begins to recover.
I appreciate any and all comments!
Always Remember Rusty loves you!
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Rusty Carroll's life, and observations. 
