Lack of Jobs for Older Americans

[viviennekestrel]

The company I work for is growing, so we started looking for a Part Time Accounting Clerk. Pay is $15/hr for about 12 hours per week. No benefits, no nothing. Not the greatest job but we thought it's good for a Mom who needs a little extra.

We got something like 78 applicants in 2 days. Most of them were over 50 (based on their experience) and almost all were CPA's and MBA's. When I emailed them to be sure they know the limits of the job, they wrote back heartbreaking stories begging me to hire them, because they were desperate for anything.

It was overwhelming. I wished I could hire ALL of them... so when the #occupy movement started I thought this was a way that I could be heard. I have a job, and I am grateful for it... but it hasn't been that long since I was unemployed and desperate for work. I hope that by being at #occupydenver, by being involved in social media and by talking about it that we can DO something to help this country get on track again.

[shapopo]

That's a sad but true story for a lot of people. I can relate with how these people feel. Although my husband is not technically an "older" american, he is definitely not fresh to the workforce. He has over 15 years experience in his field. Unfortunately, he was laid off in February 2008. He ran out of unemployment, including extensions, last year. He tried for over 6 months in Wisconsin to find work, but was unsuccessful. We moved to Colorado in hopes of him finding work, because at that time, things were not as bad here. He has applied to over 1,000 jobs, but not as many callbacks as he'd like. We checked with several prospective employers as to why they didn't call him back and were told that he had "too much experience". They were afraid that if they hired him, he would leave if he found something better. He doesn't want to lie about his experience, but he's not sure what else to do. He was willing to take whatever he needed to provide for the family. To compound our already tight budget (our only income is my social security disability), last year, his daughter moved in with us. He's saddened that I take care of his daughter financially. He's a proud and somewhat old fashioned man and feels like he should be providing for the family. Not that he minds my income, but rather he feels he should be contributing financially somehow.

My husband has gone to school to try and improve his skills. He's spent hours upon hours studying the new subjects, improving his interviewing skills, improving his resume, etc. He's trying to learn new things in different fields in order to find some work, any work, even if it's not something he's done before. But because he doesn't have any professional experience in those areas, he rarely gets a callback for an interview.

I think if I hear one more person say he'd be working if he tried harder to find a job or that they can't understand why he doesn't take whatever, even if he doesn't like it, my head will explode. I feel like people who are more educated or more experienced or basically those who already have jobs just don't understand the pain and frustration of those who can't find one. For example, a family member, who's heart is in the right place but is a bit removed from the financial woes of most of us, tells me that he just can't believe that after 3 years of being unemployed my husband still isn't working a regular full time job. He says that it just doesn't make sense to him why my husband hasn't found a job yet, any job. He says my husband should take anything just to bring income in. This same person is very well educated and has a great job with great income. I think he just doesn't understand that for non-professional jobs, as I'll call them, i.e. factory shift work, the competition is greater than most. And now even the professional level people who found themselves unemployed for a significant amount of time are applying for these same jobs. I remember one potential employer told me that over 500 people had applied for one job. It was full time, but was entry level with minimal benefits.

When we first heard of the #occupy movement and #occupydenver, I had high hopes. I thought that finally people will see exactly what is going on here. I thought that those who think like my family member would be enlightened as to the harsh reality of today's job market. Most of the unemployed people are not lazy or stupid or just not trying. They are people who worked hard for many years and then the economy spiraled out of control. Unemployment won't cover most people's bills. And once that runs out, what is left for these people?

Thank you for bringing this issue to light and I wish you all the best of luck.