Thursday, November 14, 2024

‘I just wanted to work again’: Finding a new job in your 50s comes with extra hurdles

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TORONTO — Shannon Davidson was let go from her executive role at a marketing firm last year after a merger led to cuts. She knew she wasn’t done with her career yet, but finding her next workplace in her mid-50s was a daunting prospect.

“When the reality of considering my age came in, I felt like many people do when they’re let go at this age,” she said.

“I’m at the top of my game and just got benched.”

Looking for work can be a challenge for anyone, but switching jobs or finding a new one after 50 can be especially challenging as prospective employers may be reluctant to hire someone they may see as an expensive or overqualified candidate.

Often companies see the positives in keeping older workers employed. But when they set out to hire someone, younger candidates are often preferred, said Ellie Berger, an associate professor at Nipissing University who has studied ageism for two decades.

“The biggest struggle is when you’re on the outside, trying to get back in,” Berger said of seasoned workers.

Job search hurdles

Berger said it takes longer for older workers to find jobs and they spend more weeks unemployed than younger workers.

Her research included discussions with employers who were sometimes candid in their explanations.

“They would mention things like, if people leave the year they receive their degree off their resume or any dates left off resumes, they thought that would be a red flag,” she said. Another bias discovered in her research was an employer who said, “If someone’s looking creaky and shaky, I won’t hire them.”

Ageism often becomes a roadblock for workers as early as age 45, Berger said. It gets worse when gender, disability and race are added to the mix, she added.

She said many employers in her research said they wouldn’t consider anyone at or after the age of 55.

“They said, like, ‘At 55, they’d have to be pretty exceptional in all of these areas for me even to consider them,'” Berger said. “Then (for) 65, ‘No, I wouldn’t even consider it.'”

While ageism is a barrier, other aspects such as health concerns, need for flexibility in hours and economic factors can also be hurdles for job seekers in their 50s.

A 2015 Statistics Canada report found that non-voluntary retirement — older people who wanted to keep working, but weren’t able to find a job — constitutes about 25 per cent of all retirements in a year. The older laid-off workers are, the more likely they are to retire.

Dented retirement savings

Francine Gutwilik moved back home to Manitoba from the U.S. in 2009. A professional recruiter, Gutwilik was in her late 40s and had left New York at the height of the financial crisis.

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