A: The Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act and many state laws guarantee most workers age 40 and older equal opportunity to be hired, trained, and promoted. Nevertheless, older workers tend to be unemployed longer than their younger counterparts. While age discrimination may be at play despite the law, other factors may be evident, too.
Older workers are sometimes clumsy about marketing themselves and searching for employment. Many, too, lack the skills that employers need.
Recent studies by AARP and other organizations have found that employers tend to value several attributes that they associate with older workers. These include loyalty, punctuality, and a commitment to "do a fair day's work for a fair day's pay." Employers perceive that many youngsters lack these attributes, so it's a real plus for older workers to have them. Nevertheless, those same employers tend to downgrade older workers on flexibility and technological savvy, and they consider these latter attributes essential. Job hours, location, processes, and equipment may change frequently. Workers must keep pace.
Many experts suggest that older people looking for work should go out of their way to show their eagerness and ability to learn. Take training programs, especially computer training if you lack a basic understanding of word processing, electronic spread-sheeting, and cyber-surfing. (In today's workplace, everything from cash registers to gas pumps, telephone systems to photocopy machines incorporates computer technology and requires an understanding of computer jargon.) On your resume, note prominently your newfound skills. Ask experts to critique your resume and carefully consider their advice. Join a job club, ideally one specific to older jobseekers. Investigate other programs designed specifically to help older workers work. Practice interviewing. Approach the job search itself as if it were a full-time job.
If you believe that you are the victim of age discrimination, contact the U.S. Equal Employment Commission or its appropriate state or local counterpart in a timely fashion so as to protect your rights. Or contact a labor attorney expert in litigating age discrimination cases.