An analysis by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) released in March found that the number of people 50-plus unemployed for six months or longer catapulted from 325,000 to 1.8 million between 2007 and 2011. It’s the older folk, we assume, who got the pink slips and are having the most difficult time finding work. Not quite true.
The Bureau of Labor statistics revealed some shocking statistics regarding the first quarter, 2012. Thirty-three percent (33%) of new hires were ages 25-54. That means that sixty-seven percent (67%) of new hires were ages 55-plus. Older folk are convincing employers that they can still be trusted to take on new jobs and perform at top level. According to a report in May AARP Bulletin, Who got the jobs, 788,000 workers older than age 55 got new jobs, and 385,000 younger workers got new jobs.
When you drill down into the statistics. . . .
It’s good news that older adults were leading the way in employment growth in the first quarter. But it’s not clear whether the new hires had been out of work for shorter or longer stretches. Furthermore, the types of jobs they ended up with are not known. I hope it’s not as a greeter at WalMart. Ummmm. . . I just remembered. Most WalMart stores have quit using greeters.
But some disconcerting issues. . . .
There’s a significant possibility that older workers were taking jobs beneath their skill level and pay grade. Just for the opportunity to work.
Even more disconcerting, these statistics mean that younger people who might have filled those positions are still without work.