How Older Workers Can Combat Ageism While Job Hunting
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Here's your Money Briefing for Thursday, October 14th. I'm J.R.
How prevalent are older workers in today’s labor force and why does it matter?
Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. We're continuing our week-long series on the current job market and how to get ahead in it. Today, ageism in the workplace. How older workers can combat age discrimination during a job search.
You want to emphasize that you're bringing something to the employer that a younger person isn't.
That's Richard Johnson, senior fellow at the Urban Institute. He spoke with our reporter Ray Smith at this month's WSJ Job Summit about the challenges facing older workers. We'll hear from both of them after the break.
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Yesterday on the show, we spotlighted some of the challenges facing new college graduates looking to enter the workforce. Today, we're skipping further down the career path to tackle ageism and the hurdles it poses to workers with decades of experience as they look to change jobs or maybe reenter the workforce.
What common age-related assumptions do employers make about older candidates?
At our recent WSJ Job Summit, reporter Ray Smith spoke with the Urban Institute's Richard Johnson about that topic. Ray, thanks for being with us.
Thank you for having me.
So, Ray, when we talk about older and more experienced people in the workplace, what kinds of numbers are we talking about? And how big is this group?
So today, about 33% of the workforce is age 50 or older. And that's a big increase over 20 years ago. Also, about a quarter of the workforce is age 55 and older. And they've actually been increasing. That's been an increasing share of the workforce. And they're not only increasing, but they're staying in the workforce much longer than in the past.
Yeah, this is an important topic. Let's get into it. You know, Ray, pretty much any job candidate will want to convey to a potential employer that they'll fit in with the company's office culture. And at the WSJ's Job Summit, the Urban Institute's Richard Johnson told you that older or more experienced workers may have to overcome certain preconceived notions that employers might have about them, you know, to get that point across. He had a lot of advice about this. So let's listen to what he said.
you want to emphasize that your age is something that you're bringing something to the employer that a younger person isn't and and so so then you think about well what what is it that you're bringing um and it's going to vary by person it's going to vary by occupation by industry uh but for example you might bring a wealth of contacts that you've you've been in this field a long time if you're staying in the same field um and so you know a lot of people and you've you've seen how things are done If your job is in management, that you've had management challenges, you face these challenges, you've overcome them, you have succeeded, you've triumphed. And to sort of like have those anecdotes, because that's something that a younger worker doesn't have, right?
That younger worker, maybe that younger worker knows a lot about, you know, the latest technical aspects of the job, but they don't have those softer skills, for example.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:39
2
How prevalent are older workers in today’s labor force and why does it matter?
0:39–2:02
3
What common age-related assumptions do employers make about older candidates?
2:02–4:30
4
How can older job seekers highlight unique strengths that younger candidates lack?
4:30–12:53
5
What concrete resume strategies reduce focus on age while showing value?
12:53–13:25
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from WSJ Your Money Briefing
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