Starting to think "Ageism" might be real.

[gsxrken]

I was let go with about 60 people from my company last year. Market headwinds and debt refinancing at the recent interest rates pushed them cash negative. I was shocked I made "the list", but I get it... personal loyalty can only go so far. Generous severance and paid COBRA was included.
I was naively not too worried about landing a comparable job. I've been recruited into nearly every role I've had in the past. Well, that hasn't happened, and I'm months into hundreds of applications, cover letters, and network outreaches and nada. There have been job descriptions that are nearly 1-to-1 with my experience that I don't even get a response to, let alone an interview for... even in some cases for roles I had earlier in my career. I'm a 57 y/o white male (which is made obvious on LinkedIn for better or worse), and don't check too many Diversity/Equity/Inclusion boxes. I'm lucky to be consulting for a colleague (I'm in the healthcare payer/PBM space) in what I hope is a bridge to my next equivalent role, but I've started to wonder if it's my demographics dampening my responses. I don't have many other explanations.

Anyone else dealt with this?

[speeder]

Absolutely experienced it and sorry to hear that you're going through it. I have been self-employed forever so not really looking for a job but the few times I did stick my toes into the market, I had similar experience as you wrt no callbacks or interest in me. And that was 10+ years ago, when I was maybe 50! It doesn't help that my hair went grey in my 20s and I definitely look like a geezer.

I don't think that ethnicity has anything to do with it, just age. I have a weekend gig driving for Uber that I really enjoy, beats the hell out of being a Walmart greeter!

[speeder]

I should add that when I was young, I got virtually every job that I ever applied for, regardless of whether I was qualified. It's all about your appearance, sad to say.

[Tobra]

My sister and her husband were both laid off by HP after about 19 years.

I think maybe they worry they will have to pay commensurate with experience. If you were a disabled chick, you would be hired already.

[A930Rocket]

I don’t have any grandiose advice, but hang in there.

I’m 65 with gray hair and the company I work for is on the rocks. At this age, my salary/knowledge/experience would make it difficult to get a similar job in the homebuilding industry. I went through this during the great recession and it sucked. Sorry to be a Debbie downer.

[Yorkie]

I am in a similar situation - 58 years old. Senior exec with the same company for 27 years. Laid off last year when a new PE firm took over the company. I get why companies don’t want to hire me - they know I’ll be retired in a few years so why invest their time in me? They probably think I lack the ambition and drive of my youth. After nearly 12 months of looking I am seriously thinking about pivoting and doing my own thing. I’m fortunate that the house is paid for and the kids are just about through college. I’d like to work with my hands again (I was an apprentice trained machinist in my youth) so maybe my working life will come full circle. The famous business thinker Peter Drucker always said there was three phases to our working life: the eduction part. The mastery part then the final part where we are suddenly upended by health, technological obsolescence or basic prejudice against our age. Few prepare for it. I had prepared for it financially but not mentally. It’s tough. You have my empathy.

[greglepore]

Went thru similar after an injury in my 50's. Because I wasn't bringing a book of clients with, most folks I talked to were afraid I was either there to poach their clients or that I was too experienced to take direction from someone 10 years junior. Part of the reason I semi retired then totally retired early.

[flatbutt]

Absolutely my experience was the same. 55 years old with time in grade and you're vulnerable.

I had been passed over for promotion even though I'd been doing the job for 5 years. Then I got shuffled sideways. When I posted a grievance I had one HR rep say, and I swear this is true " now you know how women have been treated...". Of course we were alone when that happened.

I too received generous buyout payments and at 62 I was close enough to my numbers to make retirement work.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I felt like it happened to me. I did a pretty extensive job search about 8 years ago in my early 50's. It didn't help that I had relocated to a much smaller city. The typical response regarding age was that they were looking for someone who could be in the job for a "significant period of time". Before too much time went by, a former co-worker who was now the CEO at a large company gave me a job that was a great fit for about 4 years. I then transitioned into a part time position that will hopefully be my last gig before fully retiring. Best of luck.

[DWBOX2000]

It’s real as is sexism. This could get PARFy real quick. Sorry it’s happening to you. I live it at work. I’ll just ride out my time at 54. It sucks but We adjust. I could write a book on the unfairness of corporate life.

[rwest]

The notion that a company would be worried that they will invest time in you just to have you retire in a few years seems odd to me as it seems that the younger generation “hops” from job to job very frequently. I sat on a few interview panels in the last couple of years and reading many of the resumes showed that a lot of the younger applicants had several jobs that they held for just around a year before taking another job elsewhere.

The higher pay situation seems very real though.

[cockerpunk]

starting?

agism in careers is very real. so is sexism and racism. mostly under the term "culture fit"

[Rusty Heap]

Happened to me back in 2008 when the economy tanked after 25 years with the same company

Pounded the employment pavement hard for a year or two.

Things happen for a reason. Fate?

My Mom came down with a nasty brain tumour and I became her prime care giver for 2-3 years.

I was in my early 50's, took care of Mom till she passed, and basically never went back to work and fully retired...........

[URY914]

If you were a 35 y.o. hiring manager would you hire a 60 y.o. guy that reminds you of your grumpy father that is set in his ways or a 28 y.o. that you can teach and mold to do the job you need for the next 15+ years.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by URY914

If you were a 35 y.o. hiring manager would you hire a 60 y.o. guy that reminds you of your grumpy father that is set in his ways or a 28 y.o. that you can teach and mold to do the job you need for the next 15+ years.

It's not just about hiring but also about laying off the older employees.

[Zeke]

Even self employed it happens. I can't get work as a handyman. Think about that. Now how do I know that? Well, all my career I was at least good enough for people to refer me. Over 50% of jobs I did was the direct result of a personal referral. If you work a lot then there are lots of referrals.

Que the pandemic and everything is shut down. Come back and the whole situation is upended. It's like starting over with no carry over. But now I'm 75 (in the pandemic). People really don't think an old man can work.

I was on my roof last month pressure washing and rolling out silicone, a process that once begins you don't stop until finished. I won't bore you with the work I do on my own for me. I use a push reel mower, leave it at that.

Like speeder says, white hair is a game stopper. What work I do now (repairs to objects instead of homes) I get paid half of what I used to make. There's no money in fixing things unless you're qualified to work at the Smithsonian. And that is such a narrow niche that it takes money (PR) to even get a sniff.

[gsxrken]

Appreciate the observations here and on PMs. One of the things that recruiters are telling me is that retained searches for senior level talent is way down b/c no one is leaving their position. Without the churn, and in a market where there has been a huge amount of consolidation, there's just not much turnover... and of course there's less positions near the top of the pyramid than at the base.

With all that said, I was in retrospect cavalier about my employability. When you're the go-to guy with political equity (trust) built up over years in delivering, you don't realize how little that translates when an unknown clerk at a new company is evaluating your profile.

I don't have many words of wisdom, either. I guess the "Look for a job while you have a job" is a good one, b/c even if you think you're in a good spot, if the company starts shedding jobs, they're looking at total compensation and you could be out. Said differently, if you're 50+ and layoffs are beginning to trickle through the organization, begin your job search immediately and jump when you have the opportunity. The optics of unemployment, however undeserved, are not a plus when you're job searching as compared to when you're working but "looking for a new challenge".

[rockfan4]

Originally Posted by rwest

The notion that a company would be worried that they will invest time in you just to have you retire in a few years seems odd to me as it seems that the younger generation “hops” from job to job very frequently. I sat on a few interview panels in the last couple of years and reading many of the resumes showed that a lot of the younger applicants had several jobs that they held for just around a year before taking another job elsewhere.

The higher pay situation seems very real though.

Came here to say the same thing. From ~2010 to 2020 we had a steady stream of young people come in, work for a couple of years, then take a job in a bigger market for better pay. It seems to have slowed down since the pandemic.

The company I work for recently merged with another. They've just restructured the IT department, and now there's 7 VPs under the CIO. Way top heavy. I'm waiting on the inevitable layoffs, but nothing yet. They have moved raises back from May to July.

[pwd72s]

Reading these posts makes me sad. Seems to me this country is missing out on a lot of productive and experienced talent.

[jyl]

Ageism is absolutely a thing.

Color your hair, remove age data from your CV etc, excise the long-ago jobs and education or remove date references.