Older Workers and the Gray Ceiling

So often a belief will come about someone or something and it becomes the gospel fact, whether it is true or not. Changing that belief is difficult if not impossible, that seems to be the case about older workers.

Really it isn’t just the mindset about older workers; it is also the mindset about older people in general. The age of fifty for some odd reason become the line of demarcation where the body falls apart and the brain’s function starts downhill.

But where does this come from?

It is certainly true that over time the body wears down and eventually wears out. But that is over a great deal of time. By eating right and exercising on a regular basis, general good health can be maintained for many years past the age of fifty. So the argument that bad health is a part of being older is bogus. But this idea has been around forever probably perpetuated by a youth focused media.

Another unfortunate belief is that older people, particularly older workers, aren’t as sharp as the younger folks. They don’t learn things as quickly and their judgment is often questioned. Speaking of judgment, is there anyone on the Supreme court younger than 50? No, and there isn’t an automatic retirement age either. Really, the issue about learning new concepts quickly and anything involving the thought process doesn’t have anything to do with age.

And of course there is the matter of retirement, as in the older worker is about to retire so you don’t want to hire them. In this economy? No, if anything an older worker will be more stable in a job than someone who is just starting out.

Hopefully as the country gets older as a whole these and other erroneous notions will be forgotten.

Unfortunately age has become a barrier for some folks trying to find a job in this economy. This really isn’t unique because age discrimination like other forms of job discriminations has been around for quite a while. Why? Because folks who are older are perceived as missing more days due to illness than younger people and there are other reasons such as not being able to catch on to the latest technologies or they will decide to retire after you finally train them. Of course these are all bogus arguments that have no basis in truth. All this has created a grey ceiling which is affected more and more old workers.

What is really difficult to understand is that age discrimination is occurring at much younger ages than before such as the early forties. This is extraordinary because the population as a whole is getting older and so is the workforce. Right now it doesn’t seem possible that we will have a worker shortage due to the present economy but eventually it will come to that and then who will they give the jobs to?

• Older workers definitely have advantages over other age groups.
• Work experience of older workers can be beneficial to any company
• Loyalty is a terrific quality for an employee and older workers certainly have that.
• Dependability like loyalty is a great feature of a valuable employee
• After years on the job older workers have developed good communication skills.

Make sure to emphasize the qualities of being an older worker so the grey ceiling would be a barrier.