There's nothing old about age discrimination

The national health care reform package will have a big impact on the economy, yet many Americans are still out of work, and not just newcomers to the job market. 

There are some two million adults in the US who are 55 years or older and unemployed. They’ll spend an average of three years looking for work. That’s longer than any other age group. 

Older adults deal with a lot of negative assumptions when they’re looking for a job; That they’ll expect a bigger salary because of their career experience, that they’ll take too many sick days, or that they’re planning to retire soon. In a tight job market, they’re having an even harder time competing for limited opportunities. KALW’s Rina Palta reports. 

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RINA PALTA: The Assets Program in Oakland was founded in 1969 to help older adults find work while updating their job skills and performing community service. It’s got room to help about 200 people.  In normal economic times, the waiting list has about 50 names on it. Today, it’s got nearly 400. 

I sat down with four people who got slots in the program. All of them are well-educated professionals, and all of them have had trouble returning to the job force after being pulled out. 

PAULETTE HAGUE: Well, where do I begin? My name is Paulette Hague. My sixtieth birthday was the hardest birthday of my life. 

GWENDOLYN LINDSEY: My name is Gwendolyn Lindsey. And I became disabled in December of 2006. And after I healed, and got better, I started a job search. 

ELLEN: I’m Ellen and in my past life, I was in the graphic communications field. I was laid off after nine years from a job. One day my boss and I were talking, and he was saying something along the lines of, ‘well, we do need somebody to pull together our whole digital publishing unit, but it’ll be a little late for you to go back to school.’ 

FAHEEM SALAAM: My name is Faheem Salaam. I’m an employment specialist. I’m a mature worker. But that’s the good part of this story. If I can take you back, recently, I developed nearly thirty years working in the banking industry. No fault of my own, my department, that division of the bank was purchased by another bank. They wanted their own people. I was told that I no longer worked at the bank. Every single attempt I made to go to work, even accepting entry-level positions, they did not want me. They did not want me because of something that did not become apparent to me until I began to spiral down in, in depression. I would sit home all day, in my pajamas, sitting in bed with a bowl of cereal, looking at “Judge Judy.” That became my lifestyle. 

HAGUE: I was a headhunter, and so I thought I knew how to find a job. This was going to be a piece of cake. I was going to come back to the Bay Area, I was going to get a job, and I was going to go on.  And that was when reality slapped me on my face. How things had changed! Just how to find a job, is a job.  And I thought I knew.

SALAAM: I knew I had to go to work. I identified work with my manhood. Because I could not find work, I hated myself. 

HAGUE: My mother worked at a hospital. And she was there, she retired in the hospital. My father the same way. There used to be a time when that was the thing to do. You stayed somewhere thirty years and they gave you a gold watch, you had a big retirement party. It is just so different. 

LINDSEY: In this climate, job searching is very rigorous. And I’m finding at my age, that to undertake a job search like I would have if I were 25, it’s a different animal, you know. Yes, my energy level! And I’m very aware of that. And very aware emotionally and psychologically how it affects me to be rejected. I’ve gone on an interview at the 99-Cent Store, and the guy said something to me like, ‘what makes you think you know customer service just because you have a background in mental health?’ And I went home and I sat on the ottoman in my living room and I just cried. 

HAGUE: You can’t get an interview now. Because your resume goes into this abyss, never to be heard from again. Ever. Not even to say, ‘no we don’t want you.’ 

SALAAM: I got interviews. But almost every single interview, they seen this gray hair, this gray beard, and I can see in their eyes that they’ve seen me just as a person who is too old.

HAGUE: And do you hide it? I don’t know how one can do that. I know that writing a resume and not putting twenty years of experience -- you know, you really have to think about how to capsulize that information without appearing to be sixty.

ELLEN: Showing how hip you are, you have to be hip. You know, mention your Facebook account, things like that. 

LINDSEY: And the other thing, what’s happening with me now, I have menopausal hot flashes. Seriously, and here, everybody understands what’s going on.

WOMAN: But on a job interview…

LINDSEY: People are 25, I think they take it more as anxiety, me having anxiety. And you’ll see, they’ll go away, and come back. And I’m fine. [Laughing]

In those regions that are actually gaining jobs, a lot of the jobs are in temporary contract positions, with little stability. Faheem Salaam is trying to adjust to this new marketplace, and he’s learned some lessons. 

SALAAM: Have the ability to adjust to as many situations and circumstances as possible. Learn all that you can, you know? Skills diversification. That’s where it’s at. If you leave one job, don’t fret. Develop those skills. Develop your stick-to-itiveness. And continue to look for work and you will find it. 

Salaam now works as an employment specialist for the Assets program. Paulette Hague and Ellen  work on grant-funded projects for the City of Oakland.  And like Gwendolyn Lindsey, they’re still looking regular work. 

In Oakland, I’m Rina Palta, for Crosscurrents. 

This show originally aired May 11, 2010.