What employers actually mean, but can't say because of a possible age bias lawsuit, is "Your qualifications are great, but you're too old. We want someone younger for this job." In short, you're over the hill.
Sound familiar? Let's look at the obstacles and competition you're up against. Attitudes toward older workers haven't changed much over the past century. In fact, many experts insist they've gotten worse-thanks to a fiercely competitive economy beset by rampant downsizing.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
The good news is you're not alone. In fact, your ranks are increasing dramatically. After rising less than 3 percent between 1979 and 1992, the number of U.S. workers 55 and older will increase 38 percent by 2005-more than either African-Americans or women, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. By the year 2025, when baby boomers reach old age, more than 20 percent of the population will be over 65.
Yet in the shadow of a swelling army of older workers, age discrimination is alive and thriving. It doesn't matter that it's illegal, according to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) laws. The many national studies that have driven this point home are little consolation to a qualified person pushing 50 who loses a job to someone less qualified and 20 years his or her junior.
A recent national study conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) found that in cases where two fictional people, ages 57 and 32, mailed practically identical resumes to 775 large companies, the companies discriminated 26.5 percent of the time against the older worker. Exec-U-Net, an executive networking service in Norwalk, CT, surveyed its 2000 members and found that age discrimination begins as early as 40. After 50, executives secured only 45 percent as many interviews as the 35-39 set. Those 45-49 received only 47 percent as many interviews as those 35-39.
It's no wonder age-bias suits have surged 14 percent in the last 2 years. The prejudice against older workers is so ingrained it defies logic. Employers have yet to understand that no correlation exists between age and ability. But it goes far deeper than that.
AT WAR WITH YUPPIES
If you're looking for justice, forget it. It doesn't exist. Wake up and smell the coffee. Here's a true story to match the cliché.
Ever wonder why practically all the specialty "coffee bars" have twentyish types mixing those foaming cappuccinos and lattes for a growing legion of consumers addicted to gourmet coffee? When is the last time you saw a fiftyish or, perish the thought, sixtyish per son working there?
A 53-year-old out-of-work actor friend rejected for a manager's job at two of New York's trendiest coffee chains discovered why. It's not that he wasn't qualified. He's managed posh New York eateries and logged in a decade and a half as a waiter. He looks pretty good too, even though his hair is graying and a mite thin at the top. Yet he didn't look good enough to cut the hip yuppie image these coffee purveyors try to project.
After hearing his story, I checked out Starbucks, Seattle Coffee Roasters, and a couple of other cool New York coffee hangouts. Not a fiftyish-looking person in the place. Starbucks, for one, is expanding rapidly, with new locations all over the country. A call to its regional employment office in Washington, DC, revealed its hiring parameters. The taped message said, "Apply in person to the store nearest you" for sales jobs paying $6.30 an hour. For management slots, mail your resume to the company and it will get back to you if interested.
Granted, the pay is nothing to get excited about, yet plenty of 50-year-olds would take these jobs while waiting for something more substantial to materialize. It beats slinging burgers in McDonald's. Similarly, show your face for a sales job and you're doomed. You'll be lucky if you capture an interview after sending in your resume. They'll see a string of impressive positions and stamp you "overqualified" and too old for the trendy look they're marketing. The answer is, older workers are bad for their image. Try to prove that in court.
One more true story. A 55-year-old woman in the midst of a career change tried to secure a slot in the training program of one of Los Angeles' top talent agencies. Wanna-be agents practically kill to secure a job with this firm, whose clients include a list of super star actors, writers, filmmakers, and producers. Outgoing, warm, attractive, and smart, the woman had the right ingredients for the job. Yet it didn't take an Einstein to figure out she was over 45. You guessed it. She was rejected; given the obligatory lame excuse she wasn't qualified. Meanwhile, this high-profile firm boasts an egalitarian hiring philosophy, a reputation of hiring lawyers and accountants, even computer programmers, who have what it deems "outgoing and dynamic personality traits" for the high-profile job.
You get the picture. Thousands of other examples can be cited. Jack Levin, a sociology professor at Northeastern University in Boston, says the interests of elders and youths have been pitted against each other. Some fanatical ultraconservative interest groups argue that the status of the elderly has greatly improved at the expense of the well-being of the young. How's that for nuts?
