“Older workers face longer job search” plus 1 more |
| Older workers face longer job search Posted: 03 Jun 2010 11:07 AM PDT Message from Five Filters: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. After more than three decades in the restaurant and hotel industry, Ron Pierson didn't think he'd have trouble getting a job when he found himself without work in February 2008. But in the more than two years since he lost his job, Pierson, 55, has applied for hundreds of positions, ranging from management all the way down to busboy openings he hopes will give him a foot in the door. He's had a few interviews but no job offers. While he believes the economy has played the largest role in his inability to land a job, he also suspects that his years of experience may be hurting his prospects. "I feel that the employers were willing to hire someone basically half my age," he said. The recession has left millions of Americans without work, and skittishness about hiring again has made it extremely difficult for laid-off workers to find new jobs. Nearly 3.5 million Americans, or 23 percent of the total unemployed, had been jobless for a year or more as of December 2009, according to a Pew Economic Policy Group report. A report due Friday is expected to show a surge of hiring in May, boosted by temporary Census jobs. But the overall unemployment rate is unlikely to move much from the current 9.9 percent. For workers 55 and older, the rate was 7 percent as of April — more than double the rate in December 2007, when the recession began. The Pew report found that 29 percent of unemployed people 55 or older had been out of work for a year or more, compared with 18 percent of unemployed people between the ages of 20 and 24. The average duration of unemployment for jobseekers ages 55 and over was 42.1 weeks in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is more than six weeks longer than the national average. And the job hunt has been particularly difficult for workers 55 and older in the current recession. Younger workers statistically are more likely to lose their jobs, but once unemployed, older workers are much more likely to stay unemployed longer. Higher salaries, other factors Older workers may be more experienced but less knowledgeable in the latest trends or technology skills. Employers also may be worried about spending time and money investing in workers who might leave for a better position or simply retire sooner than younger workers. A worker who is 55 might command a higher salary than someone a decade or two younger but not have much more experience in pertinent areas. The current economy, in which hundreds of candidates apply for any job opening, also is giving employers the luxury of being extremely picky. "It's a buyer's market," said Sylvia Allegretto, a labor economist with the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California, Berkeley. "It's not a good strong, labor market for workers. They don't have the upper hand." Such problems aren't new but have been made worse by the recession. Historically, research has shown that those who have the most trouble finding new work are older, less educated and male, said Harry Holzer, a professor in the Public Policy Institute at Georgetown University. "The recession is kind of an overlay that makes everything harder for everyone," Holzer said. For many older workers, the shock of being jobless after a lifetime of working can be hard to comprehend. 'I'll flip burgers at McDonald's' He figured he could easily parlay that experience into a similar job when he moved to the Chicago area in 2008 after getting married to his longtime girlfriend, who owned a home and had a job in the area. Instead, he arrived just as the recession was beginning to take a serious toll on the hospitality industry. In addition to restaurant and hotel jobs, Pierson has applied for positions such as driving a forklift and stocking shelves overnight at a big-box retailer. "I'll flip burgers at McDonald's if they would just hire me," he said. Pierson said he often has the feeling that employers think he is overqualified, or will bolt as soon a better job comes along, because of his age and experience. Although he doesn't think it's fair, having been a hiring manager in the past he can understand. Still, he said it's frustrating after a lifetime of work to find himself sitting at home with nothing but four dogs, a cat and daytime television for company. "I would be willing to take a step backwards, if necessary, to show them my abilities," he said. Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Simply Hired Uses Facebook Data to Improve Job Search Process Posted: 03 Jun 2010 10:47 AM PDT Message from Five Filters: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Job search engine Simply Hired has integrated with Facebook to help job seekers discover new, more relevant positions via their social network. Users who log in to Simply Hired with their Facebook accounts can now search for jobs at their friends' companies and send private messages to inquire about openings on the site. SimplyHired also pulls profile data about current and previous work titles, location and interests (including companies users "Like") to make more personalized job recommendations. These features are currently available to residents in the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada and India. "Simply Hired is showing what's possible when you make it easy to find jobs through friends," said Ethan Beard, director of the Facebook Developer Network, in a blog post. "Personal relationships and professional networking have always been the best ways to find a new job. By integrating with Facebook, Simply Hired is bringing this to life online and helping users tap into their social connections to personalize the job search process," he explained. The integration helps Simply Hired move a step closer to the services provided by LinkedIn, which helps users organize and leverage their professional networks to make connections and obtain referrals while job hunting, among other things. In its current state, Facebook is not optimally designed for professional networking; the site does not offer a job board nor does its search engine help users easily identify individuals based on workplace. However, Facebook has a great deal of valuable data about users' connections, data that SimplyHired can effectively leverage to help users find relevant jobs and obtain referrals for those jobs. What do you think of the integration? Can Simply Hired use Facebook data to effectively replicate some of the functionality of LinkedIn? What's your preferred method or site for finding jobs? Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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