EDITORIAL Hiring Older Workers

Oct. 9, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- A recent job fair in Winston-Salem for older workers put the spotlight on one of the heartbreaks of the slumped economy: laid-off people who've worked hard all their lives and now can't find employment. Yet many of these people offer experience, and many offer wisdom as well. More businesses should give them a chance.

It's a story we're hearing too much lately: An older worker, often a good one, loses his or her job, sometimes to make room for a young person who can be paid substantially less. The older worker must find a new job, because, especially in this economy, savings might be meager, and you can't make it on Social Security alone. Plus, with people living longer, some just want to keep on working, even if they can get by without the income.

But whatever the case, too many older workers can't find a job.

They go through humiliating rounds of job interviews.

Sometimes a worker lucks out and lands a good job. But too often, the worker settles for a low-paying job beneath his or her experience level. The new job might not even offer health-care insurance.

This sure isn't what the American Dream is supposed to be about.

But that dream isn't working for too many of us these days, and especially for workers age 55 and older. Obviously, we need plenty of job openings for young workers. But there should be plenty for older workers as well.

"What you get is experience -- people who have a wonderful work ethic," Joyce Troyer of the Northwest Piedmont Area Agency on Aging told the Journal's Kim Underwood. "Maybe they need to upgrade their job skills but they are willing to do that."

Yet too many would-be workers find it hard to get a chance to show off their experience. Lauren Taylor, who attended the recent job fair at Bridger Field House, said she has heard people say they were looking for people with experience with phone sales, only to see them hire someone younger who clearly had less experience. Taylor has 20 years of experience in that field.

It's neither right nor fair that people who've worked hard all their lives find themselves unemployed in middle age. This is one of many problems made worse by the bad economy. One of the challenges for the officials who will be elected in November will be to lead the way in improving that economy, including creating job opportunities for older workers.

And in the meantime, more businesses should hire these workers and capitalize on their wisdom and experience. Many of these would-be workers are unemployed when that's the last thing they want to be. That's one sad waste that we shouldn't tolerate.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0222-28627645