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20th September 2010, 07:58 AM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39265116/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times
'The new unemployables': Workers over 50
Educated, experienced, but facing record unemployment for their age group Advertisement | ad info
. Stuart Isett for The New York Times
Patricia Reid, 57, lost her job at Boeing four years ago and has struggled to find a new position. By MOTOKO RICH
updated 9/20/2010 4:24:33 AM ET
Share Print Font: +-VASHON ISLAND, Wash. — Patricia Reid is not in her 70s, an age when many Americans continue to work. She is not even in her 60s. She is just 57.
But four years after losing her job she cannot, in her darkest moments, escape a nagging thought: she may never work again.
College educated, with a degree in business administration, she is experienced, having worked for two decades as an internal auditor and analyst at Boeing before losing that job.
More U.S. news NYT: 'The new unemployables': Workers over 50
A growing number of people in their 50s and 60s who desperately want or need to work to pay for retirement are starting to worry that they may be discarded from the work force forever.
Since the economic collapse, there are not enough jobs being created for the population as a whole, much less for those in the twilight of their careers.
Of the 14.9 million unemployed, more than 2.2 million are 55 or older. Nearly half of them have been unemployed six months or longer, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate in the group — 7.3 percent — is at a record, more than double what it was at the beginning of the latest recession.
After other recent downturns, older people who lost jobs fretted about how long it would take to return to the work force and worried that they might never recover their former incomes. But today, because it will take years to absorb the giant pool of unemployed at the economy’s recent pace, many of these older people may simply age out of the labor force before their luck changes.
For Ms. Reid, it has been four years of hunting — without a single job offer. She buzzes energetically as she describes the countless applications she has lobbed through the Internet, as well as the online courses she is taking to burnish her software skills.
'Could happen to anyone'
Still, when she is pressed, her can-do spirit falters.
Most popular NYT: 'The new unemployables': Workers over 50
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..“There are these fears in the background, and they are suppressed,†said Ms. Reid, who is now selling some of her jewelry and clothes online and is late on some credit card payments. “I have had nightmares about becoming a bag lady,†she said. “It could happen to anyone. So many people are so close to it, and they don’t even realize it.â€
Being unemployed at any age can be crushing. But older workers suspect their résumés often get shoved aside in
'The new unemployables': Workers over 50
Educated, experienced, but facing record unemployment for their age group Advertisement | ad info
. Stuart Isett for The New York Times
Patricia Reid, 57, lost her job at Boeing four years ago and has struggled to find a new position. By MOTOKO RICH
updated 9/20/2010 4:24:33 AM ET
Share Print Font: +-VASHON ISLAND, Wash. — Patricia Reid is not in her 70s, an age when many Americans continue to work. She is not even in her 60s. She is just 57.
But four years after losing her job she cannot, in her darkest moments, escape a nagging thought: she may never work again.
College educated, with a degree in business administration, she is experienced, having worked for two decades as an internal auditor and analyst at Boeing before losing that job.
More U.S. news NYT: 'The new unemployables': Workers over 50
A growing number of people in their 50s and 60s who desperately want or need to work to pay for retirement are starting to worry that they may be discarded from the work force forever.
Since the economic collapse, there are not enough jobs being created for the population as a whole, much less for those in the twilight of their careers.
Of the 14.9 million unemployed, more than 2.2 million are 55 or older. Nearly half of them have been unemployed six months or longer, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate in the group — 7.3 percent — is at a record, more than double what it was at the beginning of the latest recession.
After other recent downturns, older people who lost jobs fretted about how long it would take to return to the work force and worried that they might never recover their former incomes. But today, because it will take years to absorb the giant pool of unemployed at the economy’s recent pace, many of these older people may simply age out of the labor force before their luck changes.
For Ms. Reid, it has been four years of hunting — without a single job offer. She buzzes energetically as she describes the countless applications she has lobbed through the Internet, as well as the online courses she is taking to burnish her software skills.
'Could happen to anyone'
Still, when she is pressed, her can-do spirit falters.
Most popular NYT: 'The new unemployables': Workers over 50
Updated 104 minutes ago 3 children found shot dead after custody battle
Super salmon or 'frankenfish'? FDA to decide
Tea Party darling O’Donnell a real ‘witch’?
Helmet-gate?
..“There are these fears in the background, and they are suppressed,†said Ms. Reid, who is now selling some of her jewelry and clothes online and is late on some credit card payments. “I have had nightmares about becoming a bag lady,†she said. “It could happen to anyone. So many people are so close to it, and they don’t even realize it.â€
Being unemployed at any age can be crushing. But older workers suspect their résumés often get shoved aside in