I’ve been following the plight of older and younger job seekers for 15 years. Every now and then, there’s a minor break through.
From the age of 50, Martin Smith felt he was considered “too old” for the job.
“When you are knocking on doors and see the look on people’s faces, you can read it,” he said.
“As soon as you walk in the door you feel like you don’t have a chance against someone who is younger, fitter and clean cut.”
After a long period of unemployment, Mr Smith, now aged 57, eventually found work at a manufacturing company. That helped him find a stable home and enough money to buy a car.
Employment services provider MAX Solutions helped Mr Smith get qualifications in welding and powder coating and his job at Vision Railings and Glass.
He is now the head painter, powder coating aluminium products that his employer manufactures.
People aged 55-64 were the largest unemployed group receiving JobKeeper payments during the pandemic and at Republic, we write specially formatted resumes to help overcome recruiter bias.
Research shows more than half of employers said they found mature-age workers to be more skilled compared to their younger peers in dispute resolution (57 per cent), mediation (55 per cent) and managing others (55 per cent).
For 60 per cent of employers surveyed, the main benefit they received from mature age workers was their “wealth of experience.”
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Yonks ago I wrote this about age prejudice. It about sums up the situation.