Employment for 50’s + Worker: The Dead Zone

Employment for 50’s + Worker: The Dead Zone

Al Ritter 

Politicians constantly push forward initiatives where they want the retirement age to be pushed forward. The fact that politicians misused the funds that were set aside by contributions by both the worker and their employer, seems to mean nothing to them. They robbed the piggy banks of American workers instead and funded social welfare programs that they term “entitlements.” 

Although there are 8 protected classes by federal law that an employer may NOT discriminate against (race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, gender, and age), employers continue to do so.  

When the Congress pushes retirement ages higher, and employers continually force their HR departments to hire younger and younger employees, it creates a “dead zone.” This dead zone creates the group of casualties caused by willful discrimination as to age. 

America is filled with seniors (50-65+) who want to, or HAVE to, work. Job eliminations because of economic conditions are usually the death sentence of senior working Americans. And although the employer can’t ask your age other than to confirm they are over the age of 18, all applications for employment still have that little box for “date of birth”………..Why? 

Through affirmative action there are minority hiring requirements for employers, but it seems that color and race are the only real protected classes that get any real credence……Why? Because employers are scared to death to be sued by disgruntled non-hires or even worse have their cases taken on by the ACLU. As a result religion, national origin, disability, gender, and age get a back seat now. 

For argument sake because the retirement age has now been pushed to 66 so let’s view this group as 50-70 years old. Hires that never once missed getting a job at age 40 from any they applied for are now applying to hundreds of jobs and rarely getting one single interview. The primary reason isn’t race, color, sex, disability, or national origin…….it’s age! Although many businesses MAY make decision not to hire on the afore mentioned factors, more often than not it is age that is their #1 deciding factor. 

The lack of law enforcement on this single factor is plunging seniors into poverty. To think that a company can hold the financial future of a senior in their hands is appalling. Because once one company lets that employee go it pretty much seals the deal on any other company hiring them in the future. 

I propose that through affirmative action (if it in fact continues in America) that a company should have to show that they have a certain amount of senior hires between the ages of 50 and at least legal retirement age of 66, or whatever the age that Social Security sets in the future to prove they aren’t discriminating based on age.