– by Barbara Julian –
For the pre-senior Baby Boomer who has saved, inherited, or invested wisely, all should be well on the financial front as he or she sails into the “golden years.” However, for those who have lost jobs or failed to re-enter the workforce after a midlife hiatus – for child raising or layoff, perhaps – the lead-up to the senior years can be a nerve-wracking and penny-pinching time.
Many in this group sum up the dilemma in a phrase: “too young to retire but too old to be hired.” Personnel departments deny that ageism exists, but it is clear to older job seekers that businesses and public service alike want youthful employees.
Seniors’ advocacy groups such as Silver Threads and the St. Vincent de Paul Society offer help to the aging job seeker, or the retired person wanting part-time work, by holding workshops meant to build confidence. They remind us mature job seekers of what we have to offer: life experience, a variety of skills developed in past jobs, a learned ability to get along with coworkers and customers, reliability and punctuality. Unfortunately, what employers want is the fresh face of youth.
We Canadians in the 55- to 65-year-old age group know we are among the luckiest people in history. We grew up in a free and prosperous democracy when university education was affordable, buying real estate was feasible on an ordinary salary, and young people habitually trekked off backpacking, the whole world our playground where we could learn and spread our wings. We came back with ideas, aspirations and broad views, and found employers glad to see us.
Today’s employers, however, see “oldies.” Perhaps 30-something themselves, they’ve heard enough about their parents’ adventures, and want to hear no more. It’s a different workplace today, they rightly point out. We pre-seniors saw it change. Although we came of age during a cultural golden age, we’ve also seen years of government cutbacks and layoffs, contract work replacing full-time jobs, retail going online and the devastation of arts budgets for the “creative classes.”
Anyone laid off past age 50 may never get to climb back onto the employment wagon, at least not with a salary that allows for saving for retirement. Like “pre-schoolers” and “pre-teens,” “pre-retirement” folks are categorized as something they are about to be, rather than what they are. Perhaps we’re all being rushed through life now, pre-maturely ejected from each biographical phase. This is financially untenable for the underemployed pre-retired person considered a has-been-in-waiting.
Many such respond by launching a business, in effect hiring themselves when no one else will, and risking their savings on the gamble. Some call themselves “consultants” or “free-lancers,” but too often these brave labels really mean “trying not to be unemployed.” Underemployed pre-seniors can choose to view their over-supply of free time as an opportunity to do the creative things they used to dream about: painting, writing, bird-watching, volunteering or whatever pleases them. But too much non-earning time, unless you did some serious saving when younger, may mean failing to pay your bills, and buying too few groceries.
According to OECD and Conference Board of Canada statistics, poverty among Canadian seniors has been growing, after a period of decline, throughout the 2000s. In B.C., half of seniors live on $24,000 per year or less, many on much less. Clearly, there would be less poverty among seniors if there were more jobs for pre-seniors. Government programs aimed at hiring the aging worker would help, and so could the individual consumer by patronizing businesses launched by the pre-retired person struggling to stay in the work force. A dedicated directory of such businesses would be a start, and Baby Boomers could help each other by using it.
Persistence and humour also help. We have to laugh when we remember how we couldn’t get that first job we wanted because we lacked “experience.” When did that magical ingredient suddenly become worthless? How we once coveted it, although like “millennials” today we never thought we would actually get old. But that state rushes up to meet us, and retirement can be a lean time if both cash, and the opportunity to make more, dry up too soon to finance it.
