According to reports, more employers are seeing the value of older employees.
“There’s no experience like experience,” David Mintz, CEO of dairy-free products maker Tofutti, told AP. “I can’t put an ad saying, ‘Older people wanted,’ but there’s no comparison.” One third of Tofutti’s employees are over 50.
Though surveys indicate that seniors believe they experience age discrimination on the job market, long-term unemployment is far higher. As the U.S. population continues to live longer, some employers are slowly recognizing the skills and relevance of older workers.
About 200 employers, including Google, AT&T and MetLife, have signed an AARP pledge recognizing the value of experienced workers and vowing to consider applicants 50 and older, the AP reports.
This comes at a time when, according to the AARP, nearly 1.
7 million people aged 55 and older were unemployed in August, and 47.4% of older jobseekers were long-term unemployed (meaning, they’d been out of work and looking for a job for 27 weeks or more.)