Job loss due to the pandemic affected millions of Americans, and that includes a huge impact on older workers. On average, a third of the workforce is age 50 or older, and once displaced, older workers take twice as long to find a new job compared to their younger counterparts.
In August 2021, nearly half (49.3%) of workers ages 55+ were long-term unemployed compared with 34.7 percent of younger jobseekers. Current data also shows that 78% of older workers say they have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, the highest level since AARP began tracking this question in 2003.
KRLD's John Liddle talked with Susan Weinstock, the AARP’s VP of Financial Resilience about the issues.