Career coach Colleen Paulson has heard from hundreds of professionals age 50 or older struggling to land a job over the past two years. “I have 35-plus years’ experience and I can’t find a job that pays over $20 an hour,” one told her in a LinkedIn message.
Most Read from MarketWatch “Was a finalist five times in my last search five years ago and was passed over because I was in my 50s,” said another
One job seeker put it bluntly: “I became invisible when I turned 60.” Paulson, founder of the career-coaching site Ageless Careers, said she’s seeing the job market for older professionals continue to deteriorate, as clients increasingly cite ageism as a barrier to getting an offer letter. Companies are cutting costs by hiring younger workers with less experience, she said, while older workers with decades of experience are rejected from the same roles and forced to dip into retirement savings early. “I’m seeing so many GoFundMes on LinkedIn for people that are losing everything after an extended job search,” Paulson said. “It’s heartbreaking, honestly.” Labor-market data reflect the trend, as 38% of unemployed workers 55 and older have gone without a job for 27 weeks or longer, compared to about 16% of workers ages 16 to 54, according to AARP. Whether by choice or because they’ve finally had it with the brutal hiring landscape, some are leaving the workforce completely.
The labor-force participation rate for workers age 55 and over has been falling steeply since 2020, now sitting at 37%, while the same rate for workers ages 25 to 54 continues to hover around historic highs. MarketWatch spoke with several job seekers over the age of 55 who declined to share their full names, out of fear it would hurt their employment prospects. Several said they’re considering retiring early, even though they don’t want to or feel like they can’t afford to.