Going Back to Work in Your Golden Years
Many 60-somethings are getting hit with a cold, hard reality: Their evaporated investment portfolios mean the golden years of retirement are getting further out of reach. In fact, the market’s downturn has taken such a toll that many retirees are now dusting off their resumes and trying to find work.
Older workers (55 and over) tend to have relatively low unemployment rates (in part because younger workers, with less professional experience, are often the first to be let go), but the devastating jobs picture is undermining that advantage, according to a February report from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank. When the recession began in December 2007, older workers accounted for just over 11% of the total unemployed. That number jumped to almost 13% in February.
Besides the fact that the timing couldn’t be worse, the growing ranks of older job seekers face some formidable hurdles. After all, many haven’t been on a job interview in decades. “They don’t know how to package their skills and accomplishments. They think the trick is just to list everything they’ve done, and get a job based on cumulative experience,” says David Delong, president of David DeLong & Associates, a research and consulting firm on work force issues.
Read more via Going Back to Work in Your Golden Years at SmartMoney.com.