The Answer to the U.S. Labor Crisis: Older Workers

AARP recently reported on the difficulties Americans over 50 are having finding new jobs. I’m glad AARP flagged this issue, but the takeaway can’t simply be “We need to be nicer to old people.”

Instead, it’s urgent that we see this problem for what it is: a real threat to continued economic growth in the United States.

Immigration to the U.S. has dropped dramatically. The number of Americans turning 18 has fallen precipitously and is not expected to rise again for many years.

So the question is this: Where will we find the workers to fuel our economy over the next 20 to 40 years?

The answer seems obvious: We need a workforce that is distributed among all ages, from 18 to 88. As I have written before, older workers are the largest untapped workforce in America. And a larger proportion than ever wants or needs to work past age 65.

AARP’s reporting highlights older workers who have been jobless for 27 weeks or more, or have stopped looking for work.

One of the culprits, the article reports, is an AI-powered hiring process that can screen out older candidates.

“Hiring software is optimized for a cost-to-skill ratio that favors midlevel candidates over better-paid workforce veterans,” said Mark Hamrick, Washington bureau chief and senior economic analyst at Bankrate. “In this lower-hire market, ‘overqualified’ is algorithmic shorthand for ‘too expensive.’ ”

It’s ironic that AI hiring tools would deem experience to be a negative. With AI adoption growing quickly in the workplace, what we really need are people who can review its work to check that it makes sense in context. Does it jibe with what the organization has learned over time? Will it “land” the right way with its intended audience?

To make these calls, an employee needs experience, maturity and judgement. That comes with age.

If we decide those three qualities are simply too expensive, we’re sabotaging our economy from the start.

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I think it’s important to add that the problem of unemployment among older workers is not just a problem for Baby Boomers.

Gen X is starting to feel it as well, as many of them are approaching traditional retirement age. Millennials and Gen Z are next — and seeing as each generation is expected to have increased longevity compared to the previous generations, they are likely to face this problem for more years than Boomers and Xers.

As I often write, the younger generations have the most at stake in the fight against ageism. If our attitudes and policies about older workers don’t change, younger generations could face economic irrelevance (and increasing rates of poverty!) for the last third of their lives.