ShAARP Session: Observations from AARP

So far the House and the Senate have both passed legislation that will provide relief for millions of Americans still looking for a job out there. Extending unemployment benefits could help nearly 2 million people age 55 and over who have a particularly difficult time gaining employment. As we now know, these workers wait an average of 33 weeks or longer before finding another job, higher than most age groups.

This is definitely a step in the right direction with unemployment soaring. Are you having a hard time finding a job? Other than unemployment benefits, be sure to check out our work pages at aarp.org for info and help on how to land your next big gig.

Elizabeth Pope has a great piece on AARP.org on how to avoid very easily made mistakes when searching for work. As we already know, too many older Americans are out of work and desperately seeking employment during these tough times, but are also susceptible to making simple errors that can cost them a new job. A new study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute says so:

"'The harsh truth is, nobody cares about your experience,' says workplace expert David DeLong, author of the report 'Buddy, Can You Spare a Job?' 'In a performance-driven marketplace, you have to frame your experience and show how you can solve a company's problems. You can't expect the potential employer to figure that out.'

The study, released Oct. 13, also found that older job seekers routinely overestimate their computer skills, fail to seek extra training, and may feel ambivalent about returning to work in spite of financial need. If potential employers sense that ambivalence in an interview, it can kill any chances of a hire."

Read up and learn how to avoid this from happening!

If this isn't a wake-up call, I don't know what is.

While the recession has forced many Americans to delay retirement, one of the hardest hit are those already retired in search of work. There are 6.6 million Americans age 65 or older who have lost their jobs in the recession, 61% more than the 4.1 million unemployed in this age group in 2000, The New York Times reports.

This is five times the number of people in this age bracket who were unemployed in the Great Depression. Making matters worse, many older Americans still owe money on their mortgages.

Check out AARP.org's section on work to get job tips and find out more about issues concerning older workers.

Check out this great new piece by AARP's Michael Zielenziger on how the rising cost of health care is costing older workers their pay wages, and even their jobs:

"According to the Kaiser study, health insurance premiums across America have climbed 131 percent since 1999--far more rapidly than workers' wages, which rose 38 percent, or inflation, which rose 28 percent in the same period.

Only 60 percent of U.S. firms offer health benefits to any of their workers, the survey reports. Among those firms, 21 percent said they reduced health benefits or increased cost-sharing because of the economic downturn, while 15 percent reported they increased the worker's share of the premium.

Now, more workers with health insurance are paying higher deductibles when they receive medical care, the Kaiser study says. In 2006, only 10 percent of workers had to pay the first $1,000 of their medical bills before receiving insurance benefits. Today, 22 percent of workers must pay at least $1,000 out of pocket each year before their insurance starts to pay a portion of their medical bills. A demand for plans with higher deductibles frequently comes from smaller firms, with less than 200 workers."

The multiple first-hand accounts of small business employers serves as a reality check of the choices they're faced with. Check out the entire piece here.

Yesterday, AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond made AARP's stance on age discrimination known: AARP fully and "vigorously" - according to the New York Times - backs the proposed legislation Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act.

The legislation would overturn a four-month-old Supreme Court ruling that makes it difficult for workers to win age discrimination cases. In the case, Gross v. F.B.L. Financial Services, the court established a different burden of proof for age discrimination than that of discrimination based on race or gender. For age discrimination, the burden of proving that age was the deciding factor in a demotion or layoff now fell upon the employee instead of the employer.

And, with the growing unemployment rate of Americans over 50 that we've discussed, the decision came at the most inopportune time for those seniors trying to find work.

LeaMond said, "Unless Congress passes this bill, too many older workers who have been victims of arbitrary age discrimination will be denied their day in court."

Read AARP's press release on its endorsement of the bill.

Other big news of the day includes discussions of another stimulus (but don't call it a "stimulus"!) - and the unemployment rate is the big issue here too. With unemployment nearing double digits, Roll Call reports that House Democrats are trying to find a balance between a "bailout-weary public" and the "ranks of the jobless." Read more commentary from the Washington Post here.

While we know that the recession has been tough on older workers, some low-income people are reaching rock bottom, to the point where they are having to choose between food, medication and paying rent.

In fact, 46 percent of low-income older workers researched in a new study says they needed to find jobs so they can keep the roof over their head. A similar percentage said had to choose among the three: paying rent, purchasing food or purchasing medication. 46 percent. Not to mention nearly half of those surveyed said they had been looking for work for over a year.

I know it's a downer, but it's an issue that needs attention. Read the entire article here. Also check out Experience Works, who conducted the study and provides assistance to folks in need, as well as the AARP Foundation if you're in this situation. We shouldn't have to go hungry or get sicker to keep a roof over our heads.

As we find out today that the unemployment rate is the highest it's been in 26 years, AP also released a story about the fact that the poverty rate among older Americans could be nearly twice as high as the traditional 10 percent level. This is according to the National Academy of Science's new formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations in the cost of living. AARP weighed in:

"'It's a hidden problem,' said Robin Talbert, president of the AARP Foundation, which provides job training and support to low-income seniors and is backing legislation that would adopt the NAS formula. 'There are still many millions of older people on the edge, who don't have what they need to get by.'"

Check out the whole piece, it's a must-read.

I came across a great AP article about how older workers are struggling to find a job during the recession, and largely because of their age.

As there has been much evidence that companies discriminate based on a person's age, folks are going to great lengths to appear younger on paper and even in person - from omitting college graduation dates to actually taking botox injections. (Yes, really.) When a group of people are changing their lives and identity in such a way to avoid being discriminated against, that tells me there's a problem.

Check out the entire piece here, and also take a look at AARP's recent feature on how to look out for signs of bias or discriminatory questions in job interviews.

Sorry to be a downer guys, but this AARP Bulletin piece was too important not to highlight; while folks may think the economy may be on the up and up, the unemployment rate is still hitting older workers, and hard:

"The unemployment rate for workers age 55 or older hit an all-time high of 6.7 percent in May, a level 116 percent higher than at the start of the economic downturn in December 2007, according to an AARP analysis of the latest government employment data. The jobless rate for younger workers also grew precipitously over the same period--63 percent among those ages 16 to 24, and 110 percent for workers 25 to 54.

Among all workers, the unemployment rate climbed to 9.4 percent in May, more than double the 4.5 percent reported in December 2007. An estimated 15 million people are without work."

The article also highlights differences between younger and older workers' experience with unemployment (and employment) during the recession; it's definitely work checking out.

The New York Times blog, Room for Debate, has a great round-up of experts' thoughts on why and how older workers are struggling to get jobs during the recession. It's no big news that older adults have had difficulties (and have even been discriminated against) in the workforce way before the economy began to falter, but things are particularly hard now.

Between the idea that bosses don't want employees older and more experienced than them, to the fact that older workers cost more to a company salary-wise, to the theory that your productivity decreases as you age, these folks have a range of different reasons why older workers are having such a hard time. (Not to mention the comments section has blown up there as well.) Make sure to check it out.

On the upside, check out AARP's Best Employers for Workers Over 50 - because some folks know how valuable you are!

AP has a news story on how older workers are not only struggling to get a paycheck in this tough times, but searching the "help wanted" ads for the first time in their careers. Check it out.

If you're looking for a job, or want some job hunting advice check out Bob Skladany's columns on AARP.org or our Work pages.

I'm at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, where thousands of companies are showing off their inventions aimed at making your lives easier. My favorites so far: little gizmos that let you charge your phone, your iPod, or even power motion-detected lights on your garage, without ever needing to find a plug.

The nPower PEG (Personal Energy Generator) feels like a really light barbell. Stick it in your backpack or a really, really big pocket, and you can charge that cellphone or your little digital camera while you hike in the Rockies.

Or there's these little gizmos from the UK- little cases made for iPhones and Blackberries. All you need is a light source, and your phone's got power to go.

I was poking around the New York Times' work blog, Shifting Careers, and came across an interesting post about consulting.

Times are tough and people are losing their jobs. My father has thought a time or two that consulting might be a way to keep your foot in the door and the notion of being your own boss, well, it's always appealed to him.

Consulting is tough going though. You're always looking for your next client and sometimes people want you to work for nearly free or for free period. This is where this post comes in. Freelancer, Michelle Goodman, offers a few times when you might actually want to work for free. This includes: working for your "dream" client or if you have no portfolio or no base clientele to speak of.

Interesting notions...do any readers do consulting work? How's it worked out for you?