Brutal job search reality for older Americans out of work for six months or more

[KharmaTrain]

8. Flashbacks Of The Late 70s and Early 80s...

The 70s saw a big change from a manufacturing society to an "informational" one...factories began to close in the the rust belt and move south of the border or offshore other ways. The 50-year olds of that time were mostly blue collar workers who saw their lifetime jobs vanish with the vague promise of "retraining" that eventually resulted in providing a large pool of Wal Mart greeters. I was in my 20s in those days and now am in that 50s-60s group and seeing many of my friends who have seen their jobs vanish with little prospects of any future opportunities. It's "more efficient" for a company to look for one or two younger people who will work for less money and aren't in need of the same benefits.

Many of my parent's generation were "put out to pasture" during the Raygun years and seeing the same thing happening today to my peers. The big difference was my parents could count on medicare and social security to take care of the very basic needs. Today's older unemployed don't have such assurances...