Age Discrimination a Growing Boomer Concern

By Paul Briand, The National Examiner

July 6, 2009

Job fair attracts job seekers, including Baby Boomers who feel the need
to mask their age.

It's distressing enough these days to read about the unemployment numbers as the country tries to find its way out of the current recession.

It's even more distressing to read the stories about how much more difficult in this already challenging enviroment it is for some Baby Boomers to find work.

The experience and work ethic that Baby Boomers bring to the table as an asset are not enough, in many cases, to overcome what has become a barrier -- age.

One story in particular -- an Associated Press piece that got wide circulation on line and in print -- is worthy of mention because it not only told some anecdotes of how Baby Boomers are struggling to find jobs but also told of what they're doing to mask their age.

A career consultant in Washington, D.C., told the Associated press she urges clients to keep certain dates -- like when you graduated from college -- off their resumes. If recruiters don't have the dates, they can't do the math to compute how old you are.

"Don't give people reasons to discriminate against you," she said. At the same time, she encourages Baby Boomers during job interviews to talk up their use of Facebook and Twitter as an indication that they're tuned into the newest uses of networking.
A 49-year-old a struggling real estate agent in Arlington, Va., went to the extreme of getting Botox treatments.

She told the Associated Press she is looking for new work and that the treatments will help her job search. "I look refreshed," she said. The worry lines, apparently, were betraying her age.

The story noted that the anecdotes are evidence of a growing age discrimination problem in the country.

Complaints of age bias to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission jumped 29 percent to 24,852 in the year that ended in September, the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available, the AP noted. That's the highest total in 16 years, and the number of age complaints has continued at a high pace this year, according to the EEOC.

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