Working age: Seniors get half as many contracts as youth in April
Seniors’ CVs straight into the dustbin: An experiment exposes labor ageism
Unemployment is one of the serious structural problems in Spain, as the figures prove: at the end of last March, the total number of unemployed in the country was 3,127,800 people, its highest figure for a year, according to data from is highlighted. Corresponding to the latest Active Population Survey (EPA), Q1 2023.
Senior workers are the most affected by unemployment, with a total of 564,900 unemployed people over the age of 55, according to the EPA (see table below).
This massive problem becomes even more apparent if we count those over 50 unemployed, in which case the number of unemployed rises to 926,000, according to the latest EPA data.
The drama of unemployment is even greater for the chronically unemployed, ie those who have not worked for more than a year and are looking for a job; A situation in which, once again, seniors are also among the hardest hit. Indeed, the latest active population survey confirms that there are a total of 1,305,000 long-term unemployed in Spain, of whom 39.3%, ie some 513,400, are over the age of 50 (see graph below).
In other words: according to a report prepared by the Adecco Foundation, four out of ten people who have been unemployed for more than a year belong to the senior group (@adecco_fundac) for 65YMÁs, where the difficulties of this age group are highlighted, especially when companies have layoffs: it is more difficult for them to be re-employed, and their future pensions may suffer for longer periods without contributions. affected by the situation. nearing retirement.
‘Subscriber’ too long for unemployment
The situation is even more dire in the case of very long-term unemployment (people who have not worked for more than two years), as 375,900 of the total 870,500 very long-term unemployed are over the age of 50, according to Adecco. According to data analyzed by the Foundation, the global figure is 43.2% (see graph above).
The results of this report are in line with the reality confirmed by other organizations, such as Genesión Sevia, and which suggest that discrimination on the basis of age, i.e. ageism prevailing in the labor market, causes companies to hire the youngest people and likes to maintain. As evidenced by the fact that people over the age of 50 and 55 are among the first people that companies target when completing a regulation file or designing a personnel adjustment process.
Prejudice: A major barrier to hiring seniors
Why do senior citizens bear the brunt of long-term and very long-term unemployment to a greater extent? As explained by Irene Gill, head of studies and reports at the Adecco Foundation, senior unemployed “face greater difficulties in obtaining employment due to prejudice and social stereotypes, resulting in reluctance when they are included in work teams”. Some are most often high salary requirements or low flexibility. These biases are purely anachronistic and tend to blind the vast talent that this segment of the population harbors, including extra doses of values such as experience, maturity or critical thinking. brings
On behalf of the Adecco Foundation they warn that “the challenge of senior talent is not given the necessary importance, and is a major drag on the country’s competitiveness. They are going to be the dominant workforce and already account for 34% of the active population”. represent.” compared to 24% a decade earlier. A figure that will not stop rising, given the ageless aging of the population,” highlights Gill.
Women and seniors: double whammy
And if workers over the age of 50 suffer more from unemployment than other age groups, senior women suffer even more severely.
According to the head of the Adecco Foundation studies, in the first quarter of 2023, “unemployment has a higher incidence among senior women. Of the 30,800 new senior unemployed registered between January and March, 75% are women. have to face.” This has a very clear origin in a culture of access to employment, and family responsibilities. They are the first to withdraw from the labor market if the family situation requires and, often, their professional careers are assumed to be break lower”.
