Ageism

There was an interesting bit on NPR this morning about a 70-year-old retiree who wants to return to teaching high school because his home equity loan has tanked and the hemorrhaging stock market has nose-dived his income.

Ok fine. I’m not opposed to this – in fact I think we should be working towards 100% employment in this country – give everybody who wants to work education and a job. But what’s that means for the current working generation, in a tight job-market (the one who’s keeping his social security fund afloat no less)? This guy probably knows less than me about computer-related issues, but he’s got experience I can never catch up with. We’re potentially equally employable. If there’s to be a mass return of seniors to the workplace, a decent wage for those of us who’ve only been working for five to ten years could be harder to come by.

To top it off the government will nail an employers ass for perceived age discrimination – So if me and the 70-year-old retiree happen to look the same on paper, chances are he’s going to get the job.

What interesting and mildly horrifying times we live in.