Older Workers Dominate Hiring Gains

June 26, 2012

Older job seekers face more challenges than most. But a new analysis finds such workers are also showing the strongest job gains of any age group.

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The breakdown of Labor Department statistics by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found job seekers aged 55 and up accounted for nearly 70% of employment gains since January 1, 2010.

John Challenger is CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

“Many of them are coming in management, professional, services-types roles. So they’re just not low-end jobs. Companies are hiring older workers for their experience, for their ability to hit the ground running, and to make immediate impact in an environment where they just need to have high productivity.”

Challenger says older workers as a group still face stiff headwinds in the job market, with age discrimination having a big impact. He says about a third of unemployed workers 55 and older have been out of work for more than a year.

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