There has been a huge transformation over the last decade in the way people look for job opportunities. Printed resumes and cover letters, newspaper ads and face-to-face interviews have gradually given way to LinkedIn and Facebook profiles and personal websites, electronically transmitted career materials, job boards and searches. on the web, and Skype interviews.
While technological advances have certainly expanded the scope of opportunities for people to take advantage of to find great jobs, the benefits have not been equal among all job seekers. Research in recent years has shown that older workers have generally not kept pace with their younger counterparts in using technology to design and execute job search strategies.
This is concerning as there is much evidence that older workers face greater challenges in finding worthwhile employment. Data from the 2014 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Dislocated Worker Survey shows that people age 50 and older took 5.8 weeks longer to find a job than those ages 30-49 and 10 weeks longer than those from 20 to 29 years old.
Data from the 2015 BLS Current Population Survey found similar results; 44.6% of employed workers aged 55 and over were out of work after 27 weeks, compared to 22.2% of those under 25 and 36% of those aged 25-54.
Can older workers learn to use technology-driven job search tools?
Older workers are often stereotyped in ways that negatively affect their ability to find worthwhile employment. These stereotypes include:
- Lack of motivation,
- Less willingness to participate in training and use of technology,
- More resistant to change
- Less confidence in superiors and co-workers.
- less healthy and
- More vulnerable to work-family imbalances.
Many of these stereotypes do not necessarily emerge upon closer examination of older workers’ patterns of behavior in relation to employment. With regard to technology, there is evidence that older workers are willing to seek out and use technology tools, but many face limitations and issues that need to be addressed. Some of these include:
- Vision and hearing problems that impede training efforts,
- Problems with memory, memory and motor skills,
- Lack of perspective on the use of technology, unlike younger workers who grew up with technology in their lives, and
- Less acceptance of “learning for learning’s sake” and requiring a direct link between training/use of technology and job search/job success.
It’s clear that technology is a critical component to any successful job search campaign, and assuming older workers can’t or won’t take advantage of tech tools hurts this group of people. Training programs that take into account the learning limitations of older workers are becoming more common and should be expanded. In addition, training should focus on skills clearly identified with increased employability.
