By Nancy J. Peterson June 18th, 2009
Today I’m issuing a confession and congratulations all in a single post. We work hard here at Workforce50.com and progress is painfully slow sometimes. But we’re committed to being an honest, high-quality web site with a mission and purpose of serving the over fifty community with employment information and resources.
My confession as the Editor of this web site is that I’m sooooo frustrated by the complaints that we receive about the low number of job postings on the web site. Yes, we are in an economic downturn and most employers are suffering through layoffs and hiring freezes and periods of employees living fearful of losing their jobs. But here’s the thing. We have committed to the 50+ community to put out a genuine product. That means that we will not aggregate job postings from the various large database services out there. That means that when someone finds a posting on our site, they can be assured that age is not only NOT an issue with the advertising employer but the employer is actively searching for older qualified candidates to fill that position. The employer will not be surprised that their job is displayed on an over-50 web site.
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Tags: Age friendly
Posted in Employers | 8 Comments »
By Nancy J. Peterson June 11th, 2009
There has been a lot written about the boomers seeking out new careers and making decisions to seek out greener pastures in alternative professions or trades. We wanted to get some first hand feedback on the greatest motivators to making a career change. And we wanted to get a realistic read on the level of willingness and desire to make such commitments to change. Most of all, though, we were interested in learning about fears, particularly in today’s economy. So we completed a survey of our readership and learned a bit about their take on career change.
First, here are some statistics. Thirty one percent of our respondents are currently employed and a full 66% “enjoy” the work in their current or most recent career. This high rate of satisfaction with their work likely explains the length of time that they have spent in their current or most recent profession. A full 69% have been employed in the same profession or trade for more than 6 years while more than 42% have been employed in the same profession or trade for more than 15 years. How’s that for longevity and commitment?
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Tags: What we heard
Posted in Job Transition | 1 Comment »
By Nancy J. Peterson May 27th, 2009
A friend shared an article from the New York Times Magazine with me today called “The Case for Working with Your Hands”, by Matthew B. Crawford. Turns out, this is an engaging excerpt from his soon-to-be-released book titled, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work. In this excerpt, Mr. Crawford explores the societal push toward becoming a “knowledge” economy whereby the young are pressured into pursuing educations and career paths that may, in reality, deny their natural tendencies and talents only to become corporate cubical dwellers. This is a very thought provoking article and one that should make anyone open to career exploration or anyone trying to “find themselves” jump up and rub their eyes.
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Tags: Working Older
Posted in Job Transition | No Comments »
By Gene Burnard March 30th, 2009
As my friends from Oklahoma would say “this has been a hoot”. A CBSNEWS producer contacted me in early Janurary requesting that Workforce50.com participate in their upcoming Early Show series on finding employment. This series would be a 5 part series featuring 4 job seekers - a new grad, a higher income person, a person returning to the workforce and someone over 55. Obviously CBSNEWS requested that Workforce50.com represent the over 55 segment. 
We eagerly and proudly jumped in to the project. The opportunity to give additional visibility to the issues encountered by the older workforce was one we just couldn’t pass up. Nearly 3 months later, the series aired starting on March 23rd, with the over 55 (ours) segment airing on March 27th.
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Tags: Job Squad
Posted in In the News | 4 Comments »
By Nancy J. Peterson February 17th, 2009
In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, age discrimination seems to be advocated as a generally accepted business practice by a professor at the Kellogg School. Frankly, I’m appalled by the statement itself and all of its dark and legal implications.
“It makes sense, with revenues getting tighter and profits getting smaller, that companies are looking to cut costs. One way to do that is to get rid of senior higher-salaried employees and promote younger workers, usually at lower salaries, says Adam Galinsky, a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.”
Tell me that this is not what they are teaching in business school these days. It is flawed thinking from so many angles. Not to mention that it totally devalues the knowledge, experience and judgment that older workers have accumulated over the course of their careers and employ every day in their jobs. According to many experts, building and nurturing a multi-generational workforce is essential to the success of just about any business today.
Had this article been framed simply as helpful tips for the young or first-time manager, some of the advice I would probably dispense myself. I have been mentored and I have been a mentor. It can be a very productive learning experience. But here’s the thing. A good mentor has years of experience and a wide range of knowledge and judgment to share. So, I ask, why would a leading company, or any company looking to survive these days, cast its seasoned talent indiscriminately to the wind?
To read the full article go to http://bit.ly/DmijY
Tags: Retention
Posted in In the News | 3 Comments »
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