To work or to retire, that is the question of the hour. Gen Xers and Baby Boomers may have had a good run setting up their careers, but they aren’t immune to the effects of the changing demands of the job market. Despite their experience and insight in their industries, the Gen X and Baby Boomer generations have also been subjected to layoffs in recent years, many of them more than once, and still more unable to find work again in the aftermath. Many workers are caught facing similar circumstances, but for older workers who are closing in on their retirement years, this leaves them with little time to save up and fill in their retirement funds. In the end, whether appealing or not, many of them have no choice but to continue to seek employment even longer into their aging years.
An older report from Glassdoor from the first quarter of 2025 showed that complaints of ageism in job-seeker reviews rose 133% year-over-year. While Gen Z workers are just as likely as their senior counterparts to face differential treatment over their age, the impact looks a little different for the aging workforce. Eliminating all forms of such inequality remains the goal today, and it’s up to employers to steer the change.
With the rise of layoffs and the rampant ageism in the workplace, older workers are struggling to keep their heads above water. (Image: Pexels)
Many Older Workers Are Struggling to Find Employment: What Employers Need To Understand About Their Workforce
Try as we might, we cannot “Ok Boomer” our way out of this one, as the struggles of one generation are always primed to affect the next. The Wall Street Journal’s 2025 analysis of older Americans and the impact of late-career layoffs shows that among U.S. citizens aged between 50 and 65, 14% were laid off at least once in the last 10 years. This number over such an extended period may not be concerning to some, but it’s the layers of data that come after that sell the whole picture. About 4% were laid off more than once, and 24% were unable to find another job.
While younger workers spent an average of 19 weeks facing unemployment, employees between 55 and 64 years of age spent about 26 weeks unemployed. Those older than 65 years spent an average of 32 weeks looking for work. Some were forced to seek an early retirement, others took on lower-paying jobs, and still more spent the period moving in and out of roles, trying to find their place in the land of the gainfully employed.
These numbers represent the landscape of work for struggling older workers from a few years ago, and don’t entirely account for the changes we’ve witnessed over the last few years, where AI burst onto the scene with brute force and kick-started a new era of layoffs.
When Senior Workers Can’t Find a Place At Work, The Organization Suffers For It
Today, technology is automating a considerable number of tasks and playing the role of mentor for many without clear superiors to guide them, but there is a wealth of talent that is lost when baby boomers or their younger compatriots are pushed out of the workforce. Not only do workers lose out on their wealth of knowledge, but also their guidance on building careers in the industry and the network of contacts that the older workers have built up over the years. With AI turning every employee into a supervisor, older workers are perhaps best suited to know what the errors in the industry look like.
Many organizations haven’t explicitly announced layoffs among Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, as that would bring an avalanche of lawsuits alleging discrimination against them. Some have, however, announced voluntary retirement programs specifically for senior workers within the workforce to find their own way out.
“I used to urge my son to try harder while looking for work…I was sure he would find his dream job if he just pushed a little. After I was laid off, I saw what the job market actually looked like. It has been years since unemployment was a thought on my mind, but now there’s no escaping it. Even if I find work, there’s no guarantee it will last,” one of our readers told us.
Dismantling Ageism of All Forms Is the Ultimate Challenge Today
Getting laid off is only part of the problem. Stereotypes and biases steer many organizations clear of hiring older workers, whom they presume might retire shortly or struggle to keep up with the “fast-paced” mode of operations that organizations prefer. The story of age discrimination in jobs is not a new one, but it is a factor that is making an appearance more often today. Older workers looking for work that reflects their years of expertise also find a limited number of senior positions willing to let them in, creating blocks that they can do little to dismantle.
Employers do not want to hire Gen Z workers because they consider them untrained and incapable of doing what is needed to survive in the workforce. Employers also do not want to hire struggling older workers who they believe might hold their organization back. This narrows their talent pool down considerably, leaving out a number of job seekers who are keen to contribute to the workforce. The social, cultural, and economic impact of such trends aside, organizations that hire only sparingly from different backgrounds end up with a fragmented workforce of a few distinct groups rearing their heads against the larger, central cohort.
Where Can Employers Step In To Address Workplace Inequality
Gen Xers and Baby Boomers may be approaching retirement, but not all of them are headed in that direction just yet. Some choose to stay employed for their personal satisfaction, while others do so due to their personal circumstances. Regardless of the reason, those willing to work still have much to offer the workforce.
- Blind recruitment practices that focus on skill-based hiring goals
- Eliminate age-coded hiring practices that indirectly call for a specific age group of candidates to apply
- Upskilling, reskilling, and retraining opportunities for the entire workforce to ensure they are on the same page about organizational needs
- Mentorship programs where senior, experienced workers can pass on their knowledge and play the integral support role that technology cannot provide
- Retirement benefits planning to assist those who are on their way out
- Fair pay and access to opportunity without presuming the career goals of older workers
- Reduced roles where older workers can at least seek to consult or contribute their expertise in a modified employment format
Older workers are struggling in the job market, whether due to the changing demands of employers or due to their own challenges in identifying opportunities that are suited to them. Age discrimination hurts all workers in its own way, unfairly divying up opportunity and setting a biased precedent for those who are favored today, to get trapped in tomorrow. In 2026, organizations can benefit greatly from assessing, training, and supporting their existing workforce in keeping up with the changing times, hiring as per skills and expertise rather than any other factor vying to change their mind.
Do you see and acknowledge the struggles of the older workers, or do you see the situation quite differently? Let us know what you think. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights on workplace trends, layoffs, and what to expect with the advent of AI.
