Senior Class '09

Here's a Wall Street Journal article on the growing ranks of unemployed senior citizens, which coincides with more older people staying in the workforce.

The article mentions the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) and service providers Experience Works and Senior Employment Center (Cleveland).

Writer Clare Anberry reports on the difficulties that seniors have in finding employment, mentioning that seniors have a hard time convincing others that they can work, but she also focuses on physical ailments that limit the abilities of those workers featured in the article. Readers may judge that these seniors aren't working because they aren't capable of fulfilling their job duties. Also, while the article states that the SCSEP only has enough funding to serve 1% of the citizens who may be eligible, there is a larger focus on workers who have spent years in SCSEP programs without progressing to unsubsidized employment.

Older workers are part of the changing workforce, but workforce initiatives such as retraining, IT jobs, and green jobs don't always include objectives for serving the oldest workers.