Older workers in the United States

¶ … Capitalism is given credit for its nature of openness and allowing people to expand their potentials without much interference from the government, however due to the argue to expand businesses and improve on their revenues, companies prefer to hire the best individuals in the market and leaving out the rest. Some of the groups that is not preferred at places of work is the aging groups, it is believed that the productivity of employees starts declining from the age of 45 years and thus by the time an employee get 65 years the employers render them useless and usually the employees do not prefer hiring them.

There are other groups of people that are also discriminated against in the society some of these groups include; the disabled, women and the sick. Racial discrimination also fall under this category others that discriminated against people from different parts of the world and their back grounds and color of their skins. In this research work we will be exploring the nature of discrimination displayed in the play; Death of Salesman written by Arthur Miller, "It told of a salesman who is ageing and sells nothing, the buyers abuses him and he borrows his subway fare from the narrator" (Miller viii). We will use the theme of discrimination against the old in the United States and complement this with the work down by other researcher in respect to the same subject.

Age-discrimination in the employment circle can not be overlooked. As is displayed in the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur miller; Willy Loman was demoted to a mare salesperson a job he had done long after joining the company, he was demoted to this position due to his age (Miller 156). He is troubled by the idea of working for long hours and earning very little regardless of the efforts he had put up in his work over the years as an employee in the same company.

Willy is filled with guilt; he thinks he did some mistakes in the past that rendered him desperate all his life as compared to his brother Ben who was already rich at the age of 21 years. Willy concluded that to succeed in employment someone senior must be willing to help you climb the professional ladder. Due to desperation and disapproval from is family Willy decided to quit his job, after a rough ride with his son Huff he decided to commit suicide so that the son can benefit from the insurance cover which was dishonored because they ascertained that Willy committed suicide (Miller 156).

The life of the salesman is a demonstration of many citizens that suffer daily in silence due to their ages. Discrimination against the aged in places of work has been there for a long time. It prompted the government to legislate an Act that protects the aging group in employment, but little achievements have been born out of this Act.

Older Workers Discrimination in the United States

Nelson states that, "the number of unemployed above the age of 45 years has been increasing tremendously in the recent years, above the age of 65 years where the unemployment grows into an avalanche." The number of unemployed people above the age of 55 years has doubled over the last two years, this is spelling doom for the aging population as the population is swelling and the number of people seeking employment is equally multiplying at the same rate. This number contributes about 12% of all the unemployed people in the country (Nelson 65).

Robert Kastenbaum in the Encyclopedia of ageism states that, "There is also an implicit contradiction: scientists and activists deplore societal attitudes and practices that discriminate on the basis of age, but at the same time the major time research programs are often based on the conviction that aging is a bad thing that should be eradicated or controlled." This makes aging not to be perceived as an acceptable state and but rather associated with most negative aspects like being weak. The focus being on frailty associated with aging and not positive attributes like experience and therefore enhances the pursuit of its elimination or delay (Palmore, Laurence and Harris 319). This kind of attitude contributes to the discrimination of the aged. The current situation is prompting the aging population to change their lifestyles so that they can adequately compete with the jobless youth also seeking the same employment. The aging groups are forced to buy fresh attires that they can camouflage in and write new resumes that does not contain old dates. Indications from the recruiting agencies suggests that if an individual portrays any signs of long service in an interview, this is taken as a weakness and they most probably loose their prospective positions to the young who seems to be filled with vigor (66). Regardless of the magnitude of exposure and experience possessed by an individual, age continue to act as a determining factor in the recruitment processes.

The employer say they fear for the health of the aging groups; aging people are observed to be more vulnerable than the young people and thus, hiring them may increase on the costs of medication while their productivity is also found to be low. If an employee is laid off at 45-55 years age bracket, they find it extremely difficult to reclaim their positions. Loretto and white notes the results of this to be, "forced to an early retirement because no other alternative job opportunity could be found by them" (Loretto and White, 345). Analysis done by AARP suggests that more than 70% of the employees above the age of 45 years that loose their jobs are not able to access jobs with equivalent privileges they enjoyed in their previous jobs.

Results from last year alone suggests that the aging group do not even get close to securing employment as they are not even shortlisted to attend interviews. A few years ago the old but educated persons were retained by their companies until they were too old and the company had recruited another person to replace the retiring personnel. Then knowledge was possessed and those that had it secured were sure about their employment opportunities, currently with the advancement of technology, companies are upgrading their system almost annually thus those holding various positions in the organization have to keep up with the advancing technology to protect their employment positions. This forms the bound of contention; the aging population is thought to be slower is learning and with the dynamic globe, organizations and institutions are looking forward to hiring the very best in the job market thus possession of previous experience is no longer a treasure it used to be (Linda).

There are organizations that have been trying to help the aging people to find employment giving them the necessary training that the employers are looking for but still this is not working very well for them. The desperate situation seems to be pushing the aging population out of the job market. Out of all applications received for every job about 20% are from the experienced but aging people, but most of the time they are not even sent regret letters (Rob). The best way to deal with the situation is for the aging employees to invest in other ventures to protect their futures because incase they loose their positions, getting alternative jobs is next to impossible in the current world.

Most employers think that the activities of humans drop drastically as they approach their 50s at 60 years most employers think that the employees cease to be dependable. The employers raised concerns that the employees become more reluctant with age and with time move on they will require trailing because their perfection drops and the output of the organization is equally compromised. Rob considers some of positive attributes of the older workers which are overlooked when he states, some older workers strength consist of, "positive work ethic, experience and wisdom" of which "they should be favored" to their younger counterparts in the decisions of recruitments. Rob also discovered from study findings that the younger workmates are perceived to be better than the older workers if it is not for the hard skills only (Rob).

According to Harris and Palmore in the Encyclopedia of Ageism, a drop in the employees output will be expected to drop with time. The employment fraternity should not disregard the aging generation because they still possess experience that can not be acquired through training; when seemingly unique problems arises in an organization, it is found that experienced employees are more likely to solve it with the first attempt unlike the trained fresh employees who will require some time to study the operation and outlook of the situation. Although their productivity might be lower than the company's expectations, it is necessary to retain the experienced employees as well as give the older job seekers an opportunity to show cases their capabilities (Palmore, Laurence and Harris 285).

There is no specific criterion to determine the nature and level of age discrimination because it is in fact illegal according to the legislative laws of all states of America. However the is age discrimination in the united state especially when it comes to employment, the situation has never been amplified by anything because the rate of unemployment at old age has been low for as long as we can recall. Population explosion all over the world can blame of the hyped figures of unemployed aging people. A few years back almost all elderly citizens were pensioners, but currently there are elderly people in the U.S. who have never held permanent jobs, this is aggravating the situation as more and more aging people flocking into the streets everyday in search for employment.

Most people that have surpassed the 'hiring age' find solace in non-professional jobs like security guards, construction employees and such like jobs. Asked, Mr. Howard said that he been on the streets for more than two years before he settled for construction jobs that are poorly paid and irregular. Before he was fired Mr. Howard had been working as a stock broker but he hinted that he is not able to convince other brokering companies that he is competent, they think he is too old to think. Some aging people are still zealous and only by hiring them can you mange to make a sound judgment about their inabilities (Miller 53).

Nelson refers to the new millennium workforce to be having a workforce demographic which is a mixed picture with regards to the older workers. The shortage of skilled young workers is expected in the future and this "bode well with for older workers who possess advanced skills." The individuals who therefore want to work in their latter years will find this an encouragement (Nelson 163). Mr. Howard thinks best performing employees are the ones above 40 years, he argues that they have little troubles in their lives and they are already settled in their careers which they develop without side tracking on other ambitious projects. I buy the fact that employees above the age of 40 years are more settled in their jobs than their younger counterparts who think they have all the time to develop their careers and switch as many companies as possible.

The older job seekers are observed to be lacking in confidence. "When the older persons introduce themselves to a potential employer they are found to tremble" (Nick 47). This might be as a result of the public perception towards the aging population; the society expects them to be retiring not seeking fresh jobs. Their consciences betrays them because they feel they squandered the opportunities that life presented them and they are force to work overtime to carter for their daily needs and those of their families even when after their active life is supposed to be over. Public perception toward old and working people has not been good at all; they are often mistreated by their bosses, who are supposedly very young. Mistreating the elderly staff is not justified by the states law and should not be condoned in fact the older employees should be given a leeway to participate in the organizations decisions and apply their experience in solving the organizations deadlocks.

Working is important for its psychological rewards that it offers to the individuals because it contributes to the "mental acuity" and also "provides a sense of usefulness" (Lahey 2). This state is however not being addressed with due importance by the policy makers. The desperation in unemployed elderly people will reach its critical point very soon if the subject is not addressed with the urgency it deserves. The subjects should be given the ideas required of them to find employment in the modern world, if refresher courses are demanded by their prospective employers; there are institutions that are ready to help them learn some of the essential skills that the employers require them to possess. It is never too late to learn, changes in technology should never be used to deny the elder jobs, they survived the past transitions; from steam trains to the diesel engines and now the electric engines, they can upgrade their skills and do what they did a few decades ago but now in a different way (Miller 39).

According to Nick, "when people stay out of employment for a long time, they loose the confidence to handle the responsibilities that they had once done." He further states that the loss of confidence can be attributed to the changes in the set up and the rate of improvement in technology (Nick 45). Since the second world the rate of technological around the globe has been very fast with every nation investing heavily in research to ensure they are not surpassed by their rival countries, due to this, exemption of an individual from the professional field for several is enough to cause confusion are technology is evolving very fast and the machinery that were in operation a few years ago are no longer in the market (Rob). The elderly job seekers should thus not be neglected but should be treated like everyone else and taken through the normal recruitment and training processes.

Although there is no legal backing, discrimination against the aging group in places of employment is so immense to be ignored. According to Miller, "A case settled in 2008, Chevron and Monsanto paid about $18 million as compensation to more than 45 employees that had been laid off due to age." Some of the laid off employees were as young as 45 years; this age can not be regarded as old. Employers are continuously working toward hiring the youth who are in their prime year, they are very volatile in technology and their productivity is equally high (Miller 65).