Does Age Discrimination Play a Role in Unemployment?

The current economy has brought the highest rate of unemployment since the great depression.  Jobs are outsourced overseas, companies are cutting staff to increase the bottom line and small businesses are failing.  Because of the high rate of unemployment competition for jobs is fierce.  What role does age discrimination play for those unemployed and over 40?  The bigger question is what can be done about it?

I was laid off my job in 2009 from a Canadian insurance company based out of Vancouver, British Columbia.  They decided to close our Seattle office and our staff of around 20 found ourselves without work.  I spent the next two years searching for a job, sending out hundreds of resumes and receiving no responses.  "How can this be?" I thought.  I have a master's degree in management, I shouldn't be having trouble finding a job.

I found that other insurance companies were outsourcing my position I had worked in for 13 years overseas and there were no companies hiring for that position locally.  Discouraged and downtrodden from some events in my personal life I decided to move out of state and look for work elsewhere.

I moved to a city in the southwest and found myself in the same situation as Seattle.  I did however start to notice some trends in my job hunt.  When I went to the unemployment office to use their computer I noticed that most of the people using the resources in the office were mostly over the age of 40.  I also noticed as I was filling out an application for Starbucks that there was a field they wanted you to fill out if you were under the age of 40.  I realized this was a backhanded way of finding out if the prospective employee was over the age of 40 or not.  Yet on their website they define diversity as Diversity = Inclusion + Equity + Accessibility, with equity defined as fairness and justice.  I did not fill out the field and wasn't surprised that I wasn't contacted for a position.  As I was filling out applications from other businesses I noticed they all seemed to include this field in their applications.

My unemployment ran out and I found myself going to a temporary day labor agency.  I waited for four hours to be chosen for a job.  I arrived at 7 AM and at about 11 AM I looked around the room and noticed that all of the people left and waiting to be called up for a position were middle aged or older.  That is when it finally hit me, I am being discriminated against!

What can be done to stand up for your rights?  According to the US Department of Labor website  "The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination on the basis of age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employment. "  You can call or visit your local Labor and Industries office and file a complaint against the employer you feel has hiring practices that discriminate against older applicants.

Also you should write a letter to the head of the company or organization detailing the Age Discrimination Act of 1967 and inform them they are breaking the law and that you are filing a complaint.  You probably won't get the job, but you will be changing the hiring practices in your community for the future.