Event shows that there's workers hungry for jobs
Earl Cooley, 69, is re-entering the workforce after recently earning his high school diploma and HVAC certification. Cooley's wife Kathleen works full-time, but he seeks part-time work to pay for the cost of heating during the winter months. Cooley spoke with Guido Favata of the Bertera Auto Group to inquire about the company's job opportunities. Reminder Publications photo by Carley Dangona
By Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.com
Regular readers of PRIME know that I started a bi-monthly column with tips for older jobseekers back in January.
I had a hunch – based on some of the experiences my friends and family members have had of late – that it might be something individuals in this area would find useful.
I think I may have been on to something. On May 19, the West Springfield Council on Aging (COA) took that idea one step further and hosted a job fair at its Park Street Senior Center for workers age 50 and older who were looking for part-time and full-time employment.
The fair was preceeded by a resume workshop a few days before the event, where Marcia Eagleson, career assistant for Springfield College, offered would-be jobseekers tips on how to polish their resumes for the new work world, as well as advice on putting their best foot forward in the job interview.
Laurie Cassidy, COA executive director said about 24 people signed up for the pre-fair workshop.
Most people who had inquired about the job fair, she told PRIME, already had their resumes ready and were pounding the pavement.
The response to the Job Fair itself was much more dramatic.
Between 500 and 600 individuals took advantage of the opportunity to speak with the more than 30 employers who attended the fair.
Jim Leyden, COA deputy director said he and Cassidy felt the event was "an enormous success."
He added, "We met a need in the community."
The West Springfield fair was the first of its kind in the area, and Cassidy said she decided to create this opportunity for older workers based on the level of interest and desire she's seen in individuals visiting the senior center.
The need, and the response to, this opportunity for elders to stay in, or re-enter the workforce seems to speak volumes about the nature of our economy, the nature of our society, the nature of work, and the changing face of aging.
Gone it seems, are the days when individuals in their 50s could consider taking early retirement and live a life of leisure on their accumulated wealth.
The economic downturn, the technological upheaval in the world of work, globalization, longevity, ageism… it's hard to put a finger on what may be prompting this reversal of a decades-old retirement trend.
Perhaps some of these individuals find themselves in the situation my husband and I are in – we're older parents with a child still in school. We won't be able to realistically look at retirement until late in our 60s, perhaps, our 70s, providence willing.
It might be families where the parents find they still need to help their children. The job market has not been kind to any age group of late, and many young people are saddled with debt from pursuing an education.
I know I have extended family helping out young marrieds who are working hard to make ends meet.
Whatever the reason, the path to retirement has taken a dramatic change. I hope we haven't seen the last of these older workers job events. There is, it seems, a true need.
