Retirement may be a thing of the past – How the older generation can find success landing a job

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Retirement is seemingly becoming a thing of the past as new research shows older workers’ overall contribution to the labor force is growing.

AARP says many professionals over age 50 face unique challenges that can hurt their chances of getting a new job or advancing in their careers, including age bias and discrimination.

But a shift is starting to happen and there are resources out there to find success in the labor market even for the older generation.

According to AARP, the older workforce has nearly quadrupled in size over the last 40 years, averaging about 11 million people.

They say there can be many benefits to having older employees in the work place.

"Given the employers need for talent, especially in this type labor market. It does make great business sense to hire experienced workers. And research shows that 77% of all workers value their older colleagues for the skills and experience they bring to the job," AARP's VP of Financial Resilience Programming Carly Roszkowski said. "And we want to make sure that these older jobseekers are seen for their skills and their experience, and not their age."

AARP provides resources the older generation can use to showcase their talents encouraging employers to drop the age bias including age proofing the resume, highlighting most relevant job experience and credentials and updating points of contact; leaving AOL and Hotmail email addresses behind.

Throughout February, AARP is offering free, interactive virtual workshops for job seekers.

Need help getting started in your job search? They also provide a step-by-step guide and a job board to help get you started.