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Many over 50 struggling to resurrect Covid-hit careers
Many people in their 50s, left unemployed due to the Covid-19 impact on industries and the job sector, are struggling to find employment
Many people in their 50s, left unemployed due to the Covid-19 impact on industries and the job sector, are struggling to find employment.
While most are reluctant to open up, some do. “The worst time to get laid off is in your 50s,” said a former sales and senior marketing manager (with an MBA degree), who suddenly found himself retrenched in April 2021 by the private firm he had been working for the past nine years.
“At an age when you have more responsibilities than your younger colleagues and your children are yet to start earning, and you also have elderly parents to take care of, suddenly finding yourself without a job is a huge setback,” said Anant Singh, a 53-year-old Allahpur resident.
“Even with 25 years of marketing experience under my belt, I can’t find a job even as an assistant manager as every firm wants younger guys. There is bias against anyone who is 50 or above,” he claimed.
Data too supports his claim. As many as 314 educated but unemployed individuals – between 50 and 59 years of age – have registered with the Regional Employment Office, Prayagraj, in search of a job. The count, officials maintain, is higher than those seen by the office even in 2021 at the height of the pandemic. Many of those looking for jobs are women too.
The number of unemployed in the age group of 50 to 59 years was 217 till December 2020 and 203 till December 2019, officials concede while expressing inability to comment directly owing to the model code of conduct being in place due to the ongoing state assembly polls.
Apart from Prayagraj, the unemployed of Pratapgarh, Kaushambi and Fatehpur are also registered in the Regional Employment Office of Prayagraj. If one looks at the figures of the last three years, it becomes clear that the number of unemployed registered with the office has increased.
If the data of registered unemployed is looked at according to age, then the maximum 78,893 registered are in the age group of 20 to 29 years while another 26,109 are in the age group of 18 to 19 years and 73,516 are in the age group of 30 to 39 years one job. There are 7,116 people in the age group of 40 to 49 who are also looking for jobs. Interestingly, unemployed people below the age of 17 have also registered with the office. There are 7,145 such teenagers who too want jobs.
Social scientist and director, GB Pant Social Science Institute, Prayagraj, Prof Badri Narayan, conceded that the outbreak of the pandemic resulted in a large number of layoffs, including those in the age group of 50 to 59 years. “Most firms want to retain and hire people in their peak performing years: between 20s to 40s and it is a lot tougher for those losing jobs in their 50s to regain employment. Even if one does get a job, it is mostly at a lower post and pay scale. In this way, it can be said that a bias does exist against people over 50 who end up losing jobs,” he added.
