9/25/2013 – Should we bring back mandatory retirement? (MarketWatch)

While the unemployment rate for older workers is lower than that for the general population, older workers who lost their jobs during the Great Recession are still suffering.  The re-employment rate for those ages 55 to 64 is 47%, compared to 62% for 20-to-54-year-olds.  And it takes an average of 52 weeks for older workers to find a new job, compared to about half as long for workers in their early 20s.  Experiments in which researchers sent out resumes for older and younger workers with similar skills have shown that older workers are much less likely to be called in for an interview.  Employers are clearly reluctant to hire older men and women.   One reason might be that employers fear that once they hire an older worker, they may not be able to get rid of these older hires when they are no longer productive.

Read the full article at MarketWatch.