This week I visited the unemployment office in Muskogee. The people who work there are very good at what they do and I found them to be courteous and helpful As I mentioned in one of my status's on facebook, it was also a very depressing place. It didn't "feel" hopeful there. Mainly, I felt a sense of sadness as I looked around and saw the number of people who were seeking employment, many of them older workers.
Eight years ago when I visited the Unemployment office, it was a whole different crowd. For one thing, the people there using the computers to look for work and waiting in line to sign up were much younger and probably a lot more hopeful than the crowd I experienced on Monday. The average age of the person there was probably 50. There were many people there, men and women who from the bits and pieces of conversation I overheard and the way in which they were dressed (professional) were displaced professionals, managers, supervisors and such.
In a youth driven society, it seems that the older workers are not valued for what they have accomplished and the wisdom they have from life experience, work experience, etc. but instead viewed as strictly a number in some cases. Financially, most probably make more at their job than their younger co-workers. The old saying "you get what you pay for" comes to mind. Longevity has its price as years of service translates into years of pay increases for a job well done until at some point you reach the top of your field and max out your earning ability.
And then, somewhere someone who is looking strictly at numbers on paper and not the person or the value behind those numbers, realizes that "hey, i can get this younger person a whole lot cheaper, assume them to be a whole lot healthier (which is not always the case) and not nearly as "set in their ways" as the worker who has been there for years.
I am not knocking the younger generation. I am not suggesting that they are taking the jobs away from older workers. What I am lamenting, is that the number crunchers don't take the time to know the person, see the history, respect the loyalty and longevity sometimes when making a decision. As I sat and waited my turn and talked to people who sat around me, it was a common theme. Out with the old, in with the new.
A pastor I once knew who was both a chaplain for his company AND a pastor for his church said to me one day that he felt "women should not be in the workplace because they were taking jobs that God intended for men in order for them to support their families." I remember being very offended by his view. I think rather that the person best suited for a job should have the job regardless of sex, age, health care costs, or longevity. I remember telling him that maybe he should give up one of his 2 jobs because he was taking a job that someone else needed. He didn't much like that.
Health care premiums that employers pay may have some connectivity to the age of their workers but even in that regard I don't think it should be considered. Younger women have maternity costs. Add to that the cost of missed work due to childcare issues and sick children and I would hazard a guess that its pretty much the same cost in a financial sense.
And so as the saying goes "some things get better with age" I think that corporate America is shooting themselves in the foot by pushing the older worker out the door.
Wine for example gets better with age. It takes years and years for some of the best wines to age and become truly great. A cast iron skillet gets better and better as it is used and seasoned. Baseball gloves are pretty awkward when they are brand new but as they are worn in (aged) they become better and better at doing the job they were made for. You have only to look at the price of antiques at a flea market to realize that age makes some things more valuable. Experience is something you cannot buy. Experience is a valuable asset in business and in life.
I think if I took a quick survey of my peers, they would all agree that they would not want to go back to being 20, or 30, or even 40. There is a certain freedom that comes with age. You have made and recovered from mistakes and are much wiser, you have raised your children and now get to enjoy spoiling your grandkids and then returning them to their parents for all the hard stuff like discipline, you have come to realize that the pursuit of a perfect body was pretty trivial in the scheme of things as you embrace those people who don't care if you have curves and lumps because they love the total person. You have matured, like a fine wine into something of infinite value, a fountain of knowledge gained from years of life. It's not a bad place to be.
To you young folks out there...respect your elders....they have a lot of wisdom to impart if you are willing to listen...To all you corporate heads out there..respect your older workers, they have a lot of wisdom to impart and are worth the money that you pay them, and to all you seasoned adults out there....just because someone doesn't recognize your value doesn't mean you aren't valuable...their loss if they think that way..
I read this in one of those little small town newspapers the other day. It didn't give an author so I will have to assume author unknown. It made me smile and I hope it makes you smile as well.
Its called OMG, I'm rich!
OMG, I'm rich!
Silver in the hair
gold in the teeth
crystals in the kidney
sugar in the blood
lead in the butt
iron in the arteries
and an inexhaustable supply
of natural gas!
I never thought I would accumulate such wealth.
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