When Edward van Rhijn went for a job interview, he decided to dye his greying hair in an attempt to appear younger, hopefully enhancing his chances of landing a job.
Van Rhijn, 54, has also revamped his resume to one page instead of two and removed the dates of his employment so employers couldn’t guess his age, something he feels is the biggest hurdle he's faced in trying to find work since being let go at the beginning of the pandemic.
“I really think that some people look at someone with grey hair and go ‘oh they’re frail, they’re old, we can’t expect them to do anything that’s manual labour intensive,’” the Guelph resident said.
At the start of the pandemic van Rhijn was terminated from Avidbots in Kitchener where he did product certification compliance. Two years later he is still without a job.
“One of the things I found is that once they have an interview with me and they see how old I am they turn around and just don’t want to hire me,” said van Rhijn.
He has applied for countless jobs, had many interviews and said he has been ghosted by human resources at the places he had interviewed for. Even headhunters ask him to interview with them and a job is never offered.
Some employers were concerned about the physical labour aspect and the toll it would take on him commuting for a job. Van Rhijn said it wasn’t an issue for him, he has commuted and done physical labour in the past.
What is discouraging about the job hunt is he sees on the news manufacturing companies are looking to hire and there are not many applicants. When he applied to these companies he didn't hear a word back.
He's not alone.
The non-profit organization Generation, which facilitates job opportunities for the unemployed, underemployed and those who need to learn new skills, released a report in 2021 detailing ageism in employment. They found adults aged 45 and over have trouble finding employment. Their search for finding a job goes on longer than others. Individuals 45 and older looking for work are 63 per cent unemployed for a year or more.
One of the reasons older adults are pushed to continue to work is because of inadequate savings for retirement.
In a survey Generation conducted for the report they found hiring managers' main concerns for workers over 45 were that they thought they would be unable to learn new skills, reluctant to try new technologies and have difficulty working with other generations.
In a survey conducted by Express Employment Professionals, a staffing provider in Canada, 81 per cent thought their age was a consideration in the hiring process. Half of those people in the 55 to 64-year-old category thought ageism was an issue in the workforce when seeking employment.
“I know with older workers it might be harder for them in terms of networking,” said Sue Gordon, job developer at Guelph's 2nd Chance Employment Counselling.
“A lot of the older workers that we see have been in jobs for a long time so they’re not really experienced in going out the way that younger folks might be with social networking.”
Adults who are in the 45 to 55 age range don't have long until retirement age. “It really is demoralizing sometimes because your job is so wrapped up in who you are,” she said.
“For women I find aging affects them more than men. Usually men don’t have that stigma of aging than women do.”
Gordon suggested people changing careers or looking for employment should beef up their LinkedIn profile and network with other people in their desired industry.
When options for work become limited, older adults may internalize ageist views and accept lower paying jobs as a result, even if their credentials prove they deserve more according to an article from the University of Toronto Quarterly, called It’s Time to Retire Ageism against Older Workers.
