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THE BACK STORY: OLDER WORKERS
Founded 1868
Publisher and Editor in Chief
JEFF LIGHT
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2018
VOLUME 27, NUMBER 245
Published daily by
The San Diego Union-Tribune LLC
(ISSN 1063-102x)
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THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
Finding, keeping a job not like old days
In Sunday’s Back Story, staff writ-
ers Mike Freeman and Lori Weis-
berg discuss what inspired them to
report on older workers and how
they pursued the story.
BY MIKE FREEMAN
& LORI WEISBERG
Q:
What made you decide to
explore the challenges
older workers face in today’s labor
market?
A: The initial idea stemmed
from a notion that a greater
percentage of older workers were
being let go from companies,
particularly tech firms, than
millennial workers. However, that
turned out to be hard to prove
because there is little data avail-
able. In 2011, the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics stopped collect-
ing information on the percentage
of older workers who lost their
jobs in mass layoffs compared
with other age groups.
Interest in the topic revived
after Lori returned earlier this
year from a journalism fellowship
program organized by the Na-
tional Press Foundation, which
focused on the question of why
Americans are working longer.
Q: Isn’t today’s job market very
tight, so shouldn’t getting a
job — no matter what your age —
be easy to get?
A: It would seem so, and there
have been recent articles
talking about how older workers
are more in demand and how
some are even coming out of
U N I O N -T R I B U N E T O P P O D C A S T S
The Conversation: Has the phrase
“enemy of the people” gone too far?
sandiegouniontribune.com/
conversation-enemy
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Kim Selnick, 64, was laid off
in April after 21 years with
her employer. Her job search
has been frustrating.
retirement to respond to the
need for more workers.
Yet even with such a low un-
employment rate, certain posi-
tions remain competitive, and
many workers in their 50s and
older told us they are having to
take lower paid jobs or gig work
like driving for Uber or Lyft to
make ends meet.
Q: What evidence did you find
of age discrimination?
A:
Therein lies the problem,
not only for journalists
taking a deep dive into the issue
but also for researchers and
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attorneys who specialize in this would provide evidence that
field of law. Although there con- older workers are having a
tinues to be age discrimination tougher time staying employed
lawsuits filed against tech and or finding employment.
other companies, it is difficult to The data that is available
determine if there has been an clearly points to older workers
uptick in illegal activity. Espe- becoming an increasingly impor-
cially hard to prove is age dis- tant part of the nation’s work-
crimination in the hiring process. force. However, there is only
One woman in her 60s told us spotty San Diego data on this
about a job interview by phone trend, and while statewide stat-
where she was asked a question istics are better, they are not
that made it clear the interviewer complete.
knew her age when she had never So the Union-Tribune relied
disclosed it on her application. on national numbers from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and
Q: How did you find workers? others for this story. Statistics
showing longer periods of unem-
A:
A query we posted on Face- ployment for older workers were
book elicited no responses probably the most telling among
at all. RetirementJobs.com the numbers we looked at.
emailed a request to users of its
Q:
website, which generated a hand- What surprised you most
ful of good leads. But the bulk of in your reporting?
A:
the people we interviewed came One of the more surprising
from a solicitation published in things was the response we
the newspaper. received when the Union-Trib-
une published blurbs seeking
Q:
Are these workers able to older workers to share their
find jobs — just not the jobs stories. For the most part, these
they had before? (So they earn were not people who wrote to us
less?) to simply complain or vent.
A: It’s a mixed bag. Some Instead, we received thought-
workers eventually found ful, credible responses from
jobs, although several told us older individuals unsure if their
they took sizable cuts in pay, in age/experience was hindering
part, because they found employ-
ment outside their field in a
lower-paying position.
their job search, though they
suspected it was to some extent.
What they did share was
Q: What was the most difficult
considerable angst about the
process of looking for work these
part about reporting this days — particularly after apply-
story? ing for a multitude of jobs listed
A:
Finding clear data, espe- online and getting very few re-
cially income data, that sponses.
Re:Focus: Congressman Duncan Hot Lava Padcast: Kevin Acee and Jay
Hunter indicted: What’s next for Posner discuss Luis Urias’ impact plus the
the story and the district? rationale behind not letting Jacob Nix try
sandiegouniontribune.com/ for a complete game. sandiegouniontri-
rf-hunter bune.com/hlp-rockies
ing the arts.
P EO P L E Del Rey was to headline
the inaugural Meteor Festi-
Lana Del Rey cancels val in northern Israel this
week. BDS urges businesses,
Israel performance
artists and universities to
Singer Lana Del Rey has
canceled her planned per-
sever ties with Israel. It says
it’s a nonviolent way to pro-
formance at an Israeli music mote the Palestinian cause.
festival after pressure from But Israel says it masks a
* Palestinian boycott activists.
In a Twitter message late
more far-reaching aim to
de-legitimize or destroy the
Friday, Del Rey says she is Jewish state.
WORK
delaying “until a time when I
can schedule visits for both Strait’s drummer killed
my Israeli and Palestinian
fans.” It wasn’t clear in Tenn. car wreck
whether it was a direct The longtime drummer
response to the Boycott, for country music star
Divestment, Sanctions George Strait has been
movement’s boycott call. killed in a car wreck outside
Still, it marked a setback for of Nashville.
Israel, which aims to pre- Strait spokeswoman
vent politics from infiltrat- Ebie McFarland confirmed
59-year-old Michael A.
Kennedy of Baxter, Tenn.,
died Friday.
The Tennessean reports
Kennedy had been the drum-
mer for Strait’s Ace in the
Hole Band for nearly 30
years. Strait’s production
manager Paul Rogers said
“the heart beat of our band is
gone.”
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