The demographic gap and personnel shortage will save you from age discrimination
According to Rosstat, by the end of 2023, Russia recorded the lowest unemployment rate in the entire history of observations since 1991 — 2 ,9%. However, this does not mean that it is easy for people who have reached the “silver age” and want to continue working in our country to find a decent job. As practice shows, if a pensioner loses his job at the age of 60-65, then in the labor market he will continue to be offered vacancies with a decrease in salary and status, despite experience, qualifications and knowledge. Read about the problems older people face when looking for work, and how they should act to find it faster.
Muscovite Tatyana Anatolyevna is 69 years old; she has worked all her life in one of the capital’s research institutes. For the last 13 years I have been in a leadership position, but before the next New Year an unexpected reorganization occurred and our heroine was shown the door: “A completely inexperienced 35-year-old young lady came to take my place. Former colleagues said that an influential admirer who held a high position asked for her, and they could not refuse him. And they immediately gave her a good salary — 150 thousand rubles. I, a graduate of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, with enormous experience and merit, was paid only 85 thousand rubles. And this is with all the extras. And they stripped me of three skins.”
According to a Muscovite, without dating, it is difficult to find a job at an advanced age. Unless it’s a tutor, and even then it’s very doubtful if you didn’t have previous teaching experience and “ties” to universities. “We have to look at things realistically. And in the event of losing a job after 60 years, it is best to look for a new place through friends,” Tatyana Anatolyevna draws a gloomy conclusion, “Even if you are seven spans in the forehead, no one needs pensioners now.” But the young people sit and wipe their pants, they can’t put two words together, but the bosses do.”
However, her own experience refutes this emotional conclusion. Having suddenly become unemployed, the pensioner decided not to give up and posted her resume on several job search sites at once. For the first 3 months, there were few responses, except for an offer for a sales position in a jewelry store with a salary of 50 thousand rubles without tax and with a 2/2 work schedule. According to Tatyana Anatolyevna, she did not even respond: “First of all, I have never worked in trade. And this field of activity is not at all close to me. Secondly, I’m no longer at the age to stand behind the counter all day and try to offer someone something and persuade them to buy it.”
The vacancy for a board game assembler, which our heroine accidentally stumbled upon on the Internet, also didn’t appeal to her. And this despite the good location: just 20 minutes from home and a good salary of 60 thousand rubles. But it was necessary to work 5/2.
“The first time after my dismissal, my son gave me money. But this could not go on forever. And you won’t go far on a pension of 30 thousand rubles. And I began calling district and district government organizations in search of work. In one of the clinics I was asked to come for an interview for the vacancy of a specialist in issuing sick leave certificates. Work entirely on a computer through a special program. Salary — 45 thousand rubles. But I didn’t even consider this proposal. It’s boring and uninteresting,” said the Muscovite.
In order not to waste away at home within four walls, Tatyana Anatolyevna began helping her son’s family for 35 thousand rubles a month and taking her own granddaughter to figure skating, dancing and additional English classes. At the same time, on a daily basis, the pensioner continued to look through the job market: “I understand that ticket attendants in theaters, cloakroom attendants, guards at entrances and exits in museums, concierges also once held good and high positions: perhaps they were heads of departments, accountants, directors enterprises. But still, after working at a research institute, I wanted to find an equally worthy place for myself. This, you know, is the same as in the case of an engineer: he does not have to know all the formulas, but he must know where to look at them. I think it’s better to work, even at 75, than to sit at home, watch TV all day and stand at the stove. I really respect 80-year-old cheerful people who still work and run to work every morning with pleasure, and do not sit on a bench near the house, discussing everyone and everything.”
For almost a year, Tatyana Anatolyevna hung around without work, studying with my granddaughter. During this time, she was invited to an interview everywhere: as a nanny, as a housekeeper, and as an administrator at the hospital reception desk. Everything is wrong.
Our heroine accidentally saw a vacancy for a librarian at one of the Moscow universities on the website where she had once posted her resume. The conditions seemed ideal to her: over 55 years old, higher education, work schedule 5/2, shortened day on Friday, salary — 55 thousand rubles excluding tax. Having gone through three whole rounds of interviews, the pensioner has been working in this position for six months now and advises her older peers not to give up: “Look for your job! Not the first one you come across that you don’t like, but the one you want to come to every day. Already at university, my colleagues told me that the most common reason for not getting a job at retirement age is psychological. It is the feeling of lack of demand and uselessness that leads to the fact that older people spend a long time looking for work. You can find a job, the main thing is desire!”
But Vladimir Ivanovich, a resident of Nizhny Novgorod, at 72 years old, works as a janitor. And this is despite having two higher educations. The mathematician and part-time professional psychologist turned out to be of no use to anyone. “I worked at the same school all my life. I started as a math teacher. And he rose to the rank of head teacher. But 2.5 years ago the director called me into his office and stunned me that he would have to say goodbye to me. The reason is staff reduction. “I was forced to leave,” the man complained.
For the first six months, the pensioner did not want to see anyone, fell into severe depression and started drinking. Our hero lives alone, has been divorced for a long time, has no children: “All my life I wanted to be useful, necessary, I thought that I would always live in the same rhythm until my death. To be honest, I was afraid of becoming a pensioner with a sanatorium, dominoes and therapeutic gymnastics. You understand that not everyone can go to work as a watchman or elevator operator in retirement. Still, it’s quite difficult to go from being a manager or other top specialist to becoming a simple worker.”
A pension of 25 thousand rubles didn’t help much; the Nizhny Novgorod resident had to collect bottles and beer cans and hand them over to a collection point. It cost about 500 rubles at a time.
“I have practically no savings. There is a small amount in an account in one of the banks. But I keep it just for emergencies. Pulling himself together, he stopped drinking and decided to take up tutoring. I called out about it on the Internet, fortunately I know how to use a computer. For an hour-long lesson in mathematics, I set the average tariff for Nizhny Novgorod — 350 rubles,” said Vladimir Ivanovich.
The pensioner began to earn about 5 thousand rubles a week through private tutoring. There were already 20 thousand rubles a month. According to our hero, at first there were many students, but gradually their number began to decrease. Many parents, after 2-3 lessons, found younger tutors for their children, citing the teacher’s age and the supposedly “Soviet” teaching method.
As a result, Vladimir Ivanovich finished tutoring and got a job as a security guard at a grocery store near his home with a salary of 30 thousand “net” rubles and a 2/2 work schedule. But it didn't last long. After a fight between three tipsy citizens, a Nizhny Novgorod resident decided to find a quieter job: “One of my friends advised me to contact the local Employment Center. But the specialist did not find any suitable vacancies for me. The age is supposedly not the same anymore. If only a concierge or a salesperson. She even joked, saying that with my mathematics education, no one would deceive me at the checkout. I left with nothing. And the girl shouted after me that if anything was found, she would call me back. So I believed her.”
For some time, Vladimir Ivanovich solved homework in algebra and geometry for 300 rubles for the children of his former students and others in need. But this didn’t last long either. According to him, he solved them at the university and school.
Our hero tried to taxi. On average, about 25 thousand rubles were collected per month. But his old white Zhiguli only lasted for six months on many kilometers of routes: “After all, I’m used to working officially. According to the work book. And all these tricks are not at all for me. And I no longer knew where to go. We need money. Having learned from the housing office that a janitor was needed, I decided to respond. What to do if they don’t take you anywhere?! Opening hours: from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Salary — 30 thousand rubles. Uniforms and work tools were provided. The main thing is officially and close to home. I am cleaning two neighboring yards. True, it is very difficult in winter. But I'm not complaining. Tajik brothers are helping. They even taught me to speak a little Tajik. And after work I signed up for a dance at the local House of Culture. I don't know how much longer I'll work. But so far I'm happy with everything. You also need to be able to be a pensioner! All works are good. And let the young people say thank you for raising the retirement age: there will be more of us, old and active, for you.”
Data on whether it is easy for people in the “silver age” to find work in Russia today differ. This is explained by the difficult political and demographic situation in the country. In other words, if employers had a choice, then perhaps ageism (from the English age — “age”, that is, age discrimination — “MK”) would flourish, but today there are not enough people in all areas, so companies often have no choice. Thus, according to a SuperJob study, only 4 out of 10 companies are willing to consider retirees on an equal basis with younger candidates. Most often, vacancies for qualified workers and sales employees, engineering and technical workers (E&T), drivers and accountants are open to candidates of retirement age. The most difficult time to find a job is at 57-59 years old.
However, this is not the first year that an increase in the proportion of older applicants has been observed. This trend is especially pronounced among blue-collar occupations. The “aging” of the workforce is largely a consequence of the demographic gap. In addition, the internal Russian labor market situation was clearly influenced by partial mobilization and two waves of emigration that occurred in 2022. Calculations show that by 2030, there will be 7 million fewer citizens aged 30-39 (this is the most active age group in the labor market). There will be 3.7 million more Russians aged 40-59, SuperJob analysts indicated.
“In the context of a difficult demographic situation, which directly affects the shortage of personnel in the labor market, employers have increased demand for applicants of pre-retirement and retirement age,” notes Natalya Danina, chief expert of the hh.ru portal on the labor market. — In these conditions, many companies are building their personnel strategies aimed specifically at attracting candidates of older age categories. Therefore, now the problem of ageism is not so acute: employers are much more loyal to valuable personnel of any age categories.”
For people to successfully find a job “silver age”, HR consultants gave a number of tips, which we have summarized in 7 points:
Set yourself up for success. Your trump card is professionalism and many years of experience.
You should look for a place where your knowledge and experience are primarily needed. Age is no barrier for accountants, medical professionals, lawyers and engineers looking for a new job.
Don't settle for less. As a rule, job seekers in adulthood, trying to find a job as quickly as possible, significantly lower their expectations, agreeing to a low salary and an inconspicuous position. This strategy often leads to failure, so you should choose a completely different tactic. Feel free to submit your resume for a management position if you have the appropriate qualifications. Employers understand that the energy and creativity of young people must be channeled in the right direction, and for this they need a person with life and professional experience.
In order for the employer to understand how valuable an employee you are, you should pay more attention to writing your resume. Indicate 1-2 last places of work and distribute all your rich experience into blocks (for example, “Management activities”, “Teaching activities”, etc.). Be sure to include advanced training courses if you have taken them in recent years. And remove everything that is irrelevant for today’s labor market. For example, taking a computer course is unlikely to help you find a job in the third decade of the 21st century.
Do not hesitate to use your contacts and connections. “Your professional connections can be a valuable resource when searching for a job,” reminds Natalya Danina. — Reach out to former colleagues, friends and acquaintances to inquire about job opportunities or get advice.”
Pay attention to special programs at the federal or regional level aimed at employing people of different ages, for example, the state project “Employment Promotion”. Since “big data” is consolidated there on various requests from employers, there is a high probability that you will find a suitable vacancy for yourself or a way to find a job after completing advanced training courses.
When interviewing a recruiter or potential employer, be tactful, neither Under no circumstances should you complain about your age or life circumstances. Remember that you are perceived the way you feel about yourself. Go to the interview with the mood of a winner.
If you are faced with outright age discrimination, then you can try to defend your position. As Natalya Danina reminds, the Labor Code is on your side. In accordance with Article 64 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, unjustified refusal to conclude an employment contract is prohibited. When hiring, an employer cannot be guided by any direct or indirect characteristics of a candidate, including age, gender, etc., the expert reminds.