Unemployment
worse for older workers who are Black, female or lacking college degrees.
Among the newly unemployed older workers is Legasse Gamo, 65. He was laid off in March from his job as a baggage handler at Reagan National airport in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Virginia.
While Gamo is afraid of exposing himself to the coronavirus by working around others, he said he has looked for work – because he feels he has little choice but to take any job he can find.
The contractor he worked for, Eulen America, has required its laid-off employees to reapply for their jobs. Gamo did so but said he has received no reply.
The immigrant from Ethiopia supports three grandchildren, ages 6, 12 and 14, who live with him. His daughter is still employed, but her pay is not enough to cover their expenses. Gamo gets $210 a week in unemployment insurance payments and said he has spent almost all of his savings.
“I just want to get back to my job as soon as possible to support my family because I’m afraid we will end up homeless,” Gamo said.
The New School study focused only on workers with established careers. As a result, it did not examine workers younger than 35.
It found that the pandemic has posed a unique risk for older workers, said Teresa Ghilarducci, director of the New School’s Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
“The higher rate of unemployment for older workers might be because this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for employers to shed older workers and not fear investigation by the Labor Department,” Ghilarducci said.
She added: “Age discrimination rules are not being tightly enforced. Employers, fearing economic instability, may want to get rid of relatively more expensive workers and take their chances with training new workers when the economy recovers.”
Older workers often face age discrimination, making it difficult for them to find jobs.
Researchers believe employers laid off and resisted rehiring older adults, in part because they tend to face more serious health risks when infected by the virus.