Vocational rehabilitation of older displaced workers.

Displaced workers are generally defined as individuals who Dare involuntarily unemployed as a result of layoffs, reductions-in-force (rif's), mergers, plant closings or plant relocations (Beckett, 1988; Fritz, 1990). In this article, older workers will be defined as all persons over age 40 who are covered by the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967. Workers become displaced due to a variety of factors related to technological, economic and health changes. Automation eliminates jobs or alters their skill requirements so that some workers become obsolete in the labor market. Technological change can also herald the decline of some industries and the advent of new ones for which the worker may not be skilled. Plant closings or relocations are often motivated by economic changes. For a number of years, economic factors have caused the decline of manufacturing jobs in this country in favor of Third World countries where labor is cheaper; taxes are lower; there are fewer governmental regulations; and suppliers of raw materials are in closer proximity (Beckett, 1988).

At the same time that economic and technological changes are eliminating jobs, they are also creating new jobs that go unfilled because current workers are often mismatched due to a lack of appropriate training. Another factor is that new jobs are often lower paid and lower status creating a gap in worker expectations and self-image.

Most displaced workers encounter some difficulties in becoming re-employed but the problems are more difficult to surmount past the age of 40. Thirty-eight percent of three million of the workers who lost their jobs from 1980 to 1985 were over the age of 45 (National Council on Aging, 1986).

The prevalence of disability is also becoming an increasingly important factor in older worker unemployment. Two thirds of SSDI recipients are over age 50 (Morrison & Magel, 1984) and 80% of individuals over age 60 suffer from physical conditions that limit their ability to work (Myers, 1980). The average 55-year-old functions at 40% of vital capacity when compared with the average 20-year-old (Kemp & Kleinplatz, 1985). In addition, the average disabled worker is 50 years old at onset of disability (Hester & Faimon, 1985). This article will examine and make recommendations to overcome the causes of older worker displacement and unemployment. It will also discuss social trends which will eventually lessen the problem and steps that the vocational rehabilitation community can take to alleviate the plight of this population.

Problems Encountered by Older, Displaced Workers:

Ageism is the major barrier that older, displaced workers face in finding new employment. Because the myths of ageism have been documented in many articles and should be well known to rehabilitation professionals, they will be treated briefly here. Some of the myths refuted by research include:(1) Older workers are slower than young workers;(2) Older workers do not have the physical capacities to perform the job;(3) Older workers have high absenteeism rates;(4) Older workers do not adjust well to change;(5) Pension and insurance costs are substantially higher; and (6) Intellectual functioning and performance on the job decline with age (Myers, 1980). Other myths describe the older worker as opinionated and hard to get along with, less serious and less ambitious than younger workers (Sheppard, 1986).

Both employers and the rehabilitation system (Rasch, 1979) may deny opportunities for retraining to the older worker. This may result in skill obsolescence in the face of rapid technological change (Sheppard, 1986). The rationale is that the older worker may retire too soon to warrant the training expenditure. Yet, retraining a 50-year-old may be more cost-effective than training a young person because older employees have lower turnover rates. Given the fast pace of technological change, most workers have to be retrained every few years to acquire new skills for new technology. Because of this and because of the lower turnover rates of older workers, it would seem that retraining older workers can be just as cost effective as retraining younger workers (Sheppard, 1986).

The need for additional training may be most acute among older workers. As the age level of a population increases, level of education decreases causing lack of basic literacy skills to be more prevalent. Despite lengthy work histories, older workers may only have experience in declining industries (Herbert & Dambrocia, 1989).

Business practices during downsizing operations may produce a disproportionate number of older, displaced workers (Fritz, 1990) due to trends toward laying off workers with higher salaries who may be older workers. Although this practice may be illegal because it can be construed as age discrimination, it seems to occur often enough to be a major factor contributing to the number of older, displaced workers.

Current demographics indicate that it will be increasingly beneficial to society if workers postpone their age of retirement past 65 (Moon & Hushbeck, 1989). With the aging of the baby boomers and the advent of the "baby bust," there are fewer young people to fill entry-level jobs currently being created. Increasingly, older workers, especially retired persons, are being looked to as an untapped labor market. Business and trade publications are full of articles on how to recruit, train and manage this pool of older employees (Glascock, 1990; Petreycik, 1990; Stack, 1989; Gillette, 1989). Retail, restaurant, hotel and other service industries are especially interested in older workers.

These opportunities for entry-level employment tend to be most advantageous for retired persons who are looking for part-time work to occupy their time and supplement their pensions. For older workers who are not retired and must obtain their main income from employment, most of these jobs represent a considerable loss of status and money. During the 1980's, industries that were creating jobs paid an average of $10,404 less per year than downsizing industries (Moon & Hushbeck, 1989). Obviously, this creates a "squeeze-effect" for older workers who are laid off.

Although these entry level, service-oriented jobs will continue to increase in the 1990's, there will also be an eventual shortage of workers to fill higher status, better-paid jobs. As the baby boomers continue to age and move up the career ladder, there will be a shortage of "baby bust" workers to fill the more desirable jobs (Moon & Hushbeck, 1989). In a few years, this should reduce the number of older, displaced workers.

Besides ageism and obsolescence of work skills, older, displaced workers may face situational barriers. Workers who have been employed a long time may find that their job seeking skills are rusty and that they do not have an adequate network of job-related contacts (Moon & Hushbeck, 1989). They may be hampered by lack of transportation, poor health and their own attitudes. They may feel that they are too old to work, to learn anything new or to compete with younger workers (Brady, Palermo, Scott, Fernandez, & Norland, 1987).

Although vocational rehabilitation services can help, access to them is often limited by the same ageism stereotypes that pervade the rest of society. Several authors (Rasch, 1979; Morrison & Magel, 1984; Herbert & Dambrocia, 1989) have documented a general bias against serving older clients with disabilities. The assumption is that older individuals are less likely to benefit from vocational rehabilitation services than younger clients. Rasch (1979) refuted this assumption in a study that indicated older clients are as likely to be successfully rehabilitated as younger ones despite the fact that less money is spent in service provision. Ageism may be the main reason why older, displaced workers have received so little attention from the rehabilitation community.

Service Provision to Older, Displaced Workers -- A Model:

In establishing a model for service provision to this population, it is not necessary to develop special methods and techniques. Rather, techniques that are considered good rehabilitation practice for any population can be adapted to address the special concerns of older workers. Here are some recommendations for addressing the types of issues that often surface when providing services to older workers: 1. Vocational Counseling is the starting point and can be the

single most beneficial tool to be used with the unemployed

Older worker but the counselor must be mindful of the

unique concerns of this population. In counseling the older

worker, several special issues must be addressed.

a. Older workers, especially those in their 40's, may go

through a mid-life crisis or transition when faced with

unemployment (Power, Hershenson & Schlossberg,

1985). The counselor who works with older, displaced

workers should become familiar with the dynamics of

mid-life transition and be prepared to deal with it in

counseling.

b. During mid-life transition, most people re-evaluate how

they have lived their lives thus far and make decisions

about changes for the future. Often this process involves

a major re-evaluation of career goals. Because their

values may be changing, older workers may benefit from

interest testing and values clarification exercises. The

counselor should not assume that the individual will

prefer to continue on the same track as previously. If

adequate resources are available to support it, a major

career change may be appropriate at this time.

c. Loss and grief issues often constitute a major component

of the mid-life crisis. The older worker will have to

come to terms with loss of former job status, income

level and physical prowess. It may be useful for the

counselor to help the older worker learn to separate

achievement from self-worth.

d. In addition to being limited by the ageism of others, older

workers are often limited by their own identification with

the stereotypes of aging (i.e. as being useless, sick or too

old for certain things). The vocational counselor may

have to address the worker's own negative self-perceptions

as an older person (Middleton & McDaniel, 1990). 2. Goal Selection will often be affected by unresolved loss and

grief, and the economic realities of the local labor market.

The older worker may be inflexible and unrealistic regarding

salary expectations and type of work sought. While

considering actual income needs, the counselor must be

able to assist the worker in accurately assessing the labor

market and developing realistic goals. To accomplish this,

the counselor must have access to accurate, current labor

market information, especially salary levels.

a. The Initial Interview and Intake Procedures. Older workers

often over- or under-estimate their strengths and

weaknesses in the job market and find it difficult to

develop alternate vocational goals (Hitchcock, 1984).

To address these issues, the counselor must have techniques

for accurately assessing vocational skills and

aptitudes. Because the best predictor of future behavior

is past behavior and older workers have long employment

histories, a detailed vocational interview is the

most crucial first step (Azrin, 1980). This interview can

be supplemented with formal testing to fill in the gaps.

b. Assessing Transferable Skills. Because displaced workers

often come from declining industries, the counselor

needs to be able to accurately assess transferable skills

which may reduce the need for retraining. Automated

transferable skills analysis systems (i.e. OASYS,

CAPCO, VOCOMP, VDARE, etc.) are available, but

they are not an adequate substitute for the knowledge of

an experienced counselor.

c. if the labor market is large and varied, it would be helpful

for the counselor to develop a cross referencing system

for transferable skills from declining industries to stable

or growing industries. It may be possible to add this type

of local data bank to some of the automated transferable

skills analysis systems.

d. Ageism and handicappism tend to increase as the amount

of competition of jobs increases. Conversely, when

there is a shortage of workers, employers are more

willing to consider those whom they would have previously

ignored. It would be beneficial for counselors

to identify those businesses or industries in the local

labor market that are experiencing shortages of workers.

A job bank devoted specifically to these employers (i.e.

fast food restaurants, retail establishments, service industries,

etc.) would be useful.

e. Start-up companies or new companies coming into an

area may be more willing to hire older workers because

they may find it difficult to hire enough workers with

adequate training, skills and aptitudes. Because of this,

counselors should make an effort to be aware of these

employers and the types of jobs they offer.

f. Networking with organizations that focus on the needs

of older workers may also be helpful. These include

American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Projects

With Industry (PWI), veterans programs, etc. 3. Training or Retraining should be made available for the

older, displaced worker, but some special factors should be

considered.

a. Since older workers tend to be less well-educated, basic

literacy skills may be lacking. When this is suspected,

the worker should be referred for academic achievement

testing and proper remedial instruction prior to beginning

vocational training.

b. since many older workers (especially those who dropped

out of high school) may feel threatened at the prospect of

returning to school, retraining should be accomplished on

the job whenever possible. OJT's also have the advantage

of offering built-in experience during the training and

possible placement opportunities at completion. These

factors help to overcome some of the ageism encountered

in placing an older worker in an entry-level job.

c. Self-paced training programs should be considered because

older workers sometimes have difficulties in reacquiring

learning techniques and study habits. 4. Job Placement of the older worker can benefit from use of

some of the considerations mentioned above under Goal

Selection (#2). Especially, it is important to identify job

leads in start-up companies or growth industries.

a. The older worker often lacks job seeking skills and feels

discouraged about job hunting because of concerns

about age discrimination. A referral to a job club is often

the most effective way of handling both issues and

providing the older job seeker with a club composed

mostly of workers over age 40 helps the older job seeker

to feel less alone and to share ideas for overcoming

age-related issues in employer contacts.

b. If the worker is still employed but expecting to be laid

off, it is advisable to begin the job search immediately

since it is usually easier to get another job while still

employed at the last one. 5. Physical Capacities may have to be considered even if the

older worker is not officially defined as having a disability.

a. In developing occupational goals with the older worker,

it may be necessary to conduct job analyses and compare

them with the physical capacities of the worker.

b. For older workers who are motivated to return to work,

physical capacities evaluations are best if they are performance-based

rather than based on a physician's subjective

impressions.

c. If the worker's ability to perform the job appears to be

marginal as a result of poor conditioning due to lack of

exercise, a referral for work hardening may be beneficial

prior to starting the job. 6. Employer Education. In addition to addressing the specific

needs of individual, older, displaced workers, the rehabilitation

community can combat ageism in the workplace

through educating employers about the advantages of hiring

and retaining older workers.

a. Some of these advantages included (McConnell, 1984):

(1) Motivation level, self-reliance and experience may

influence performance with age; (2) Turnover rate

among older workers is lower; (3) Older males have a

lower absenteeism rate than younger males; (4) Older

workers have a lower incidence of industrial injuries.

b. Since many industries are now looking to older workers

and workers with disabilities as untapped labor markets,

rehabilitation professionals can work with business

leaders to better access these populations.

c. Rehabilitation professionals can also offer their services

in the form of outplacement programs to declining businesses

or industries in their areas.

d. Career counseling programs can be established with

major employers to help workers adjust to technological

changes without job loss or a change of employer.

e. Public relations campaigns can be developed for fund

raising and to increase community awareness of the

problems of older, displaced workers. Counselors can

put on workshops and presentations to civic groups,

appear on local radio and TV talk shows, and write

articles for the popular press that serve the community.

f. Economic incentives for employers such as TJTC (Herbert

& Dambrocia, 1989) may be available. There may

also be financial incentives through state workers compensation

systems. If the incentives that are available

are not adequate, it may be possible to lobby for these

on a local or statewide basis.

Summary and Conclusions

Older, displaced workers are a population that has long been neglected by rehabilitation professionals because of persistent age stereotypes that pervade society. Due to global economic changes and the advent of high technology, the number of displaced workers is likely to increase well into the 1990's. Eventually, the shortage of workers in the "baby bust" generation may help in alleviating the problem, but in the meantime, vocational rehabilitation can assist older, displaced workers become re-employed. The techniques used for rehabilitating older workers are similar to those used with younger workers, but more attention must be paid to utilizing transferable skills and addressing issues of loss and grief Rehabilitation counselors need to be at the vanguard in combating ageism in society and developing social policy and programs to assist older, displaced workers. They can also assist employers in developing programs to prevent displacement of workers.

References

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November 1991

Acceptance: January 1992