Contrary to Popular Belief, People Over 50 are Using the Internet to Find Jobs PDF

By Sarah Welstead

Retired Worker Releases Survey Results

Retired Worker (www.retiredworker.ca), the first employment website created specifically for retired people, has just released the results of their first comprehensive survey of older workers. It sheds some surprising new light on the post-retirement worker, particularly their use of the internet in their job hunting.

“This kind of survey simply hasn’t been done before,” says Sarah Welstead, 34, Managing Director of Retired Worker. “We all know that the face of retirement is changing, but there hasn’t been enough attention paid to why people decide to go back to work, what kind of positions they’re looking for, the methods they’re using to find work, and the unique challenges they face. We’d like this survey to be a step towards dispelling some of the myths surrounding older workers.”

One of the biggest myths is that older workers don’t have the computer skills necessary to compete in the job market. But according to the survey, nothing could be further from the truth: at least 80% of retired workers aged 50-69 are using at least one employment website as a primary resource in their job searching, versus 71% of those under 50. A staggering 86% of respondents aged 55-64 use at least one employment website as a primary resource when looking for a job – in fact, employment websites are cited more often than any other resource, including newspaper classified ads, by people aged 59-74.

However, older workers seem to have a preference for employment sites that cater specifically to them. While 71% of retired people under 50 use mainstream employment websites like Monster and Workopolis, this drops to about 40% for people aged 60-64, and to less than 30% for people aged 65+. At the same time, more than 65% of 60-64 year olds are using Retired Worker.

“Study after study has shown that older people are one of the fastest-growing in terms of internet use,” says Welstead, “and it’s important to remember that even new users in this group are often very savvy about the web. They’ve been hearing about the internet for years, from the media as well as friends and family, so while their hands-on experience might be limited, their overall understanding of the internet is in fact very sophisticated. They are aware of how valuable they are as a ‘target market’ and expect to be treated accordingly. Websites which reflect this will do better than those geared towards a mainstream, younger audience.”

Until now, retired people looking for part-time or casual jobs had two options: headhunters or job boards like Monster or Workopolis, neither of which specialize in the unique skills retired workers bring to the table. What’s more, headhunters and mainstream job boards require digital resumes, which many post-retirement workers don’t have handy.

Other survey highlights include:

• More than 84% of respondents said they always planned to work after retirement
• 83% find that potential employers are reluctant to hire them because of their age
• Home Depot, Zellers and Wal-Mart are most often cited as companies which are accepting of older workers

The survey was conducted by Retired Worker during April 1-9, 2004, and had 384 participants.

Prior to launching Retired Worker in October 2003, Sarah Welstead worked at a number of ad agencies in Toronto and Philadelphia, eventually opening her own boutique marketing company, StayAwake (www.stayawake.tv), of which she is continues to be President. In her role as Managing Director of Retired Worker, Sarah is known for her commitment to documenting the changing face of life after retirement, and dispelling the often-negative myths surrounding older workers. Contact her at sarah@stayawake.tv.

Contact Point has received permission from the author to reprint this article in the Contact Point Bulletin.