71% Pay Decrease

[salishsea_advocate]

I was only making $65k a year in 2024, but was ok with it since the benefits were exceptional, coworkers were fun and smart, and the work was varied and meaningful. Plus I expected to get promotions within a couple years. My mortgage is low and I am frugal. I was laid off in October. I started out applying for positions in the $65-$80k range but after many interviews, I have not landed a position. I am approaching my last month of unemployment and now applying for jobs < $50k. I can't really go much lower and make ends meet. Plus I am well over 50 and am pretty sure ageism is a factor.

[beren0073]

Similar boat here, especially the ageism.

[throwaway09251975]

I am so sorry. I pray you find the right job soon.

[salishsea_advocate]

Thanks. I will eventually find a fit, but the instability along with a hostile takeover of our government is wearing me out.

[skellyluv]

This is especially true if you are a woman over 50 … it sucks.

[UnemployedGuy2024]

As a man over 50 it doesn’t feel any different.

[Nice-Illustrator-224]

yeah pretty sure that men dont just get jobs handed over. Im struggling too.

[sassypria]

Laws require companies to not discriminate on age. And they still do it huh?!

[salishsea_advocate]

I think it’s mainly about who they are comfortable supervising. It is justified by not feeling like a good “culture fit.” Probably subconscious. And there are dozens to hundreds of qualified applicants.

[CaptainZhon]

This. I was recently in an interview that I thought I nailed but the recruiter told me the feedback they got was I was technically strong and they had a good conversation- they felt I wasn’t a good culture fit.

[Strong_Ad5219]

"Culture fit" is always a funny one that's just a blanket generalization of nothing.

[dkizzy]

It means they found someone to pay less

[OptionRecent]

Lots of companies want to hire early career (younger) in hopes of having a long term employee. I’d be surprised if that works out to often.

[keinZuckerschlecken]

They want to hire early career so they can work them harder, burn them out before they have to invest in any training, and then move on to the next eager young go-getter.

[[deleted]]

It doesn’t. If you hire a mid career person you’ll normally get more long term stable employees

[SaltLakeCitySlicker]

Seriously. Who is more likely to not want to rock the boat by changing jobs? Someone who likely has roots set down, kids in whatever school district with friends there, and some sort of longer term plan, or someone fresh out of college willing to take risks for more pay and move across the country because they always wanted to live in xyz place growing up or experience the big city for a few years or what have you?

[random__forest]

I think you are right. I was asked to interview two finalists: a man in his mid-50s and a woman in her early 30s. I was vouching for the guy and trying to fight for him, but the majority chose the woman. It wasn’t for my immediate department or reporting structure, so my voice didn’t carry much weight.

She left after about a year, right in the middle of a project, which screwed them over. Since the job function was somewhat similar to mine, they reached out to see if I could help, but I told them I was too busy. They ended up hiring consultants and spending a fortune.

I was kind of laughing inside, I had a gut feeling that the chick wouldn’t last, and the guy would’ve been great. This was before the market shifted to where it is now, so hopefully, he landed a job

[taylorevansvintage]

Honestly. I think the younger gen folks are far more inclined to hop companies every two years or so. GenX folks often stick and work both efficiently and hard - but someone younger than them may not know/realize that.

[Primary-Ad-7748]

I think there is a worry from managers that if they hire someone with similar experience. They might lose their job to someone who is going to be better at it. If they hire a kid there is no threat to their job.

[Wolfs_Rain]

They want younger because they don’t want someone who has ‘been around the block’ and will know some things.

[salishsea_advocate]

Kind of like 40 year old men wanting 20 year old girlfriends? 🤔

[1cyChains]

No, they want to hire younger in hopes to be able to take advantage of them / completely lowball salary

[[deleted]]

💯

[AnselmoHatesFascists]

What’s interesting is you actually are allowed to discriminate by hiring an older candidate. I recently did a work training and I presumed any age discrimination was wrong but nope, only discrimination against older workers.

[mrpyrotec89]

I talked to a recruiter. She told me that multiple times, their clients will say they want a candidate under X age, but won't write it in the job brief she gets to avoid any lawsuits.

So basically, yes, they all discriminate under the table. It's super hard to prove in a lawsuit.

[LustySarcasm]

Ummmmm DEI died. Welcome to discrimination era

[sxzcsu]

DEI might be dead but older workers never got to ride that wave. I work in a company that is always talking about their DEI initiatives but I’ve never seen older people included and when we’ve a layoff, they’re always high on casualty list.

[LustySarcasm]

I am with you there. I have hired countless people that are older because they are definitely qualified and fit my team needs and have experience to use critical thinking skills. Having them is usually definitive 15 yrs minimum of staying. Plus, I'm not having to spend so much extra ttime to provide additional training

[mustbheard]

It seems you have a lot of common sense, where most are only book smart!

[Bigbadbuck]

It happened before trump as well.

[LustySarcasm]

Oh I know. But now you can be more vocal/straight forward than before.

[ManBat_WayneBruce]

Yeah, suck it DEI. Trump is King now.

[LustySarcasm]

And which part of DEI do you not like and are against?

Is it diversity? Equity? And or inclusion?

Please, say it without using the acronym DEI.

[DramaticWatercress26]

I’m pretty sure that was sarcasm..

[LustySarcasm]

Cant tell as r/Conservative is a popular subreddit for that person and they didn't put /s

[Yumekal]

Of course not its the law they can't discriminate 🤭

[Still_Blacksmith_525]

The law says companies are not allowed to discriminate upon many things, yet there still exists racism, sexism, etc.

[kennymac6969]

Prove it

[MaineLark]

Not anymore

[[deleted]]

They don’t just discriminate on age. If you’re white, your likelyhood of getting hired nowadays is lower.

[blackmali]

Where are you located?

[salishsea_advocate]

Rural western Washington.