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Why do you suppose employers want younger workers instead of older ones who have more experience?

Whatever happened to company loyalty? It seems as if you can't trust anyone anymore.

Questions like these are tough but, for a minute, look at the plight of an employer who is trying to keep his or her business afloat. Admit it. They have problems, too.

When a person works for a particular business year after year she begins to accumulate "Cost of Living" increases that are separate from raises. These are necessary because each year the cost of living tends to increase out there in society. In other words, things cost more every year. If a person makes the same salary this year that she did last year, but has to pay more for everything she buys, she is, in effect, making less now than she did a year ago. Everyone understands this, so cost of living increases generally reflect the rate of economic growth. If a worker earns a raise apart from her cost of living increase, she does even better. But raises are generally based on merit and value.

Suppose a person begins working at a company that pays her $25,000 for the first year. The next year the economic cost of living index goes up by 5%. That year, our sample employee is given a 5% cost of living increase. She's still making her original salary of $25,000, but to that salary is added $1,250, so she's now making $26,250. In year three, the cost of living raises by only 2 1/2%. So that year she earns $26,906.25. At the end of her forth year, following another 5% cost of living increase, she is earning $28,251.56. Then, at the end of year five, another 2 1/2% year, her pay stub reads $28,957.84. In other words, she is now making $3,957.85 more than she did when she started, but is still doing the same work. And she hasn't even had a merit pay raise yet, let alone a bonus for giving the company five years of her life. If this continues for another five years the company is going to be paying her a whole lot more than someone else who can come in and start over again at the original $25,000 figure.

If the job can be done by anyone who can be plugged into the system after a brief training period, the employer would be financially much better off to fire the older worker, hire a younger person, and start over again. The new worker won't have acquired the experience of the older worker, of course, but the company isn't interested in experience. They just want someone who can push the right buttons and turn the right knobs. To be honest, the younger worker may even have a better grasp of new technologies and demonstrate a more flexible attitude toward change.

The former employee is left saying, "What's the use? Nobody appreciates me!" Is it any wonder why there are so many workers out there who feel cast aside and underappreciated? To make matter worse, an employer can't really fire you because you make too much money. So they try to find an unrelated excuse. The official reason becomes one of incompetence, of making a mistake or breaking company policy. This leaves the fired employee feeling like a failure.

It's hard to live in a system where there is a pecking order - where some people are made to feel inferior to others. But, in many cases, that's the way we live today. Often, you just have to accept it and not let it get you down. But at Over60Exchange we're interested in possibilities, not liabilities. There are advantages to approaching jobs on your own terms. You don't have to feel like a victim. The secret is to begin, on day 1 of your employment, to try to make yourself indispensable. Do things better than anyone else. Find ways to improve your position. Really work at it. Learn the process better than anyone - maybe even your employer. Then, if you decide to leave, or are forced into it for any reason, you can offer someone else some real experience that a simple button-pusher doesn't have. There are businesses that are starting to think in terms of hiring experienced seniors for independent contract work. Watch for them in your field. Maybe you can turn your experience into an asset.

Sure hope this helps a little.

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