The Harmful Effects of Ageism | Listen To America

Get More HuffPost

[EddVCR]

I used to work at this one place where hardly anybody was over the age of 28. Reaching age 30 was like a death sentence. My old boss, who lost hearing on one of his ears due to childhood fever, wouldn’t dare to wear a hearing aid because he was already 40 and pressure was mounting against him.
During the meetings, all of my ideas and inputs went totally ignored, until younger associates just repeated what I had just said and were congratulated by the group.
When that started happening all the time, I decided to leave them and take my “brilliant ideas” to their competitor. Luckily, my new workplace values actual diversity of race, religion, body types, age, thinking, etc.
My old workplace just pretended that they’re diverse — in early 2010s they finally started to use nonwhite models in ads, and now they even claim to support diversity. BUT only if you’re below age 26, tall, skinny, and Q2 personality type. (Yes, I had to take a training course on how everybody there is only Q2.)
Thank goodness I left them.

[OfficialKonSite]

The problem is young people are calling themselves old at 30. This is the mentality that is driving people to spend more time focused on what your age is over your production, or value to a business. Some older people are a lot more beneficial to a business than someone young that might leave or has a lot of time to move on in life.

[trogers]

over 60 years old, 20 years of IT experience, 10 years of Advertising, 10 years experience in Finance...laid off 2 years 6 months, still can't find a job, can't even get hired for level jobs way below my current level...this is the reality of ageism....the reality that age trumps experience.

[jjmeyer]

I’m really worried about this guy looking for work I can’t find his name anywhere I hope he’s alright

[TheWinterShadow]

Ageism is disgusting. One would think that wisdom can come with age. Rejecting, not 'disrespecting' someone of a job because of age? People who do this type of injustice should be put to death on the grounds of not having a soul.

[FirstLast-frhb]

This is what happens when you raise an entire culture day by with with people who are only born within 12 months of each other and tell them "older people are bad". What should we expect? Its getting so bad these people are growing up thinking "They should be neglected and isolated". We need to reconnect communities with everyone in them instead of just "people their own age" or "people from their own neighborhood" or, "people from their grade".

[liawatson]

This is just heartbreaking to watch! The young generation does not realize that the older generation has such a vast experience and might not be a professional experience but simply a life experience. To me, it's priceless. How can you measure someone's years of living on earth?

[debberraharriman]

People are evil nowadays especially towards older people And its not gonna get better

[carineii]

If that gentleman can create his own business, be self-employed and work remotely, I highly suggest that he moves out of NYC and does so. He is clearly on the verge of burning out. Living in a cheaper city will reduce his stress levels and allow him to think more clearly about the several other options he has and that he will see if he taps into his creativity. Thinking that way is what saved my life both mentally and financially. I'm not out of the woods yet, and I certainly miss London. However I feel better overall. I wish him all the best.

[marcross-]

Employers hate them when they are "too young", "too old", "no experience" or even "tons of expierience".

[zalyxx]

Why this video has very few views and likes? People need to know this! Is really important. Omg, starting with this.

[susanreimer]

this is so real I am out of work now, 55 and after 45 I was out of work for 4 years! that was spoken about at work one day as I experienced others in the same boat, that it was "supposed to happen" 4 -5 years out of the job market does two things, 1 - it makes you desperate, and you will take a lower paying job just to eat, 2- lets the job market weed out the less qualified. but it does so mu harm to you, In my state, as a white woman who owned a house and a car I was told to let my house go into foreclosure and sell my can and they would help me with Medicaid - how does that help??? the governments are the purveyors of ageism of us all

[CorinneIsIn]

The fact that this video only has 9, 524 views is what sucks most about this issue. It's just not getting exposure.

[diobility]

Did this gentleman ever find a job? I would imagine after seeing this video, I would hope a company gave him a chance.

[aiahzohar]

A large segment of America has spoken. It does NOT want policy that is "supportive of everyone." These policies are disparaged as "socialist." The vulnerable, so the narrative goes, have failed because they've made bad choices. So, older people who suffer deserve it because they made bad choices when they were young. People my age and younger seem unable to grasp that we'll be the "old people" if we're lucky enough to survive another 40+ years. That's too far in the future to worry about and we're having too much fun right now. And of course we're not making "bad decisions."

Worst of all, the government itself promotes and practices age discrimination. Just check out most state and federal job boards or service (low paid) opportunities. There are age CUT OFFS all over the place. And even an ex-president (Obama) said there are too many old people in government. We're not going to overcome ageism because too many of us don't want to.

[marcvslicinivscrassvs]

It's pretty rough. I can see a difference even between 45 and when I was 40. The reality is, if you aren't "established" by the time you are 45-50, you are in big trouble. Older people like to work with younger people, of course. But what do you do when there are no more older people?

Definitely to any young folks out there: you have about 27 years (18-45) to get your stuff together before this hits you.

[justinsmithy]

the irony is that 18 year olds will be 40 adn have the same shit said to them haha

[csc]

I had a 2-year gap on my resume because of cancer and treatment. I was 61-years old when I was interviewing and was treated like I had the bubonic plague. I hate the corporate world so that is why I am starting my own business and can work from home now. I have a great boss (myself) and will never experience ageism again. I love my age and happy to be here.

[gabrielguzman]

That's why I am starting my own business

[MsMadmax]

When the economic slump of 2008 the people who suffered the most were those who were within 15 years of retirement. It didn't matter that they had a college degree or years of experience at the job the were doing--they were cut loose because it cost the company's they worked for more to employ someone with that much experience and because it cost more to provide health insurance to employees over 40. If that isn't ageism, I don't know what is.