Welcome to my world

Well I suppose misery loves company, but this sort of story isn't doing anything for my anxiety. I'm not the only person who is too young to retire, too old to get hired. This woman could be me.

One woman from Warren County, New Jersey, wrote: “I am (or was) a legal secretary with several years of experience (30+ years). … I have applied to jobs that are more than one-half less than what I was earning. I search for a job each and every day. … Where do people in my age bracket go? Too young not to work but too old to work?”

Such stories of older workers too young for retirement but struggling for months if not years to find jobs have policy experts concerned as the recession drags on and long-term unemployment continues to rise. Experts say that age discrimination is severely compounding the jobs crisis for older workers, although the phenomenon is difficult to quantify or to prove, and remains under-examined by the government. This time, it is not just making it more likely that these workers will be laid off. It is also making it much harder for them to gain new positions.

The other problem with getting a new office job is that it's been so long since I worked in one, all the technology has advanced and they all want skills in software I have no experience with. The law firm was always five years behind on the latest stuff anyway, so I'm effectively ten years behind.

It's all feeling pretty scary today.