The Psychological Consequences Of Long-term Unemployment

Consider the following: What does everyone do from the time they finish school until retirement? You guessed it, they work! And that is the harsh reality. If you do not work, you can not live properly. And as reality looks today, for most companies, a person over 50 (or in some cases over 30) is not as valuable as a younger person, which condemns these individuals to long-term unemployment. The psychological consequences of long-term unemployment are something that affects all the unemployed, regardless of age.

Take a look at the various job offers at any employment agency. You see, they are always looking for young people. Consequently, in the event of a lost job, our oldest older employees are often caught in long-term unemployment.

In this article, we present some of the reasons why companies reject seniors from their vacancies. We will not preach about whether they are doing right or wrong. But we will delve into the reasons and consequences. Do companies take into account the psychological consequences of endless long-term unemployment? We assume that they prefer to avoid these lines of thought. Precisely these and many other thoughts will be the topic of the day.

The reasons for long-term unemployment: why companies do not want older people

The first thing we can do is ask a series of questions. Are people over 40-50 years less capable of doing a good job? Does their age mean that they have lost the ability to work, learn or improve? Do they have less knowledge in the field they have worked with throughout their lives? Or have they simply lost the ability to be effective? Does this mean that they are no longer responsible individuals?

You have probably answered most of the questions. And you’re right. Except in specific cases (some jobs that require strength and physical agility), 40-50-year-olds are fully capable of doing a good job.

Statistics

But companies state many reasons for not hiring them. In the latest survey from the Adecco Foundation, 200 human resources managers were asked about the reasons why they do not employ older jobseekers. Let’s see their motivations.

• 75% of them think that it is a worse choice to employ 40-50-year-olds because they can miss more working days due to health problems.
• 66% of them believe that the elderly will have problems fitting in with a young work team. They may also find it difficult to accept that they are led by younger people.
• 40% of them believe that the elderly will be less flexible to new circumstances due to their age.
• 25% of them believe that the knowledge and skills of the elderly tend to be outdated. According to them, the knowledge of people over this age tends to have passed the best-before date. In addition, they say, older people are usually reluctant to acquire new knowledge or implement new procedures.
• It is not easy for the elderly to move due to family responsibilities.
• An older person creates a worse overall picture. A young person gives the company a fresh, innovative and flexible atmosphere.

• They do not accept low wages (due to their experience) and companies want to reduce costs. This is the single most widespread belief.

Are these irrational beliefs?

One of the most common cognitive prejudices in these beliefs is generalization or overgeneralization. Of course, most profiles with 25 years of experience do not accept the same salary as a person with two years of experience. It’s not that weird. However, there will be others who, out of desperation or conformism, are willing to accept this. So why not ask before you assume they will refuse to lower their previous salary? In any case, the salary should exceed the unemployment benefit.

The same applies to the outdated and inflexible aspect that we mentioned earlier. Many individuals have not continued to learn new things because they learned everything at their previous jobs. However, many other professionals like to take courses, attend conferences or even take new degrees to gain new knowledge.

In addition, all professionals must learn to adapt to change, especially if the company’s continued growth depends on it.

When it comes to family responsibilities, it is quite an exaggeration to think that all individuals at a certain age have family responsibilities that can disrupt their job. Keep in mind that these applications are rejected before a job interview can confirm or deny the prejudice.

The same goes for believing that all seniors have medical problems that interfere with their performance. It is true that over the years we have become more prone to disease. However, young people are not exempt from having other health conditions. What about a young smoker, party price or someone with other chronic health problems?

Adaptation

Let’s look at this with the inability to adapt to a young work team from a different perspective. How about an older person who feels enthusiastic about being led by a younger person because that way they can take advantage of their new perspective and learn something from them? Remember that we can all learn from each other.

Honestly, the younger person may feel intimidated. It is possible that they have thoughts like “there is nothing I can teach them” or “how can I be his boss if he was the CEO of a multinational company two years ago?” These thoughts are not unreasonable in any way.

Consider the following: Older people are a living image of professionalism. Do not all companies want professional individuals? Perhaps all organizations should realize that it is important to create a tolerant corporate image. Showing that they can combine younger with older company profiles can be extremely beneficial.

But all these beliefs are so built-in and widespread that the CV is rejected without being read beyond the person’s age. It has come to a point where companies do not even reflect on the benefits that can come from hiring an older and more experienced profile. One of the consequences is that long-term unemployment among the elderly has increased.

The psychological consequences of long-term unemployment

The group with people between 45 and 64 years has the lowest number of unemployed in Sweden, these amount to only 4.6%. If you compare this with youth unemployment, or unemployment among foreign-born, that figure seems small. However, the same political will is lacking when it comes to the elderly’s re-entry into the labor market. This means that many find themselves stuck in long-term unemployment, regardless of their willingness to work.

Put yourself in the shoes of a person who has been rejected more than 300 times, has been unemployed for four years and has a family to support, with children at school or at university. One whose partner is in the same situation as them. It’s basically a recipe for misery, right?

Let us now talk about the most common, and most logical, psychological consequences of long-term unemployment.

• Anxiety and stress manifest themselves not only by not finding a job but also by the consequence of not being able to afford certain basic expenses. For example, water, electricity, food, housing and child-related costs.
• Low self-esteem, feelings of inefficiency and even depression. Feeling rejected and invalid can make these people think through their entire careers and question whether they have ever been good at what they do.
• Feelings of guilt for not being able to get out of the abyss they are immersed in.
• Physiological problems such as appetite changes and sleep problems.
• Feelings of helplessness. The belief that their situation is irreversible.

The consequences of long-term unemployment affect the mind

It is important to think about one thing. If these emotional changes continue for a long time, they will affect the person’s daily life. In these cases, it is important to get in touch with someone who specializes in mental illness. They can not give you a magic pill that can turn all problems around. However, they can guide you to maintain a healthy routine, ignore the feelings of guilt and helplessness, and face the situation in a healthier way.

Let us pay attention to our “older”

According to the WHO, age discrimination is considered to be on the same level as discrimination based on gender or race. However, they also acknowledge that it is the most standardized and normalized type of discrimination.

This may be something you have not thought of until now, but it’s true. Age discrimination is extremely common. Perhaps we all need to be reminded that the knowledge of the elderly is important. After all, they are the ones who guide and teach young people when they enter working life. We all learn, everything, through experience; our own, or others’.

If we saw each person for who this is; an individual, and not a statistical profile – maybe things would be different.