A very insightful comment DICKO, coudn't be more accurate.

(sorry about the above post pressed the wrong key before I was ready)

Great article - very important and timely.

Ageing sux in so many ways.

I think industry likes having a pool of
unemployed people. It means more people
competing for each job, and that means the
company can hire the cheapest candidate.

However, just looking beyond the ice-berg -
at society as a whole. What sort of a community
have we become when people are only valued as
units of production or consumption.

I am in very good employment and I engage
in a modest bit of private industry as well;
I pay a fair whack in taxes. I would gladly
GLADLY pay more if that's what is needed to
maintain people who cannot work in a fashion
that allows them to live with a modicum of
dignity.

The way people who aren't employed are being
blamed and harrassed makes me sick - shame on
the lucky country for letting them down - no
matter what their age.

Australia's superannuation system discourages employment of mature workers so older job seekers are usually only offered casual work and a life of poverty.

Lesley Parker said http://www.smh.com.au/news/planning/youre-on-your-own/2008/08/25/1219516368481.html

With one in four Australians now for all intents and purposes a temporary worker, the [recent layoffs are] a sharp reminder for many about the financial perils of being a casual, a contractor or self-employed.

The latest National Australia Bank survey has business confidence at its lowest ebb since the early 1990s recession, while the Reserve Bank is forecasting economic growth of just 2 per cent this calendar year - a sharp decline from the 4 per cent-plus annual pace of just a year ago.

The Reserve, though it hasn't put a precise figure on it, is also saying unemployment will rise.

If you're an employee and you lose your job, your entitlements will depend on the redundancy provisions in your employment contract or industrial award and on the minimum standards prescribed in state and federal legislation.

If you're a casual or a contractor and the tap is turned off, there'll be little or no notice and no redundancy payout.

For such people, job security lasts only as long as the next pay packet or invoice. Their unpredictable income makes it hard to save, they don't have entitlements such as sick leave and holiday pay. [Casuals find it harder to get mortgage loans and accumulate super].

"For many casuals there are quite big fluctuations over the week, over the month and over the year."

Dun & Bradstreet says the two segments [in financial stress], according to its debt-referrals data, are micro-businesses - defined as having five employees or fewer, often self-employed "sole traders" - and the 18-to-34 age group, which includes many casuals.

Right on Billie re casuals. temps, self-employed.

I believe that the value of 'experience' magically starts to reverse in the workplace in the mid 40s-mid 50s. Once you were a guru and five years on, you're 'past it'. That's an exageration but I think it's true. It's weird as one would expect more experience (minus intractable opinions, etc) would be a major asset for a business. It's not for many.

The hiring and firing procedures in many organisations are positively feudal. King has hit the nail on the head attacking 'organisational fit'. Clearly a case of voodoo HR. What kind of tribal/magical thinking pits one person against another trying to suit 'organisational fit'? Many employers cant define their terms in this area let alone explain it.

Age prejudice is alive and well.

Hi, my mum is 70.5 yrs old, she went to uni at 48 yrs to study nursing, she has been a registered nurse since she was 52 yrs and has worked since. I keep saying 'my god woman' when can you take time off to baby sit my kids, Only joking (sort of). She recently worked 11 shifts/days out of 13 at 70, areas of mental health and general nursing. I think it's great. I'm now 46 and just started my first degree in arts/law, so I hope you're wrong and I get work with reasonably ease or else the gov. wont be getting the uni fees back. I think it's down to the 'we will not be beaten' attitude and don't forget 'where this is a will there's a way'.