“Looking for work as a 50-something is no picnic. I’m told I don’t look a day over 40, so what’s the problem? I’ve always been a career woman and I ran my own business for the past 12 years. For 10 years it was a huge success but after two bad years, I had to dissolve it. I’ve sent my CV all over, to no avail. I haven’t heard a word. Not even, ‘Sorry, ol’ girl. You just don’t have what it takes. You’re too old or too fat, whatever…’ And everything is online – a word I despise! So I’ll continue to pound the pavements.” Signed “Invisible”, this email is from a reader.
And, she’s far from alone with South Africa’s unemployment rate expected to be at 39% by the end of 2023. “I recently advertised for an admin assistant,” says Tanya Elario, a recruitment specialist at West Coast Personnel. “Over 4 000 people – mainly recent graduates and over 40s – applied for that position.” The brief from the client was to appoint someone with a stable record of employment (“less than two and a half years puts you in the ‘job-hopper’ bracket”) and the right attitude; someone who is attentive to detail, and grasps and runs with instructions without too much supervision. So, who got the job? Not the recent graduates. Not the over 40s. “The only person who was completely suitable was a woman in her 30s. She had a business management diploma, had worked at only two companies previously, and her Excel skills were excellent,” says Tanya. “She had a qualification, a skill and
