How the tight labor market is impacting ageism in the workplace

three people smiling as they get their photo taken
MPR News Host Chris Farrel (center), Rajean Moone, Ph.D. (left), associate director of education for the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation in the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and member of the Governor’s Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota, and Kate Schaefers, Ph.D. (right), director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Minnesota and a volunteer state president for AARP-MN, pose for a portrait in the Kling Public Media Center in St. Paul on Monday.
Nikhil Kumaran | MPR News

About 40 percent of workers over age 40 say they’ve experienced ageism at work, according to a recent AARP survey.

That means sometimes getting passed up on opportunities for promotions. Or not getting hired at all.

But unemployment is so low, many hiring managers are having a hard time finding workers. And that’s good news for older workers facing bias and stigma in the hiring process.

MPR News guest host Chris Farrell and his guests talked about what ageism looks like in 2024, and how to reframe our ideas about aging and older workers.

three people in a radio news studio
MPR News Host Chris Farrel (left) talks with Kate Schaefers, Ph.D. (center), director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Minnesota and a volunteer state president for AARP-MN, and Rajean Moone, Ph.D. (right), associate director of education for the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation in the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and member of the Governor’s Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota, in an MPR News studio in St. Paul on Monday.
Nikhil Kumaran | MPR News

Guests:  

  • Kate Schaefers, Ph.D., is director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Minnesota and volunteer state president for AARP-MN.

  • Rajean Moone, Ph.D., is associate director of education for the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation in the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, and a member of the Governor’s Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota.

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