Workforce Programs Serving Older Workers and Other Populations with Employment Barriers: Older workers implementation and descriptive study Research Report

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Release Date: September 01, 2022

Workforce Programs Serving Older Workers and Other Populations with Employment Barriers: Older workers implementation and descriptive study Research Report

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Employment and Training

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About the Report

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The purpose of the Older Workers Implementation and Descriptive Study is to build evidence about the implementation of the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) and other U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) workforce programs serving older workers to inform the continuous improvement of SCSEP. To inform evaluation activities, the report reviews the literature and identifies the state of the evidence on workforce programs, including those that serve older workers and populations with similar employment barriers.

Key Takeaways

  • Older workers face unique challenges in the labor market. Studies have found that some employers discriminate against older workers in hiring, promotion, and retention. For example, just over half of workers in their early fifties experienced an employer-initiated involuntary job separation at some point before age 65.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges for older workers. During the pandemic, unemployment rates increased more for older than for younger workers. Additionally, the pandemic highlighted the importance of online service delivery but the difficulty that older SCSEP participants experienced due to the technology concerns, including lacking smartphones or tablets, uncomfortability with using video conferencing platforms, or missing internet access.
  • Some program strategies are shown to increase older workers’ employment and earnings, including training for skills that are unlikely to become obsolete; training for jobs that are in high demand and cannot easily be automated; providing individually tailored employment supports; and developing stronger employer connections.

Citation

Butrica, B. A. (2022). Urban Institute. Workforce Programs Serving Older Workers and Other Populations with Employment Barriers: Older workers implementation and descriptive study. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.