How Does Occupational Access for Older Workers Differ by Education?

Changing jobs after age 50 has become increasingly common. To assess the employment opportunities available to these job-changers, this study examines how the range of occupations in which they find jobs narrows as they age and whether this pattern differs by socioeconomic status, using education as a proxy. The results indicate that workers in their early 50s who change jobs find employment in a reasonably similar set of occupations as do prime-age workers but that the opportunities increasingly narrow as they enter their late 50s and early 60s. These results vary by educational attainment. Interestingly, while job opportunities narrow as workers age, the number of opportunities available to older workers at any given age has improved significantly between the late 1990s and early 2010s – though the gains have gone primarily to better-educated older workers. Consistent with previous research, the study also finds: 1) employer policies that emphasize employee training, respect for seniority, and “hiring from within” create barriers to the hiring of older job-seekers; 2) older workers are less likely to be hired in jobs requiring strong cognitive skills; but 3) physical demands and adverse working conditions are not serious impediments.