Research out of Boston University finds people who change jobs after age 50 are increasingly likely to end up in "old-person" jobs. But what exactly is an old person job?
The study defines "old-person" jobs as any occupation that hires two or more older workers for every one younger worker. Researchers determined job-seekers likelihood to end up in old-person jobs increased with age: 3.6 percent of workers aged 50-54 were hired in old-person jobs, compared to 12.6 percent of those ages 55 to 59 and 22.2 percent of those ages 60 to 64.
An analysis of the research from The New York Times delves even further into the study's definition of an old-person job. It found these jobs tended to include high-skilled service work, such as management, as well as low-skilled service work, such as truck driving or janitorial services. However, it reported jobs requiring physical labor, active learning and numerical ability were not usually "old-person" jobs. Among the most common old-people jobs are truck drivers, salespeople, janitors, nursing aids, secretaries, retail sales clerks, guards, real estate agents and cashiers.
Older workers looking to supervise or do construction work, develop software, or be an electrician, lawyer, cook or restaurant and hotel manager may have a tough time securing a new job, according to the report.
The study also found old-person jobs tend to pay less — anywhere from 6 to 11 percent less than jobs held by people under 50, according to the report.
Additionally, the researchers note the study only includes data from job-seekers that found employment. "As such, it may provide a rosier picture of the labor market prospects for older workers — particularly those with less education, who are far more likely to drop out of the labor force in their 50s," the authors wrote.
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