3 Things Older Workers Should Know About the Tough Job Market

Hiring has slowed — here’s what that means for you

Kenneth Terrell,

AARP

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Published September 12, 2025

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If you’re looking for a job or considering switching employers, recent news about employment numbers may have you worried about your prospects.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced on Sept. 5 that just 22,000 jobs were created nationwide in August. Revisions to earlier jobs reports revealed that the economy lost jobs in June and overstated job creation by 911,000 positions over the 12 months ending in March 2025.

While the overall August unemployment rate of 4.3 percent is roughly the same as it has been for the past year, the vibes have noticeably changed. Earlier this month, “job hugging” — a buzzy term for sticking with your current role rather than seeking opportunities with other employers — reached a high in Google search queries.

But even in periods when openings are scarcer, older workers who know how to leverage their experience and networks can find promising opportunities.

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"Holding on to current employment can sometimes be the path of least resistance, but wage gains tend to be superior for job-changers compared to those who are job-stayers,” says Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.

“Of course, there’s always risk in making a change,” he says. “So those who are inclined to be mobile should seek a high level of confidence that a new role will be a good fit.”

Here are three things older workers should keep in mind about the latest jobs numbers.

1. Younger job seekers are having a tougher time finding work.

One way to understand what the job market is really like is to look at the numbers of the long-term unemployed, which the BLS roughly defines as people who have been actively looking for a job for more than six months. Typically, those numbers show larger shares of people age 55 and older struggling to find jobs. For example, in April, 32 percent of job seekers age 55-plus were long-term unemployed, compared with 24.5 percent of those ages 16 to 54.

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But in August, the circumstances flipped. The August jobs report shows 25.4 percent of job seekers in the 16-to-54 group were long-term unemployed, edging out the 23.2 percent of older job seekers in that category. Right now, the numbers suggest that young workers are facing difficulties starting their careers.

“As the job market has cooled, a hiring squeeze has emerged for inexperienced workers, including those who are college-educated,” Hamrick says.

“The risk and the reality are that employers will cut back, or are cutting back, on entry-level hires," he adds. "Aspiring workers who have relatively few relevant skills or little practical work experience are seen as higher risk in the eyes of employers, making them less-attractive candidates.”

When hiring slows, “younger entrants will have a harder time gaining a foothold in the labor market,” says Jen Schramm, senior policy advisor at AARP Public Policy Institute, who tracks employment trends for older adults. “If we see a continuing slowdown in hiring, then we can expect the youngest job seekers to begin to experience longer durations of unemployment.”

The rise of generative AI appears to be contributing to the loss of job opportunities for younger workers, especially in information technology fields. An August 2025 Stanford University analysis of payroll data found that through July 2025, employment for software developers ages 22 to 25 had declined nearly 20 percent, while opportunities for more experienced developers in the same companies grew or stayed the same.

“AI replaces codified knowledge, the ‘book-learning’ that forms the core of formal education. AI may be less capable of replacing tacit knowledge, the idiosyncratic tips and tricks that accumulate with experience," the report notes, meaning "older workers with accumulated tacit knowledge may face less task replacement.”

2. Older workers have lower unemployment rates overall.

While the overall unemployment rate increased slightly in August to 4.3 percent, the 55-plus unemployment rate stayed the same at 2.9 percent. The 20-to-24 age group had the highest unemployment rate in August at 9.2 percent, reinforcing that younger workers are having more difficulty finding jobs.

In general, the unemployment rate for older adults is lower than it is for younger groups, in part because some older people decide to stop seeking work and thus are not counted in the rate.

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“More senior workers and job seekers may be more likely to exit the labor force, moving to retirement, disability or other options, as opposed to remaining actively unemployed for prolonged periods,” Hamrick says. “These departures from the workforce can also accelerate when people are eligible for Social Security.”

3. Age discrimination is rising again.

Unemployment numbers tell one story about what older adults are experiencing in the job market, but age discrimination statistics tell a different tale, one that underscores the challenges workers age 50-plus always must contend with.

Over the past three years, the number of age discrimination complaints filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has steadily increased. In fiscal year 2024, there were a total of 16,223 complaints, up from 14,144 in 2023 and 11,500 in 2022.

Because most people who believe they experienced age discrimination do not file a federal complaint, it's probable that EEOC number is a significant undercount. This month, the job-search website Glassdoor reported that "mentions of ageism skyrocketed" in comments job seekers posted during the first three months of 2025, with a 133 percent increase over the same period last year. In January, AARP Research published a survey that found that 64 percent of workers age 50-plus reported experiencing or witnessing age discrimination in the workplace.

A shortage of job openings typically makes it more likely that older applicants will run into bias during their searches. Focusing your search on employers in fields where job growth has been steady may be one detour around discrimination.

Recent job growth has largely happened in the health care and social assistance sectors, along “with a smattering of new hires in retailing and leisure and hospitality,” Hamrick says. “Senior workers can look to the sectors with relatively firm employment while also exploring part-time roles, consulting or retraining programs."

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Kenneth Terrell covers employment, age discrimination, work and jobs, careers, and the federal government for AARP. He previously worked for the Education Writers Association and U.S. News & World Report, where he reported on government and politics, business, education, science and technology, and lifestyle news.