Good Weekend letters to the editor: April 22

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Overlooked, Underutilised. Over it.

Your feature on the unemployment and underemployment of white-collar workers over 50 resonated with me [April 15]. I’m convinced Australia is one of the most ageist countries in the world. Go to the US and Europe, and you’ll more often than not see people over 50 working in banks, airports, as tour guides, in restaurants, and as IT consultants. Not in Australia – it’s as if some never-ageing 25-year-old has been pulling the strings on employment appointments for years, and overwhelmingly choosing people in their 20s and 30s. One thing your story touched on but didn’t analyse is the option of older people doing blue-collar work, if they’re willing and able, because these fields have serious employment shortages. There’s no shame working in a bar, doing gardening work, security or even working in a factory until a better job comes along. The manager of a local pub told me he pays his bar staff $50 an hour – and $70 after 12pm – which is the standard rate now because it’s so hard to get staff. That’s good money in anyone’s language, and sometimes it’s nice to take a break from the constant grind and monotony of white-collar work anyway.

Damian White

St Kilda, VIC

The Full Bottle

Regarding Terry Durack’s column on the price of Australian wines [April 15]: Back in the 1990s when I was a GP on the Gold Coast, one of the drug companies created The Appreciation of Wine Society. Every couple of months there was a meeting at which there would be a medical talk, dinner and a wine appreciation talk. During all this, six bottles of the same type of wine would be tasted. No labels on bottles and the prices varied from $10 to $80. Inevitably the most popular were in the $20-$30 range.

John Hickey

Coolangatta, QLD

Modern Guru

I must admit the Modern Guru column is the first one I turn to each weekend [April 15]. While I was disappointed with such a question [from a reader annoyed by multiple Acknowledgement of Country declarations at a graduation ceremony], I was actually brought to tears by your answer. Thank you so much for getting straight to the point and highlighting how badly the traditional owners of our land have been treated, and stressing how important it is that they be acknowledged whenever there’s an opportunity to do so. You are clever, tactful and just. Many thanks for your intelligence, both intellectual and emotional.

Name and address supplied

ONLINE COMMENTS

Overlooked. Underutilised. Over It.

I found this article quite disconcerting. I’m in my late 40s and don’t consider myself at all “old”. Having worked part-time and completed further study while my kids were little, I finally feel like my child-bearing years are over, and I can put my foot down and accelerate my career. I recently started working full-time again. I want to ramp up my career in my 50s, not down! I feel like I’ve never been so well qualified. Anyway, I will stay positive and I kind of always assumed that my networks are probably going to do it for me more than any random HR managers. Hang in there everyone and just keep trying. tackers

I’m retired now and had a rewarding career in the public sector and was very good at my role. But I found ageism started at 40, the age most workers start concealing their birthdate and begin worrying about retrenchment, knowing that there are no new career options. It becomes a marathon to stay employed until your super maximises. I survived to 63. Soapbox5

If you’re over 50 it’s nigh on impossible to find permanent work. Young people can’t afford housing. Rent is through the roof, if you can find a place at all. The fastest growing homeless population is of women over 50. The gender pay gap is intractable, as is the mortality gap in our indigenous population. What has our country become? I despair for my children, for us all. Mary Ann

This article is relevant to a huge chunk of readers, now and in the future. Me included. A tip regarding printing costs in your home office: get an “eco tank” printer. A pack of ink lasted me at least a year. GGgg

I am 58 and run a business that cannot get a bookkeeper, despite trying for over six months. There is an acute shortage of capable and reliable bookkeepers to help small businesses with their accounts. I actually have a preference for an older, more reliable person and would welcome with open arms someone mature aged who possesses the requisite skills, but none has ever applied, only junior accountants. dok

Tell me this: where should a mature person search for work? There should be an employment website just for mature workers. Domestic Engineer5

The digital revolution is eating away at the domination of the middle class and is favouring the new dominant class, the corporations, who are maximising for themselves the ever-expanding benefits of digitisation and automation, aided by governments everywhere that are too befuddled (or too beholden to the corporations) to stand up for the masses of ordinary people. It’s not just a question of taxing the corporations more; it involves challenging everything they are up to. music5

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