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The Great Recession ended almost four years ago (June 2009), but as of February 2013, nearly 2 million people over the age of 55 were still unemployed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly half (46.6 percent) of these older job seekers have earned the distinction of being long-term unemployed鈥攖hat is, out of work for 27 or more weeks. We know from research done by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, at Rutgers, how devastating unemployment鈥攅specially long-term unemployment鈥攊s for people鈥檚 economic well-being, not to mention their physical and mental health. The Heldrich Center鈥檚 director, Carl Van Horn, interviewed people in this situation and reports their stories in his book聽. They describe a 鈥渨orld of hurt鈥� and the frustrating, demeaning, isolating, and frightening state that is unemployment. One man said: 鈥淭he lack of income and loss of health benefits hurt greatly, but losing the ability to provide for my wife and myself is killing me emotionally.鈥� Do we have a public workforce system in place that can respond?

An increasingly complex job-search process

The reemployment difficulties of many older job seekers are exacerbated by the fact that both the labor market and the job search process are radically different from what they were even a few years ago. According to a聽聽by Kathy Krepcio and Michele M. Martin, also of the Heldrich Center, the current labor market is characterized by 鈥渃onstant churn and volatility,鈥� and permanent full-time employment is often replaced by part-time temporary or contingent work. In this unstable environment, Krepcio and Martin reason, even employed workers need to be always thinking about their next job and how to navigate their own career and professional development. Job searches have become far more complex, too, these investigators say; job seekers at all skill levels now need to have sophisticated technology and 鈥減ersonal branding鈥� skills. They have to know how to 鈥渙ptimize their resumes with keywords鈥� and engage in in-depth company research to craft cover letters that will attract an employer鈥檚 attention.

Recently, I observed several sessions for job seekers at a local public library in central New Jersey. A volunteer-run peer support group for job-seeking professionals works with the library to host these sessions several times a month. A few weeks ago, 65 people showed up on a snowy Friday morning for a session on how to nail an interview. Most appeared to be older than 40.

Our public workforce system offers relatively little to older job seekers like these. Frankly, it鈥檚 not clear that today鈥檚 workforce system has made any more sense of the changing labor market and job-search process than the self-help peer group at the library, which at least allows the participants鈥攚ho generally describe themselves as being 鈥渋n transition鈥� rather than unemployed鈥攖he chance for some camaraderie as they struggle to navigate their futures.

De-skilling the older workforce

I routinely meet older job seekers who have made transitions to new jobs, such as the supermarket checkout clerk who used to do marketing for a big pharmaceutical company; the airport van driver who used to work as a newspaper editor; the other airport van driver who used to work for Hewlett Packard; the cable repairman who used to be in finance. The cable repairman is happy, because he has health insurance again for his family after two years without; he gets free Internet service; and he believes this job will be a stepping stone to the career in information technology that he hopes to have eventually. A聽聽by the Canadian economists Paul Beaudry, David A. Green, and Benjamin M. Sand offers evidence that the movement I have observed of high-skilled workers moving down the occupational ladder and taking jobs formerly held by lower-skilled workers is more than anecdotal. Their findings show it is a trend, and they鈥檝e given it a name: 鈥渄e-skilling.鈥�

Many other older job seekers can鈥檛 seem to get a break at all.聽聽that I conducted with William Mabe and Barbara DeGraaf, also of the Heldrich Center, suggests that their problem is not that they insist on pay commensurate with their experience, but rather that employers believe they will do so, and suspect, as well, that their skills will prove to be out of date.

The recession鈥檚 aftermath has made clear that in today鈥檚 volatile labor market and evolving economy, we need to rethink a public workforce system that can make lifelong learning and far better career navigation possible for those聽in transition鈥攁 state of being that may become the new normal as we all become constant job seekers.