#older-workers

#older-workers

The average perceived probability of finding a job if one's current role was lost fell to 43.1% in December 2025, a 4.2% drop from the year before, according to recent data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It marks a record low since the surveys started tracking the data back in 2013, and the report notes that several demographics are driving rock-bottom employment expectations.

The findings reflect an environment of mounting pressures both within, and outside, of businesses. Internally, a growing number of people are delaying their retirement and choosing to work for longer; earlier this year nearly two fifths (36%) of employees said they had already, or were considering delaying their retirement because they wanted to continue working, or due to financial reasons (34%).

Ann Hummond knew the office software like the back of her hand. Based in Yorkshire, England, she could untangle any spreadsheet snafu in her sleep. Over the past 23 years, she had worked her way up from a data entry clerk to her finance company's administrative director, quietly becoming the person everyone relied on when things went sideways. She was, in short, indispensable.

Patricia Willson, 93, stares intently at her leg as her nurse unwraps layers of bandages, revealing a scar that, to Willson's elation, is nowhere near as gruesome as it had been months ago. Hunched over from a fractured back, Willson scrolls through her phone to remind her nurse what the scar had looked like. Last December, she sliced her leg open on a box. A few months later, the three-inch gash got infected.

Luis Bautista, 82, is "learning to speak to AI." He's studying prompt engineering strategies online, reading about the companies accepted into Y Combinator, and watching AI videos on YouTube. "When I turned 80, I asked myself, 'How do I want to finish?'" Bautista said. "The first answer that came to my mind was, 'I want to finish strong.' Then I need to learn AI."

The company used data from the BLS's Labor Force Statistics Current Population Survey, O*NET Online, and the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook to create the report using several parameters, including removing jobs with salaries lower than $49,500 and roles that require education higher than a Bachelor's degree. The occupations listed also had to have at least 100,000 employees who were 55 or older.

Too often, mental health strategies overlook the people quietly carrying layered responsibilities outside of work: caregivers, older employees, and women navigating pivotal life and health transitions.

Kevin Cahill, an economist at FTI consulting, noted that older workers face significant challenges in reemployment, often due to ageism and elevated salary expectations.