Leadership

The Slump Hits Older Managers Hardest

By Jessica Stillman

Updated on: July 9, 2009 / 7:26 AM EDT / MoneyWatch

The Find: Each economic crisis is different and experts argue that the current slump may be particularly brutal on managers in their 40s and 50s.
The Source: An in-depth article from Knowledge@Wharton.

The Takeaway: As Tolstoy famously observed, "happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," and perhaps the same can be said of happy and less than happy economic times. Each recession is unique and has distinct causes and victims. For the latest downturn Knowledge@Wharton has identified one particularly hard-hit group: managers in their 40s and 50s.
Marshaling an army of employment data, experts conclude that middle-aged managers face an even more dire employment situation than younger employees, even when hiring does eventually pick up again. Why?

The current downturn... is deeper and already longer than any since World War II. This spells trouble for one especially vulnerable group â€" managers in their 40s and early 50s. They tend to be more expensive than their younger counterparts; they may lack some of the high-tech savvy needed to succeed in a more efficient workplace; and they face a downsized job market that will stay that way much longer than usual.

With unemployment for over-45s hovering at the worst level on record, the picture is grim, and at least part of the dire situation appears to be due to a "dramatic expansion in the ranks of middle-level managers over the past two decades" in the service sector, says Matthew Freedman, a professor in the ILR School at Cornell University. Now this mostly older group is "a natural target for cost-cutting," he concludes.

So what can out of work middle-aged managers do to make the most of a difficult employment outlook? Lynn Reaser, vice president of the National Association for Business Economics offers three pieces of bracing advice:

First, be prepared to see a reduction in salary of 15% to 30%.
Second, be ready for a widespread search effort, with "many, many interviews."
Third, remember that "networking is absolutely critical. Some 60% of the available jobs will not be posted on job search sites or other avenues."

The Question: Do these conclusions mesh with your experience - are middle-aged managers particularly hard hit?

(Image of seriously discouraging sign by srqpix, CC 2.0)