Why Are Men Missing From the Job Market?

Many of those who have given up on employment are struggling with pain and disabilities according to a new working paper by a Princeton economist. What this does not show is the reasons men are missing. I assert that in large part it is because of ageism which starts at around 45—and the difficulty in finding alternative employment when they are let go because of their age. Can we really afford to overlook a significant portion of our skilled and experienced senior employees? I recommend this interesting article from the New York Times: Millions of Men are Missing From the Job Market.

Credit: Rachel Levit/The New York Times

Social Trust and Employment Trends

This article points out a very interesting trend – less people are moving to find new work. It may seem inconsequential or obvious, but the effects and projected reasons behind this trend are evocative of a greater problem: a drastic decline in social trust. According to the studies presented here, people seem to be staying in jobs that they aren’t happy with because they’re afraid of changing. This not only causes a downturn in productivity, but it also means that many workers are foregoing raises and other benefits that often come with job shifts. It shows a fundamental lack of trust in the economic system and job market – people are terrified of a switch that may leave them worse off than they were before. It’s really thought-provoking to understand how the ways we think about employment fundamentally shift our entire society’s point of view. You can read more about this at The New York Times. 

Photo: A home in Detroit scheduled to be demolished. Image by Fabrizio Costantini/Bloomberg via NYT