Work, Interrupted: Is 50 the new 60? Older workers battling algorithms to get CVs seen

Tuesday, 15 July 2025

Redundancy in your 30s and 40s. Ageism at 50. Dead ends at 22. Our new Work, Interrupted series reveals how different generations are dealing with the job market as unemployment bites. Today, Amelia Wade examines what it’s like to hunt for work when you’re 50+.

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What they don’t tell you about applying for jobs later in life, says Jaqueline Freeman, is you’ll be ghosted by people half your age and told you’re too experienced.

“But here’s the truth: You’re not being rejected. You’re being filtered out by systems never designed with you in mind.”

After being made redundant five times since her mid-forties, Freeman decided she’d had enough and started posting her experiences online with a movement she calls “58 and Unapologetic”.

Thousands have responded with their own experiences of being overlooked, filtered out, or quietly erased.

“For highly experienced people, it’s brutal. Not because they aren’t capable, but because the system is quietly shutting them out. These are people who’ve led teams, built brands, survived recessions - now ghosted by the market and erased from the hiring process. It’s not just hard. It’s humiliating.”

Recruiting software now has algorithms which could filter out CVs based on job titles, keywords or perceived seniority so by the time a shortlist got to a real person, the most experienced candidates had already been screened, Freeman said.

Freeman wants to be the voice for the thousands of older workers looking for a job but who can’t find one amid an ageing workforce. A third of New Zealand’s workers are now over 50.

But of those receiving a Jobseeker benefit, a third are aged between 50-64.

Among them is Josephine - not her real name - who was a trauma nurse for most of her life but five years ago after yet another assault she decided it was time to quit.

She then worked as a chauffeur at a retirement village but a cancer diagnosis and treatment left her unable to work so she went on the Jobseeker benefit. It’s not enough to survive. She’s battling the disease alone, without family or support. Josephine needs more money so has been trying to find a part-time job.

“Anyone over 50 years of age basically doesn't stand a chance when applying for positions. I was told straight out by an employment advisor that my application wouldn't even be looked at.”

Her “truckload” of experience seems to count for nothing and it doesn’t matter she’s won numerous customer service awards and that she looks much younger than her 56 years.

“I have physically walked door to door of businesses introducing myself and hand delivering my CV. Weeks and weeks of trying every business that I could think of that could make use of my skills.”

After delivering 85 job applications, she stopped counting. That was eight months ago. And in that time she’s had just four responses.

“I applied to the fast food joints and one very young manager said that they wouldn't know what to do with me as I'm ‘way too experienced’.”

To discriminate against someone because of their age is illegal.

Seniors@work founder Ian Fraser says ageism and bias still happen but are far less common than they used to be.

Times are tough for older Kiwis trying to find work. He has 50 to 100 jobseekers register each week and lists jobs with employers keen to hire over-50 staff. Pretty much any work except heavy labour is suitable, Fraser says.

His jobseekers are after a mix of full time, part-time and casual jobs. The oldest has been in their 80s.

“The job market is hard for anyone, but in the last 24 months it’s been challenging economic times.

“Some people believe they don’t have a chance. You have to be positive.”

There were a lot of pros to hiring an older worker, beyond their life and career experience. Usually they were calm, had commonsense and could commit to being with a company for at least five years - a commitment youngsters often couldn’t make, he said.

Fraser is part of an age-friendly employer network established by the Office for Seniors to advise on older peoples’ employment matters.

Work is still in progress but it will likely include a charter companies can sign up to that shows prospective employees they’re age-friendly, supportive, foster inclusive workplaces and have a focus on retention.

Office for Seniors acting director George Minton said older workers are increasingly crucial in addressing skill shortages, enhancing workplace stability, mentoring younger colleagues, promoting innovation through age diversity, and supporting economic growth. Office for Seniors research suggested employment income for this age group was approximately $47.5b in 2021.

Despite all that they offer, older workers face barriers like lack of confidence, recruitment bias, discrimination - including self-discrimination - and a mismatch of skills and experience to available jobs.

New Zealand’s workforce is ageing. Older workers are the fastest growing demographic among workers. This is mostly due to people ageing in their work and subsequently moving up through the age brackets over time, while less workers enter the younger age brackets. Financial pressures are also keeping people in work longer.

Since the 1990s, employment rates for people aged 65-69 have risen sharply from around 10% to nearly 50%.

In this same period, employment among those aged 70 and over has grown from about 3-4% to approximately 15%, placing New Zealand near the top among OECD nations.

And by 2038, 21% of NZ's population will be over 65 - equating to 1.3m people.

But there are currently 125,000 people over 50 who are looking for work - and it’s harder for some.

Disabled older workers are half as likely to be employed as people of the same age who are not disabled and older women, Māori and Pacific workers suffer higher underutilisation.

As well, older female workers are over represented in unpaid carer roles and low paid part-time work and are often financially worse off than men later in life and may have fewer years to benefit from employer KiwiSaver contributions which are not compulsory for those over 65.

A 2023 Ministry of Social Development report says older workers could improve New Zealand’s productivity challenge.

“There is some evidence to suggest that older workers stay in their place of employment for longer and are therefore able to contribute to this workplace stability, skills and knowledge retention and training of staff. Job stability and low job turnover are linked to improved productivity.

“Similarly, there is some evidence of firm-level productivity benefits from intergenerational workforces, arising from experienced older workers mentoring and supporting younger ones.”

In 2022, the previous Labour-led government launched the Older Workers Employment Action Plan alongside six other population-based plans. It included actions like training, upskilling and educating older workers and researching incentives and barriers for employers in providing more opportunities for older workers to benefit from flexible work arrangements.

When the coalition government took power, the plan was replaced with a new 12-point Employment Action plan which covers the whole population. It was released in response to a “surge” in welfare dependency with a government target of seeing 50,000 fewer people on the Jobseeker benefit by 2030.

Fraser’s advice to any older worker who asks him for some is simple.

“If you get offered a training opportunity, for goodness' sake, take it, don't not take it.

“And even if you're not working, look around because there are free courses here and there.”

Older people have to take some responsibility, he said.

“They've got to prepare thoroughly if they want to get a job and, you know, there are things like CVs and covering letters and doing a little bit of research about a potential employer.”

– Additional reporting Liz McDonald and Stewart Sowman-Lund

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