Ageism when seeking a job at 55+

As a senior executive of a large well known franchise company, my husband lost his job when the organization was acquired by offshore investors and fired all of the senior team.

It was a painful situation as he was very devoted to the well-known brand. The top 5 inner circle of executives were aware of the pending sale and were able to make employment contract changes to protect their interests.

Over the next five years, he applied to numerous positions. He would be interviewed as he had an impeccable resume and academic credentials. However, he would get feedback that they were looking for someone with "more runway". It became clear that it he was being perceived as older and not interested in continuing his career for the long term, but he was healthy, very competent and totally up to date in his skills and abilities.

He has not been successful in working again, and the same can be said for almost all of his colleagues.

As well, while the offshore buyers were required to meet certain employment standards in return for approval of the sale of the organization, there was no real oversight that the requirements were met.

I wanted to share this story to communicate that ageism is real and has impact on Canadians family life. This situation affected my whole family. It caused tremendous pain to my children to see their dad rejected so many times and not be able to complete his career. There is no true diversity without including the experience of older persons, but it is given little consideration compared to what is reported about people of colour or other areas of discrimination.