Older Hispanics hit by high jobless rate
The AARP is holding a forum focusing on older Hispanic workers, who were among the first to be laid off when the recession hit. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.
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Bill Radke: Hispanic workers over 50 were among the first to be laid off when the recession hit. Now the AARP is focusing attention on these so-called invisible boomers. It's holding a forum on the issue today in Washington. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.
Nancy Marshall Genzer: The AARP has just released a report that says the unemployment rate for older Hispanic men has almost tripled since 2007. Richard Johnson of the Urban Institute wrote the report.
RICHARD JOHNSON: I think older Hispanics get hit with this double whammy. They sometimes face discrimination because of their ethnicity, and sometimes they face discrimination because of their age.
Fifty-one-year-old Ricardo Bonau worked as a pharmaceutical sales rep for 19 years, before losing his job about a year and a half ago. He came to the U.S. legally from Cuba, at age 4. Still, many would-be employers think he's undocumented.
RICARDO BONAU: It's funny, everybody thinks you came over on a boat or something, or you came here illegally.
But the AARP says older Hispanics may have some advantages. Most are bilingual. They're a growing part of the workforce. And employers will need them to fill worker shortages expected in the near future.
In Washington, I'm Nancy Marshall Genzer for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Marietta, GA, 11/06/2009
Nancy,
I wanted to add to the subject matter some here,
that the underlying thing more than
being hispanic actually is age and
health insurance coverage that companies
don't want to take that risk in their
premiums going-up.
In other words its cheaper to hire the
young.
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