A Turbocharged Silver Tsunami?

Many employers — particularly larger ones who have larger data pools to analyze — have noted that a Silver Tsunami is coming. As those born between the early 1950s up through the mid-1960s reach retirement age, the number of workers leaving the workforce will result in a forceful wave of silver hair, riding off into the distance.

But then came along COVID-19, a novel coronavirus. And that Silver Tsunami may have just been turbocharged.

In his article “Bye Boomers: The coming cull of workers over 50”, Brett Arends notes that “It doesn’t take a genius to see that the jobs market is probably heading for a massive, rolling shakeout. And that means plenty of employers may be using the cover of COVID-19 to get rid of lots of expensive older workers.”

Citing studies, it was determined that “for each 1 percentage point increase in a state-industry’s monthly unemployment rate, the volume of age discrimination firing and hiring charges [with the EEOC] increases by 4.8% and 3.4%, respectively,”

What does this mean for employers? If you’re making cuts to your workforce, make sure you have justifiable and reasonable explanations for how you decided who to let go. And if you’re cutting someone in a protected class, you may just want to be extra cautious.

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