[Senate Hearing 117-52]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 117-52
A CHANGING WORKFORCE: SUPPORTING
OLDER WORKERS AMID THE COVID-19
PANDEMIC AND BEYOND
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
WASHINGTON, DC
__________
APRIL 29, 2021
__________
Serial No. 117-02
Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Aging
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
45-308 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
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SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING
ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania, Chairman
KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, New York TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts RICHARD BURR, North Carolina
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada MARCO RUBIO, Florida
MARK KELLY, Arizona MIKE BRAUN, Indiana
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
MIKE LEE, Utah
----------
Stacy Sanders, Majority Staff Director
Neri Martinez, Minority Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Opening Statement of Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr., Chairman...... 1
Opening Statement of Senator Tim Scott, Ranking Member........... 2
PANEL OF WITNESSES
Elizabeth White, Aging Solutions Advocate and Author, Washington,
DC............................................................. 5
Elise Gould, Ph.D., Senior Economist, Economic Policy Institute,
Takoma Park, Maryland.......................................... 6
Ramsey Alwin, President and Chief Executive Officer, National
Council on Aging, Washington, DC............................... 8
David Poston, President, Palmetto Synthetics, Kingstree, South
Carolina....................................................... 9
APPENDIX
Prepared Witness Statements
Elizabeth White, Aging Solutions Advocate and Author, Washington,
DC............................................................. 29
Elise Gould, Ph.D., Senior Economist, Economic Policy Institute,
Takoma Park, Maryland.......................................... 32
Ramsey Alwin, President and Chief Executive Officer, National
Council on Aging, Washington, DC............................... 39
David Poston, President, Palmetto Synthetics, Kingstree, South
Carolina....................................................... 51
Questions for the Record
David Poston, President, Palmetto Synthetics, Kingstree, South
Carolina....................................................... 55
Additional Statements for the Record
Bonnie Marcus Statement, introduced to the Record by Senator
Robert P. Casey, Jr., Chairman................................. 59
AARP Statement submitted by Cristina Martin Firvida, Vice
President, Financial Security & Livable Communities, Government
Affairs........................................................ 61
National Council on Aging........................................ 71
A CHANGING WORKFORCE: SUPPORTING
OLDER WORKERS AMID THE COVID-19
PANDEMIC AND BEYOND
----------
THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2021
U.S. Senate,
Special Committee on Aging,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., via
Webex, Hon. Robert P. Casey, Jr., Chairman of the Committee,
presiding.
Present: Senators Casey, Gillibrand, Blumenthal, Rosen,
Kelly, Warnock, Tim Scott, Collins, Braun, and Rick Scott.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR
ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., CHAIRMAN
The Chairman. The Senate Special Committee on Aging will
come to order. Good morning, everyone.
This hearing we are having today comes at a very critical
time, as Congress discusses how to get American workers back on
their feet and to pull our economy out of the ditch. Over the
last year, workers in every occupation and in every corner of
the country have felt the effects of the devastating economic
recession created by COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to every corner
of the country and especially to workers. While the harm has
not been contained to any one age group, the impact on older
workers have been severe. As we all know, the threat posed by
the virus is magnified for older adults, as individuals ages 50
and over have accounted for 95 percent of all deaths. Ninety-
five percent of all deaths.
Millions of older workers have had to make the impossible
choice between continuing to go to work to pay their bills or
staying home to protect their health and to protect their
families. Many others simply saw their jobs disappear.
For example in Pennsylvania, the 12-month rolling average
unemployment rate of workers ages 55 and older increased from
3.0 percent in February 2020 to 9.2 percent in February 2021.
While the unemployment rate has declined since last summer, one
million seven hundred thousand workers ages 55 and older are
still unemployed nationwide.
As we will hear from our witnesses today, unemployment
numbers do not tell the whole story. Hundreds of thousands of
older workers fell out of the workforce altogether, giving up
on finding a job or being forced to retire early.
Fortunately, we are beginning to see the light at the end
of this very dark tunnel. The American Rescue Plan contained
critical investments to defeat the virus and help families,
including, just by way of example, an extension of expanded
unemployment benefits and a $1,400 direct payment; funding to
help ensure employers are keeping workers safe and healthy in
the workplace; and, third, a historic investment in vaccine
distribution. All of these are critical to helping older
workers return to work safely.
The American Rescue Plan was a huge step forward, because
there is still much more we need to do to ``build back
better,'' as President Biden has said. I believe we must pass
the President's American Jobs Plan to make investments in our
Nation's infrastructure that are long overdue. The investments
in the American Jobs Plan will create millions of middle-class
jobs, raise wages and help workers develop the skills that will
power economic growth for years to come. Older workers will
benefit enormously from this investment. As older workers are
looking to return to work safely, it is also more important
than ever that Congress dismantle barriers, the barriers that
have long made it more difficult for them to succeed in the
workplace.
One of the most significant of these barriers is age
discrimination. That is why I reintroduced my bipartisan
Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act, Senate
Bill 880, along with Senators Grassley, Leahy, and Collins.
This bipartisan bill will strengthen age discrimination
protections and make it easier for older workers to seek
justice in court.
In addition to that, another bipartisan bill I was proud to
introduce yesterday with the Ranking Member as well as Senator
Portman and Senator Cortez Masto. It is our Senior Care Act,
which would allow seniors with disabilities to work while
keeping essential Medicaid benefits. Today Ranking Member Scott
and I are also sending a letter to the Department of Labor
calling on the Department to specifically address the needs of
older workers as our Nation recovers from the pandemic.
As we build a better economy, we must work together to
ensure that older workers are included and prioritized every
step of the way. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses
about these policies and others that will help guarantee that
older workers help us lead the way to a stronger future.
Before we begin, I want to remind Committee members and
witnesses to please keep remarks and questions to five minutes.
The countdown timer can be viewed alongside the other
participant windows on Webex, as you can see. Following opening
remarks, Senators will ask questions based on seniority, and I
ask that members have their cameras turned on a few minutes
prior to their questions.
Ranking Member Scott, I am pleased to turn it over to you
for your opening remarks.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR
TIM SCOTT, RANKING MEMBER
Senator Tim Scott. Thank you, Chairman Casey, for holding
this really important hearing, and thank you to all the
witnesses for joining us today. It is certainly a very
important topic and one that I am becoming more and more
acquainted with personally as I talk to so many friends and
family members as well as constituents who are really engaged
in this new economy and are excited about that as our seniors
re-engage at a high level of entrepreneurship. Twenty-two
million jobs were lost in March. Many states are still
recovering. According to BLS, the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
our unemployment rate right now in South Carolina is about 5.2
percent. It is below the national average. For our seniors,
nationwide more than 10 million Americans ages 65 and older
were employed, but by 2020 in July, we saw 1.1 million had lost
their jobs. That is a major part of this epidemic that we are
trying to stress the importance of re-engagement here during
this hearing, and I thank Chairman Casey for doing such good
work on bringing the focus back to the economics that so many
seniors face going forward and the important work that we can
do here today.
The pandemic, however, did open a door for teleworking, and
that could be great news for our senior population. Companies
have realized the value of older workers as well. Michelin, who
has its national headquarters in South Carolina, has
initiatives for older workers, including wellness, training,
and intergenerational mentoring and phased retirement.
According to the SBA, almost 51 percent of small business
owners are over the age of 50. One of those entrepreneurs is
Veera Gaul, the owner of Oil & Vinegar in Greenville, South
Carolina. Veera had a long and successful career teaching at a
culinary institute before opening her own business, a culinary
store. Veera and her husband are now proud owners and business
leaders making major contributions to their community. Every
single Senator should stop and embrace Veera's passion to
pursue the dream. That is why I am introducing the Golden
Entrepreneurship Act. It is focusing on folks like Veera so
that we can help encourage and motivate more successful
entrepreneurs who are in their golden years.
The legislation provides new training opportunities for
senior entrepreneurs. It requires SBA to track the number and
the amount of loans provided to senior-owned businesses.
Seniors also have tremendous opportunities in the gig economy.
Scores of seniors work as independent contractors, seasonal
workers, and freelancers, and a 2019 report by ADP Institute
found that 30 percent of all contractors were 55 years or
older. They participate in the gig economy in a very strong and
powerful way. They enjoy incredible high levels of job
satisfaction. South Carolina's own Theodosia, who supplements
her retirement income by driving Uber, says that her
flexibility and her independence that comes from being an
independent contractor is really important to her.
As Americans continue to work longer, we need to ensure
that the Federal Government supports this workforce. That is
why Chairman Casey and I--and he just alluded to it--have sent
a bipartisan letter to the Department of Labor on behalf of
older workers. We need to advance policies that ensure that
these amazing opportunities exist for our older Americans.
Proposals like the PRO Act will dramatically hike the minimum
wage. Those two specific areas can actually reduce the
likelihood of success for our older Americans. The PRO Act
would be devastating to drivers like Theodosia who would lose
that sense of independence as her status is reclassified.
We should focus our time and energy on issues where we can
come together at the same table. I ask my colleagues to join me
as we work together on behalf of our seniors who are still in
the workforce.
Thank you, and I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott.
Before I introduce three of our four witnesses, I want to
acknowledge that earlier Senator Rick Scott was in the hearing.
I want to acknowledge that he was present, as well as Senator
Blumenthal and Senator Rosen. What I will try to do, as I
mentioned earlier, because Senators are in and out because of
other commitments of time, especially other hearings, many
Senators have not just one other hearing but sometimes three
all within the 9:30 to 11:30 window. We will acknowledge folks,
and some will be able to stay and ask questions; some will just
be able to appear and listen for part of the hearing.
Let us go to our witnesses, and just by way of
introduction, before we get to their testimony. First I am
pleased to introduce Elizabeth White. Elizabeth is an author
and an advocate for solutions benefiting older adults facing
uncertain work and financial insecurity. She worked in the
nonprofit sector for many years and is also an entrepreneur.
She is the author of ``55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal,''
in which she shares her own experience with job loss and
provides guidance to older workers facing similar hurdles. I
want to thank Ms. White for being with us today and for sharing
her expertise with the Committee.
Our second witness is Dr. Elise Gould from the Economic
Policy Institute, so-called EPI. Dr. Gould is an economist
whose work focuses on labor market trends, wages, and poverty
in the United States. She has examined how the COVID-19
pandemic has affected the labor force and, in particular, older
workers. I want to thank Dr. Gould for being with us today and
for sharing her expertise with the Committee.
Our third witness is Ramsey Alwin. Ramsey is from the
National Council on Aging, known by the acronym NCOA. She is
the president and CEO of NCOA and has previously held
leadership positions at multiple organizations. Ms. Alwin,
thank you for being with us today and for sharing your
expertise.
Finally, I will turn to Ranking Member Scott to introduce
our fourth witness. Ranking Member Scott?
Senator Tim Scott. Thank you, Chairman Casey. It is my
pleasure to introduce today David Poston. David is the
president and CEO of Palmetto Synthetics in Kingstree, South
Carolina, and the vice chair of the National Textile
Association. He is an entrepreneur, leader, and innovator, and
I am proud of the work he is doing in my home state. David was
a founding partner of Palmetto Synthetics, which has
distinguished itself in the fiber industry by providing high-
quality plastic products. Notably, for the purposes of this
hearing, his company employs a workforce of over 250 South
Carolinians with an average age of over 50 years old. Way to
go, David. I like that.
David's testimony today is based on his experience as an
entrepreneur and job creator. We will hear about how his
manufacturing business has worked to hire, train, retain, and
support older South Carolinians, especially during the COVID-19
pandemic.
Thank you, David, for being with us today, and thank you
for being a living, breathing model of what it means to
actually do what the goal of this hearing is. I appreciate it.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott.
We will now turn to our witnesses. We will begin with
Elizabeth White. You may begin your testimony.
STATEMENT OF ELIZABETH WHITE, AGING SOLUTIONS ADVOCATE AND
AUTHOR, WASHINGTON, DC
Ms. White. Chairman Casey, Ranking Member Scott, and
honorable Committee members, thank you so much for inviting me
today.
I want to speak to what happened to me during the Great
Recession as an older worker, as I think it will speak to what
many older workers are experiencing today under the pandemic.
I was someone who was doing very well until I was not. I
punched all the tickets: Harvard MBA, Master's in International
Studies from Hopkins, undergraduate degree from Oberlin
College. Until the Great Recession of 2008-09, I had a career
that I loved. I landed my dream job at the World Bank at 29. I
was recruited from among 5,000 applicants. They took two
Americans. I was one of them. In my 40's, I became a retail
entrepreneur and won the National Retail Federation's Small
Retailer of the Year.
When the Great Recession hit, I was working two long-term
consultancies that put me solidly in the six figures. Both
organizations retrenched, and I lost both jobs over a 6-month
period, taking my income to zero. I was not worried initially
given my experience and credentials. I had the kind of network
here, I would hear about jobs before they were even posted. Now
in my mid-50's, I was not getting the traction I was used to.
The few assignments I got were small editing jobs, teaching at
UDC, paying a fraction of what I was used to learning. Weeks
turned into months, then years, depleting my savings.
I started noticing friends in the same boat, former high
earners barely making ends meet. At a low point, I wrote an
essay describing what it is like to land here, to feel like you
are looking through a window at a world that you are no longer
part of. The essay, published by Next Avenue, made its way to
the PBS Facebook page and went viral. Thousands of people
responded with, ``Me, too,'' ``This is my husband,'' ``my
sister,'' ``my colleague,'' ``my friend.'' ``How come we are
not talking about this?
I have the background to look at the data, and I was
astonished by what I saw. I learned that the median retirement
income--sorry, the median retirement savings of near-retirees
55 to 64 is $60,000. I learned that more than half of workers
in their 50's are getting pushed out of their long-term full-
time jobs, and that only 10 percent ever again get a job at
that level and pay of the one they left. It is hard to believe
that all these people just suddenly became incompetent.
After my essay appeared, dozens of people started to write
me their personal stories. We were all kind of looking for a
way forward. There are lots of books on the retirement income
crisis, but they are typically focused on how to avert this
crisis for people who are in their 20's and 30's today. There
was nothing for people who are living this crisis now.
I wrote ``55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal'' to fill
this void. The second edition was picked up by Simon &
Schuster, and I started getting invited to speak. My TEDx on my
book now has nearly two million views.
In my travels, I met displaced factory workers in Martin,
Tennessee, and aged-out senior executives in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. Their stories were surprisingly the same: lost
jobs, depleted savings, homes in foreclosure, and marriage on
the rocks, shame too, fear, anger, the American dream upside
down. Today they have to worry about their health, too, and
there is something Congress can do to make sure older workers
are not left behind in the recovery.
You can fight age bias in the workplace by passing POWADA.
You can make sure that the Jobs Act specifically addresses the
needs of older workers. You can extend basic worker protections
to gig workers, and you can support older entrepreneurs.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I look forward to
your questions.
The Chairman. Ms. White, thank you for your testimony. We
are grateful you are with us today.
Dr. Gould, you may begin your testimony.
STATEMENT OF ELISE GOULD, Ph.D., SENIOR ECONOMIST, ECONOMIC
POLICY INSTITUTE, TAKOMA PARK, MARYLAND
Dr. Gould. Thank you, Chairman Casey, Ranking Member Scott,
and members of the Committee, for the invitation to participate
in today's important hearing on supporting older workers amid
the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. My name is Elise Gould. I am
a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a
nonprofit nonpartisan think tank that analyzes the effects of
U.S. economic policy on working families. Today I would like to
outline the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on older
workers, how it compares to the Great Recession, and how we can
build a stronger, more equitable economy going forward.
This morning, I have five points.
One, the U.S. economy faced devastating job losses, a
pandemic recession, and continues to face significant
employment shortfalls.
Two, older workers were not spared in this recession.
Millions of older workers lost their jobs.
Three, older workers lost employment in greater numbers in
this recession than in the Great Recession.
Four, older workers were hit further by the pandemic itself
and were among the least likely to be able to work from the
safety of their homes.
Five, the economy requires continued assistance from
policymakers to ensure that the economy continues, comes back
strong, and the recovery provides greater economic security and
opportunity for all workers, regardless of age, race,
ethnicity, gender, educational attainment, and where they work.
I will go back to my first point. While a solid 916,000
jobs were added in March, the strongest job growth we have seen
since the initial bounce-back faded last summer, the labor
market is still down 8.4 million jobs from its pre-pandemic
level in February 2020. In addition, thousands of jobs would
have been added each month over the last year without the
pandemic recession. If we count how many jobs would have been
created if the recession had not hit, we are now short 11
million jobs since February 2020. It could take more than a
year to dig out of those total employment shortfalls.
My second point: Older workers were far from spared in the
COVID recession. Between March and April 2020, 5.7 million
workers 55 and up lost their jobs. Older workers experienced a
bit of a rebound last summer, but then lost ground through the
fall. March 2021 was the first month since October 2020 that
older workers saw positive gains in employment. Older workers
are still down 2.1 million jobs since February 2020, and
considering population growth over the last year, older workers
are facing a job shortfall of over 2.7 million jobs.
My third point: The labor market outcomes were far worse
for older workers in this recession as compared to the Great
Recession. In particular, if we look at women ages 55 to 64,
they saw much larger employment drops in the most recent
recession than in the prior one than what they saw in the Great
Recession. This could be due in part to additional caregiving
responsibilities. They may have left the labor force to care
for elderly parents who left their nursing home or assisted
living facility. They could have left the labor force to care
for other ill family members or even to help take care of
grandchildren when the schools shuttered.
My fourth point is that over half a million or nearly 95
percent of the deaths from COVID-19 were among those 55 years
and older. It will be no surprise then that many older workers
not only lost their jobs but opted out of the workforce for
fears over their own health and safety. This may be
particularly true for older workers of color who have been hit
harder from both the health and economic aspects of the
pandemic. These trends were exacerbated by the fact that older
workers were less likely than many other age groups to be able
to telework before the pandemic hit. Now only about one-fifth
of the current workforce is teleworking. What that means is
that nearly 80 percent of workers are physically going to work.
Not only does that include many older workers, but it is likely
that millions of younger workers who cannot telework may be
putting older family members at risk by going to work
themselves.
I will conclude by saying that policymakers have a role in
reversing these devastating trends. In order for the economy to
grow back quickly and stronger than before, policymakers should
make sure the recovery hits all corners of the labor market.
This means putting significant investment in policies that meet
the pressing social needs the COVID-19 pandemic made so visible
and that lead to greater economic security and opportunity for
workers, including, but not limited to, physical
infrastructure, caregiving needs for young and old, paid leave,
and expanded unemployment insurance.
Thank you for this opportunity, and I look forward to your
questions.
The Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Gould.
Ms. Alwin, you may begin your testimony. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF RAMSEY ALWIN,
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
NATIONAL COUNCIL ON AGING, WASHINGTON, DC
Ms. Alwin. Chairman Casey, Ranking Member Scott, and
members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity. At
the National Council on Aging, we are guided by our equity
promise that aging well should be a right, not a privilege. For
millions of Americans, aging well means being able to work up
to and beyond traditional retirement age.
As longevity climbs and Americans struggle to save for
retirement, work is essential to affording a longer life. This
is especially true for older women and people of color who age
into higher rates of poverty. Since 1968, NCOA has been a proud
sponsor of the Department of Labor's Senior Community Service
Employment Program, or SCSEP, which trains and places
disadvantaged older adults into work. Today we provide SCSEP
services in 11 states and Puerto Rico, including Georgia, New
York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. This has given us clear
insight into the tremendous value of older workers.
Over the past year, these older workers have felt the
devastating impact of the pandemic on their employment status.
As of March, over 1.7 million older workers remained
unemployed. Between August and January, 1.1 million workers
left the workforce entirely. These are older adults that opted
out due to the frustrations and the struggles. This drop in
employment among older workers was even greater among older
workers of color, twice that experienced by whites.
Older women were among those most likely to lose their job
or leave the labor market. Older workers have struggled with
long-term unemployment of 27 weeks or more at greater rates
than their younger counterparts. Over half of jobless older
adults in March were long-term unemployed. If we are not
intentional about targeting our policy solutions, the economic
impact of these job losses will position too many older adults
to age into poverty. Today I would like to share three
potential solutions.
First, we must strengthen federal age discrimination
protections. Ageism is the last socially acceptable form of
discrimination in our society, and it remains stubbornly
ingrained in the workplace. It is time to treat it like every
other unlawful bias. Senator Casey's Protecting Older Workers
Against Discrimination Act is a great start, and we applaud him
and Senator Collins for the bipartisan effort.
We also support legislation such as the Protect Older Job
Applicants Act championed by Representative Sylvia Garcia. On
top of prohibiting birth dates on job applications, we
recommend banning questions related to graduation dates and
salary history.
Second, we need to expand job placement and training
services. Older workers have been left behind by public
workforce programs, which view them as too challenging for job
training and placement, fail to recognize part-time and
flexible work and measurable success, and lack the targeted
assistance and wrap-around services older adults need. The
exception is SCSEP, and we should ensure it receives
significant investments to restore the erosion in funding over
the past decade and enable the program to respond to the
challenges of today.
We know the program works. Participants who secure work
earn more in their first year than the annual training costs,
and seven in ten remain on the job a year later. Yet current
appropriations are $60 million less than the funding nearly
three decades ago. As such, SCSEP is currently serving far less
than one percent of those eligible. At a minimum, Fiscal Year
2022 appropriations should equal at least the $480 million
approved in last year's reauthorization with bipartisan
support. In proposals to expand and create new job training
programs, older workers must be included. We applaud the
President's call for a substantial investment in workforce
development, and a recovery investment in SCSEP of at least
$500 million should be included.
Older workers should be explicitly listed as eligible and
prioritized for expanded new workforce development programs.
When addressing historic inequities certain populations face in
accessing job training and placement opportunities, older
adults cannot be left behind.
Third, we must ensure equitable access to quality jobs. The
Federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit rewards employers that hire
individuals from specific groups who have faced significant
barriers. NCOA endorsed prior legislation to expand WOTC to
include low-income workers, and we believe it is needed again.
We also endorse Senator Casey's Disability Employment Incentive
Act, which would extend WOTC to individuals with disabilities.
Quality job opportunities also means flexible work
arrangements, so we look forward to working with Ranking Member
Scott on his legislation to support older entrepreneurs. Of
course, we are mindful of the many barriers individuals face in
taking full advantage of entrepreneurship, gig, and flexible
work, and for those arrangements to be available, we support
wrap-around services, access to benefits, and income supports.
In conclusion, we need increased federal leadership. We
need an older workers bureau, housed at the Department of
Labor, that could lead a focused effort across federal agencies
to maximize older adults' workforce participation, and that
would be good for older adults, employers, society, and our
economy.
As Mr. Hawkins, an Air Force veteran and successful SCSEP
participant working again sums it up for us, ``I now live life
to the fullest as compared to just existing.'' That is the
power of work at every age.
Thank you again, and I look forward to any questions you
may have.
The Chairman. Ms. Alwin, thanks very much.
Finally, we conclude our witness testimony with Mr. Poston.
STATEMENT OF DAVID POSTON, PRESIDENT, PALMETTO SYNTHETICS,
KINGSTREE, SOUTH CAROLINA
Mr. Poston. Thank you, Chairman Casey, Ranking Member
Scott, and members of the Committee. My name is David Poston,
and I am president of Palmetto Synthetics in Kingstree, South
Carolina. We are a textile manufacturing company that produces
specialty synthetic fibers for a wide variety of applications
like automotive carpet, military uniforms, performance apparel,
and a wide variety of industrial uses, and we ship that fiber
all over the world.
We started Palmetto Synthetics in 1998 with five employees
in one 50,000-square-foot building with the goal of producing
the highest-quality specialty fiber in the world, and it was a
green field startup, like literally in a soybean field.
Today we have 250 employees working in 375,000 square feet,
and we produce more specialty fiber for a wider variety of
applications than any other company in the world. We operate 24
hours a day, seven days a week. I am blessed and thankful for
our success, which is the result of our talented and dedicated
employees. Today 50 percent of our production employees are
over 50 years old, and 70 percent of our employees are over 40.
Furthermore, 100 percent of our upper management is over the
age of 50, as well as 90 percent of our middle management. We
actually employ more managers in their 70's than in their 20's
and 30's. We do this because we found, while tracking
attendance statistics a few years ago, we noticed that
employees over the age of 40 had much better attendance records
than younger associates. Older employees were less often late;
they did not leave before the end of their shift and were our
most reliable workers. Since an employee who is late or absent
has to be covered by a full-time person from a different shift,
the teams with older employees translated to less overtime and
higher-quality production. We also discovered how older workers
were a valuable asset to mentor and set strong work examples
for younger employees as we build a workforce for the future.
Our production jobs are not strenuous. The majority of our
employees are monitoring the control panels for our production
lines. Without the jobs being physically taxing, we make an
effort to recruit an older workforce to improve employee
reliability and production.
Over several years, as our workforce has aged, we continued
to notice increased production and efficiency, so we actively
recruit older production and management employees today.
Like all other sectors of the economy, the American textile
industry was especially hard hit by the pandemic. In the span
of just a few weeks in March, we went from 100 percent capacity
utilization to less than 15 percent. In the face of countless
lost orders and idle production lines, though, we were able to
retool our production line to help with the COVID response. We
started producing fiber for COVID testing swabs and
antimicrobial fibers for medical gowns.
During this difficult period, we were able to keep 100
percent of our employees on the payroll because of the PPP loan
we received. I literally do not know where my company would be
today without the lifeline we received from the PPP loan. It
saved most if not all of our jobs. I want to thank Senator
Scott for his leadership on this program to ensure that small
businesses in this Nation like mine had the resources they
needed to weather the storm.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented several social
distancing practices on the production floor like mask
requirements. We conducted temperature checks at the start of
every shift to ensure our workers' health and safety.
In 2020, we did have four seniors in management and 12
senior manufacturing employees choose to retire. As the economy
reopens, we will recruit older associates to replace those
recent retirees.
Hiring, training, and retaining older workers is the key to
our successful and efficient workforce at Palmetto Synthetics.
Because of modern technology, manufacturing and production jobs
are no longer out of reach of older Americans. Meanwhile, more
and more employers are discovering the unique advantages of
older workers in the workforce to mentor younger workers,
retain institutional knowledge, and increase reliability.
Again, thank you, Chairman Casey, Ranking Member Scott, and
the rest of the Committee, for allowing me to testify today,
and I look forward to your questions.
The Chairman. Mr. Poston, thanks very much for your
testimony. We will move to questions. Before I do that, as I
mentioned, some Senators will be in and out, and I just wanted
to make sure that we acknowledge them when they have appeared.
Senator Collins is with us. I see Senator Collins. Great to be
with her. Senator Warnock as well.
Let start with my round of questions, and I will try to
follow my own guidance with regard to staying within my time. I
wanted to start with Dr. Gould. Doctor, in your testimony, you
described in detail how older workers have suffered as a result
of the economic downturn, really a jobs crisis produced by the
pandemic. Your testimony also made clear that while labor
market conditions are improving, we still have a ways to go to
erase the losses, the millions of jobs that were lost.
I believe it is critical that we make the types of large-
scale investments in our Nation's infrastructure and workforce
that the President has called for, and I think all of us would
agree that inaction, doing nothing, is not an option. The scale
of our response I believe needs to reflect the scale of the
challenge before us.
Dr. Gould, can you speak about the direct investments and
infrastructure in the workforce, the benefits that we can
derive from those investments? In particular, can you talk
about how those investments could benefit older workers?
Dr. Gould. Yes, thank you for your question, Senator.
Absolutely, those investments in public services are of utmost
importance to older workers, like all workers would benefit
from a stronger infrastructure. Particular components of that
infrastructure investment, like broadband, would
disproportionately keep older workers safer as it enables them
to work from the safety of their home. Those caregiving
investments, a very important component, again, of our
infrastructure, will help older workers as caregivers as well
as older workers needing care themselves. Increasing labor
standards in that caregiving infrastructure that I have seen as
part of that legislation will raise wages and improve working
conditions. Making sure that we encourage employers having to a
neutral stance toward unionization efforts will also reap the
benefits of a unionized workforce in the improved delivery of
those services.
We need to address the health and safety concerns head-on,
making sure older workers are protected in their workplaces
from COVID, meeting best practices for infectious disease
standards, PPE and the like. This will provide vital
protections to older workers. Those are some examples, I think.
The Chairman. Thanks very much for your testimony and for
your answer to that question.
I am going to move next, before my time is up, to Ms. Alwin
regarding a letter that I received from Bonnie Marcus, who is a
Pennsylvanian. I am holding in my hand the letter she sent me,
and I will, for formal purposes, introduce this letter to the
record and hereby do so by reference to it.
Bonnie Marcus is from Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. That is
in the southeastern corner of our state. She worked for her
employer for years doing highly skilled work. She became a
victim of age discrimination and was fired along with several
colleagues. She had to fight through the court system for years
just to get justice. Here is what she said, in pertinent part,
in her letter: ``It was so painful to be thrown away like
something that was used up and not needed. I really hurt from
that, and I felt a profound loneliness because so many of my
thoughts centered around work and how to have my whole group be
successful. Now that was gone.''
Cases like this is why we introduced the legislation I
referred to earlier, to fight back against age discrimination.
Ms. Alwin, based upon the testimony you gave, can you speak
about the different ways that age discrimination can both
undermine older workers and, second, why it is critical that we
strengthen these protections?
Ms. Alwin. Well, thank you. Age discrimination can take
many forms, and thank you for sharing that painful but all too
universal story that older adults experience. Age
discrimination can be less favorable treatment of older adults
in the hiring processes and in employment, which can lead to
involuntary retirement and inability to change jobs. It can
lead to underemployment, the underutilization of workers, and
longer periods of unemployment.
Despite the 1967 Age Discrimination Employment Act, or
ADEA, which forbids discrimination against those 40 and older,
many individuals, nearly two-thirds of Americans age 45 and
older, have either seen or experienced age discrimination in
the workplace. According to the 2019 Ageism in the Workplace
study, the number of age-related discrimination charges filed
with employers to the EEOC by workers aged 65 and older have
doubled from 1990 to 2017.
It is imperative that we restore and reinforce age
discrimination policies, and POWADA would be critical to that.
POWADA would restore the age discrimination employment
protections Congress initially intended. It has been over a
decade since the Supreme Court decision undermined the ADEA and
older workers. We should not have to wait any longer to see
their rights restored. Thank you for your leadership in
reintroducing--with the bipartisan support for POWADA and the
President's call for stronger discrimination protections
generally, we hope it is now finally time to restore age
discrimination policies.
The Chairman. Ms. Alwin, thanks for your testimony and the
answers to questions.
I will turn to Ranking Member Scott.
Senator Tim Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I note that we
have former Chairwoman Collins with us this morning. Senator
Collins, if you would like to go next, I am happy to defer to
you.
I will go ahead and continue then. Mr. Poston, thank you
for being with us this morning. You said some very interesting
and, frankly, illuminating comments about the importance of
having senior management that is a little more seasoned. I will
say it that way. Can you speak to me about the vital role that
experience in your management's team as well as some of the
things that you mentioned was timeliness, attendance, overtime?
All those things are benefits to the company, but it frankly
benefits the end user, the person that you are marketing to,
that they are in a better position to have a more competitive
product at a more affordable price, more reasonable price,
because your workforce is so synergistic. Is that an accurate
depiction of why your focus on seniors in the workforce is so
obvious?
Mr. Poston. Yes, Senator, that is very accurate. Seniors
are really our lifeblood. I think there is a shortage of
manufacturing employees in all markets today, and if we relied
on only younger people, I am not sure how any manufacturing
company today could survive. We have to--this is maybe a
different discussion, but we have to somehow educate the public
that manufacturing jobs are not like manufacturing jobs in the
1930 in a steel mill. You are not carrying 50-pound bags of
concrete. This is jobs where you are monitoring control panels,
and you can do it very, very late in life. In fact, you would
probably get better at it because you are wiser.
Again, having a predominantly senior workforce has
certainly helped our efficiency and quality and on-time
delivery, and, again, I am just not sure what we would do
without that.
Senator Tim Scott. Well, two things you said earlier, I do
want to continue that discussion on the transformation that has
happened in manufacturing. I have visited dozens of plants by
this point, and most places I go, the environment is very
clean, the environments are easy workplaces. You have AC. You
could literally--the areas that they are working in, you look
at this old model that we think is manufacturing, and you look
at the reality of manufacturing, and as simple as it is, people
think of a sweaty, hot place without normal AC ventilation. The
truth is that is just ridiculous. If you have been to a recent
manufacturing location, they are pristine clean. You could
scramble eggs on the floor and be fine eating them. I mean
literally that clean, and I have been all over the country,
and, frankly, I have been stunned by the amazing transformation
of the workplace.
Let me ask you a question. Are other folks in the industry
following your lead on our senior workforce or not?
Mr. Poston. I think they almost have to be, Senator. I
think with the lack of people who are willing to do
manufacturing jobs, I think almost all companies have to lean
on a senior workforce. Again, I do not know how any other
company would not notice what we noticed, that their attendance
is better and their work is better. I would think other
manufacturing companies especially would have to be following
that lead. I am not suggesting that we led it, but it was
something that we certainly noticed.
Senator Tim Scott. Absolutely. I want to make sure that
people understand that my recommendation was not necessarily to
scramble the eggs on the floor and try that. It was just a
suggestion that things have gotten a lot better, just in case
someone missed that.
Mr. Poston. You would greatly upset our VP of manufacturing
if you tried that.
Senator Tim Scott. Ms. White, ``55, Underemployed, and
Faking Normal,'' I love the title, frankly, and love your
passion and your energy. The platforms today, the gig economy
provides our seniors with the type of flexibility that they
want, the type of certainty that they decide on. The workforce
of the future will have the gig economy as the reality. Can you
explain the benefit of using the platform economy for retired
workers who might, frankly, want to stay active or make a
little supplement to their retirement income and/or make it a
full-time go?
Ms. White. Thank you, Senator Scott. I think the gig
economy is actually a mixed bag. You know, on the one hand, it
does offer some flexibility. They do talk about, you know,
workers. It is their entrepreneurial spirit that drives them
there. Actually, I think what is happening--and this goes back
to some of the points that were made earlier. If you have half
of the people who are in their 50's pushed out of the job
market, pushed out of their jobs, and then only 10 percent ever
again get a job that pays at a level commensurate with the job
they left, this means that these are people who then become
desperate, and they are looking for any kind of job. I think
that the person that we see sometimes bagging groceries at
Whole Foods is not there because they want to be.
Some people do, I think, enjoy the flexibility of gig work,
but then gig work, it is often low pay, it is no benefits, it
is no worker protections. I think that if it is here to stay--
and it is. Right now it is already a third of workers are what
they call ``employer independent.'' They think over the next
decade it is going to be half of the workers are going to be in
the sharing economy, then I think we should give them the same
protections as we give other workers. Thank you.
Senator Tim Scott. Thank you, Ms. White. It certainly is
important. I know that my time is out, so I will not prolong
the discussion. I will note that the studies have reflected
that about 90 percent of the gig workforce, those independent
contractors, enjoy the flexibility, the certainty that they are
setting for themselves as a part of the workforce. Obviously,
there are folks who are doing the jobs because they have lost
other income, other opportunities for employment. There is a
mixed bag, and we will have to continue that discussion perhaps
in the next round.
Thanks so much.
The Chairman. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott.
As I acknowledged earlier, we have Senators that are in and
out. Some are able to appear for a brief period of time. Others
are able to stay for questions. We have got--many Senators have
multiple hearings going on.
I want to acknowledge that Senator Gillibrand was with us a
little bit earlier, and so for the next two rounds of
questions, we will go to Senator Kelly and then Senator
Collins.
Senator Kelly. Yes, so, Senator Casey, my understanding is
that Ms. Alwin is on, too. I do not see everybody here.
Ms. Alwin. Yes.
Senator Kelly. Okay, great.
Ms. Alwin. Hello, Senator.
Senator Kelly. My first question is for Ms. Alwin. Good
morning. Sorry I showed up a little bit later here. Ms. Alwin,
overall the economy is beginning to recover. We had incredibly
strong economic growth here this last quarter. The projection
for the year is rather shockingly good. We are talking about
older workers here. Nearly two million people age 55 and above
are out of work across the country, and we know based on
historical data that it is likely going to be harder for them
to reenter the workforce than it will be for younger folks.
Are there employer incentives or actions that we could take
to encourage businesses to hire and retain older workers?
Ms. Alwin. Well, thanks so much for asking, Senator. We
have learned from the historical records on workforce trends
and older adults, that they often face the longest spans of
unemployment, and are getting rehired at half or a third of
previous wages. We saw that in the Great Recession, and we have
seen that over time. We are particularly concerned about what
older Americans are facing now and do want to invest in
strategies that would help best position them with the right
job training and placement.
Additionally, it is important to incentivize employers, and
I talked about the WOTC as an opportunity that could be
expanded to prioritize low-income older workers as a
significant population that has been left behind, has
experienced barriers. This could be a tax credit that employers
would receive if they prioritize this population as well as
other special populations. We think it is a win-win ultimately
because, as you heard, older workers are incredible
collaborators. Creativity and compassion and a range of
uniquely human skills are brought to bear when you have an
older worker in your workforce. Incentivizing with the Tax Code
is a fabulous way to ensure older workers are not left behind.
Senator Kelly. Well, thank you, Ms. Alwin.
For Ms. White, Arizona has a State Plan on Aging, and this
plan was informed by a series of focus groups of older
individuals around the state. Computer literacy was brought up
several times, and one respondent said that--and this is a
quote--``Older citizens who must remain in the workforce
require specific and often intensive training in computer
usage, and computers are a huge stumbling block for many.'' I
know we have probably all experienced that as we try to get our
parents situated with technology.
I have heard from Arizona seniors on my Seniors Advisory
Group about the difficulties assessing online vaccine
appointments. Nationwide, survey upon survey says that older
workers do not feel they have the skills to keep up with the
technology required in their jobs, and they are not being
offered the training that they need.
As technology advances, how do we make sure that these
workers are not left behind?
Ms. White. I think it is important to not lump all seniors
into sort of one monolith, that we are talking about a 40-year
age span and that we have seniors who are actually quite
competent at technology or could rise to the occasion. We saw
with remote work, for example, where in April of last year,
like 75 percent of the workforce was working remotely, that
seniors actually who were working were able to get onboard.
I think it is really that what I saw in the Jobs Plan is
where it is assumed that these programs will benefit seniors,
whether it is in the area of the technology, whether it is
training, whether it is investment, I think that in this early
outline, older adults are not mentioned specifically. I saw one
reference in there to--I think it was aging relatives was the
only reference I saw in the Jobs Plan to older adults.
I think that what is recommended in there will also serve
older adults, but we have to--on the technology side, but we
have to be very specifically targeted, and we have to be very
specifically in the plan name. It is not enough to say that
there is this technology program and assume in the jobs bill
that older adults will be included.
I think what is there is robust and muscular, and just to
carve out so that we are also included. Thank you.
Senator Kelly. Thank you, Ms. White, and thank you, Ms.
Alwin. I appreciate your testimony.
I yield back.
The Chairman. Thanks, Senator Kelly.
Before turning to Senator Collins, as the Ranking Member
indicated, Senator Collins is the former Chair of the
Committee, and I do want to thank her for her cosponsorship not
just recently but over a number of years on the bill that
several of us made reference to. Everything, as folks know in
Washington, has some kind of acronym. This acronym is POWADA.
If you do not know the acronym, it is the Protecting Older
Workers Against Discrimination Act, Senate bill 880. Senator
Collins, thanks very much, and we turn to you.
Senator Collins. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I
cannot pronounce the acronym, but I am wholeheartedly in favor
of the bill and appreciate your leadership on it and am
grateful to be the lead Republican with you as we try to get
this bill enacted.
I want to direct my question to Mr. Poston and Ms. Alwin
this morning, but before I do so, Mr. Poston, I want to tell
you that you gladdened my heart when you talked about the PPP
loan and the difference that it made to you. I was one of the
four chief architects of that bill. You are right that Senator
Scott was a strong supporter as well as our Chairman, and I am
just delighted to know that it was the lifeline that we
intended for your employees.
Let me turn to my question. I have two people who are very
close to me, women who in their 50's--one was vice president of
a bank, one was a vice president of a college--and both of them
lost their jobs when a new president came in and essentially
fired all of the senior management and brought in his own team,
both at the college and at the bank. Each of these women had
worked there for several years and had done very well, were in
their mid-50's.
What their experience in each case was that when they
searched for new jobs, they could not find employers who were
willing to hire them at anywhere close to the comparable
salaries that they had previously received because they could
hire younger people much more cheaply, even though they were
getting a lesser skill level, a lesser judgment level.
Mr. Poston, I am going to start with you. You clearly
recognize that older workers bring reliability, judgment, and
abilities that sometimes younger workers have not had the time
to develop yet and that the tradeoff can clearly be worth it,
even if you are paying them a little more. That is not the
experience that a lot of people who lose their jobs in their
50's find.
How can we encourage employers to recognize, as you have,
the advantages of hiring older workers?
Mr. Poston. That is a really good question, Senator. I wish
I had the answer. I actually do not understand why you would
not look for an older workforce today. You know, I think 20 or
30 years ago, when you started a job, you worked for that
company for your whole career, so if you were 50 or 55 or
older, a company might see you as too close to retirement age.
Well, now we can hire a 55-year-old person; they may have 20
more years in the workplace. We see it as a way to capitalize
on that person's experience, and not only for the jobs we hire
them for, but also to mentor a younger workforce.
I am not really sure what the answer would be there, and it
is certainly not something that I understand or that we do. I
am not sure why you would shun--to me, being the same age, a
55-year-old person is pretty young. I do not really quite
understand it.
Let me finish by saying again that I would not be sitting
here today probably without that PPP loan.
Senator Collins. That is great. Thank you.
Mr. Poston. Again, I really, really appreciate that. It
saved every one of my jobs. Thank you.
Senator Collins. That is wonderful, and thank you for
sharing your experience with older workers. I hope it inspires
other employers.
Ms. Alwin, do you have any thoughts on this issue?
Ms. Alwin. Absolutely. Well, first and foremost, thank you
for your leadership on POWADA. Enforcing age discrimination
protections is critical, first and foremost. Also, I would say
to employers step back and look at the overarching economy. The
50-plus market, what we call the ``longevity economy,'' has a
direct spend of $7.6 trillion annually. This is a market that
is buying your products and services. To be in touch with their
consumer desires, their pain points, you need a workforce
reflective of your consumer. Tapping into that experience,
understanding that value of experience, bringing it to bear on
your offerings as a leader in industry is critical to your
success. Including older workers in your workforce is truly a
competitive advantage.
Senator Collins. Great. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Collins.
I know we have some Senators that may be going back and
forth, as I mentioned earlier, so what I will do now is I will
start a second round of questions. I will begin. Ranking Member
Scott may have questions as well. Then we will see where we are
when other Senators are moving back and forth.
I wanted to go back to Ms. White for a question, and I was
particularly moved by your testimony as someone who had the
experience you had and was able to take the time to write about
it and to provide guidance to so many Americans who have
experienced job loss and have been challenged in some of the
ways that you outlined.
I wanted to ask you about obviously the topic of age
discrimination in the workplace that we have been talking about
this morning, but also the need to make sure that all
workplaces are welcoming of workers of all ages. In your
written testimony, you talked about the need to tackle age bias
in the workplace so older workers are not unfairly forced out
of their jobs or, frankly, to ensure that they are not denied
opportunities that they would deserve. This is critically
important that we strengthen both legal protections for older
workers, but also make clear to employers that no amount of age
discrimination is acceptable.
I would ask you, Ms. White, if you can tell us a little
more about why you think it is important to both strengthen the
protections for older workers but also the importance of
employers not just refraining from discriminating, but fully
embracing, as Mr. Poston and others have, fully embracing what
older workers bring to the workplace, the value, the benefit of
those workers in various workplaces.
Ms. White. Thank you, Senator Casey. I think one thing to
think about is today the worker who is 55 years and older is
already a quarter of the workforce, and over the next decade,
they are going to be a third of the workforce it is not an
insignificant group. Ramsey has already talked about the $8.3
trillion that the over-50 market is spending, and we have a
situation where if people who are pushed out of the workforce
are not able to again get jobs, as somebody said to me, ``I do
not have to trade my 4-year-old Chevy in every year. I do not
have to shop at Starbucks to get a coffee. I can take it in my
thermos.' At this point about how much we are spending as we
are significant driver of the economy I think is one point.
The other point is to start to look at the potential
pressure on public finances. Teresa Ghilarducci, labor
economist and retirement security expert, estimates that with
the way we are going, half of people who are now 55, by the
time they get to be 65, are going to be living in poverty or
near poverty conditions. This is not a pesky little Boomer
problem. We do not have even for Generation-X or for
Millennials, they do not have pensions. They are facing
uncertain work. You know, they are facing escalating costs in
housing, health care, and all the rest of it. Boomers, we are
just the first who are living longer, but this is going to be
the future. We are the first generation to live as long as we
are, then we are, you know, at this place where we do not have
rules yet. We do not have supportive legislation yet. We do not
have many role models.
My fellow witness here from South Carolina, I am so excited
about the company, because this is a role model. I would like
to see the Federal Government use its purchasing power when you
are contracting with companies to actually start to look at how
are they doing in terms of retaining and recruiting and
advancing older workers. What kind of investment, how are they
leveraging mature talent? That as you are deciding--as a
country as we are deciding who we are going to do business
with, that will be one of the things that we also consider.
I am less interested at this point in the laggard
companies. I would rather get behind a company like this in
South Carolina, have other companies understand what they are
doing, convening companies that are on the forward edge like
this of hiring older workers, understand the value, how do you
include incentives, you know, so maybe there are wage offsets,
et cetera, to help the companies that are already there to do
more. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thanks very much. With the Ranking Member's
indulgence, I will lunge back into round one questions. Senator
Braun is here. Senator Braun?
Senator Braun. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
COVID has, I think, give us a big wakeup call about another
looming issue that drives our trillion dollar deficits
annually, and I think if there is a silver lining, it is
forcing us to look at many things that we avoid here.
I am interested--and try to keep your answers to maybe a
minute or just a little more, because I would like to hear from
each witness. The big elephant in the room is Medicare, its
high cost, and Social Security. For anybody that is a Boomer,
retired, nearing retirement, the program is in jeopardy. The
Medicare Trust Fund I think gets completely depleted now in
5\1/2\ years. It is 2031 or 2032 for Social Security.
I am going to ask each one of you, because the variables
are fairly simple, it is just tough. To keep Social Security
solvent, do you think we need to raise taxes, raise the
retirement age, or means test? I would love to hear your
opinions because if we do not get the political will soon to
start doing something about it, it is going to be here before
we know it, and actuarially we have known it for a long time.
Raise taxes, raise the retirement age, or means test? Whoever
wants to jump in on that doozy first, go ahead.
Ms. White. It is such a doozy that I am going to sit it out
because I would be--I would actually be--I would be
speculating, and I do not want that on the record. I will come
back to you. Thank you.
Senator Braun. I respect that. Anyone else?
Dr. Gould. Sure, I would be happy to answer your question.
Thank you, Senator. As we know, Social Security and Medicare
are essential lifelines for older workers. We have already
heard statistics discussed about how many may be in poverty,
and Social Security is one of the No. 1 poverty reducers we
have in this country. Maybe as not a Social Security expert
but, rather, a workforce expert, I would say that maybe one
other option I would put on your list is to increase the income
that provides the payroll taxes into that system. As we have
had growing wage inequality, a smaller share of wages are
actually provided in that payroll tax. We could go the other
direction and increase the solvency in that way.
Senator Braun. That would be in the category of raising
taxes, and I think that is a valid subset of that variable as
well. Thank you.
Anyone else?
Ms. Alwin. Senator, those are two very important social
insurance programs for older adults, and we really believe in
strengthening those programs. A piece of the puzzle is making
sure people can work as long as they want and need to so that
they can delay claiming that Social Security benefit. For each
year they delay increases their benefit will increase by eight-
percent, but it also means they continue to contribute those
payroll taxes that can help us with the solvency. Addressing
these challenges in terms of older workers that want and need
to continue to work and get that employer-sponsored insurance
when it comes to health care can also help in terms of delaying
enrollment in Medicare.
You know, there was an interesting analysis by the
Commonwealth Fund last October. The cost of public programs and
to older adults themselves when job losses are premature and
retirement starts are significant. The analysis demonstrates if
half of the pandemic-related job losses among older workers,
roughly half a million, are among those with employer-sponsored
insurance, and they have to transition over to Medicare, it
could increase Medicare spending by more than $4 billion in a
single year. It just reinforces the need for today's
conversation and leadership at the federal level to help the
older workers that want and need to continue to work to do so,
for their own retirement security and for the solvency of our
programs.
Senator Braun. Thank you. Well said. I think there is one
other potential opinion out there. Go ahead.
Mr. Poston. I am not sure--that was pretty tough to follow
there. I think I would agree. I am not sure I have the answer,
and I certainly am not going to masquerade as an economist.
Senator Braun. Well, and I think that would be an answer
that many would have because it is so complicated.
I am going to end with this: Medicare is the biggest
driver, and I am probably the most vocal Senator on trying to
reform health care in general. We need the help of retirement
groups to help individuals like me that have made it work in
the private sector by finding transparency, getting your
employees engaged in their own well-being so when they get to
retirement age, they can enjoy it and be healthy. I would love
to continue the conversation with anybody that is interested. I
did that 13 years ago, and when I resigned as CEO and CFO of my
company, and still these two years have not had a premium
increase. Transparency, competition, getting rid of the
barriers to entry and getting health care consumers engaged in
their own well-being helps Government pay for health care and
the private sector. I would love to engage with anybody further
if you are interested in that topic.
Good talking to you today.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Braun, and I will turn
back to Ranking Member Scott. I know that Senator Warnock has
appeared in the hearing, was here earlier, and as I said,
Senators are juggling. Unless Senator Warnock has a question, I
will turn to Ranking Member Scott.
Senator Tim Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I see Senator
Warnock. I assume he does not have questions at this point.
Ms. White, you wrote in your book that the shared economy
offers us plus-50 workers opportunities to supplement our
incomes by renting out our assets and not just our homes and
cars but also our time skills, accumulated knowledge and
experiences from your book that I enjoyed reading. Can you just
expound upon the importance of having seniors re-engage in the
economy and/or supplement income by figuring out their place in
the marketplace, especially from a platform perspective?
Ms. White. Thank you, Senator Scott. One of the things I
wanted to do in my book was to offer older adults options, and
I definitely think that the gig economy is one option. I sort
of look at it as how do you create an interesting casserole of
work. I have a number of friends, for example, who are empty-
nesters and who are renting a room in their home, and this is a
way that they are making money. What has happened now with the
pandemic, they do not want all those strangers in their house,
and so that as an income avenue disappeared.
I see that the gig economy is here to stay. I think what we
need to do is just make sure that it offers the same kind of
worker protections as other work. It is not about like making
it go away. It is not going away. If you--you know, right now
some of them--Uber, I know, and I think it was Lyft as well,
lobbied for their workers to not get the pandemic unemployment.
Those kinds of things that I think are not actually worker
friendly. I think the narrative about the gig work where they
talk about, you know, it is for your entrepreneurial spirit, et
cetera, is a little bit of a marketing game. Since it is going
to be half the economy's jobs over the next decade, let us make
it work for everybody. Thank you.
Senator Tim Scott. Yes, ma'am. I will note that one of the
beauties of the pandemic--there are not many beauties in a
pandemic, but one of the beauties in the pandemic was forcing
us to reevaluate and then recalibrate unemployment for those
folks who are 1099 and independent contractors. Fortunately,
because of the fact that the pandemic was not brought on by any
company or any employee, we changed the way that we saw
unemployment and did include those Uber drivers and all the
1099 independent contractors. Something else you say in your
book that I think actually speaks to that point as it relates
to funding and bridging toward retirement is you may be able to
piece together enough income to put off filing for early Social
Security and avoiding reducing your ultimate benefit. One of
the points that I like in that comment is the importance
perhaps, Chairman, for a future hearing is around income
insecurity as well as the importance of focusing on the buildup
in your 401(k). I know that in South Carolina and around the
country, it is not uncommon for someone to have one year of
income in their retirement accountable, and one year of income
simply will not make 15 to 20 years in retirement comfortable,
and one of the reasons why I really appreciate Ms. White's
comments that I quoted from there is because of the importance
of us focusing on the importance of financial literacy,
especially in the golden years, and perhaps even the necessity
of preplanning in the 40's and 50's to help us to prevent too
many folks with too few dollars in their retirement accounts. I
am sure we will have an opportunity to have a discussion about
that, but I think Ms. White's quote reinforces the fact that
there are too many folks getting closer to retirement who have
to make a strong and tough decision about perhaps taking Social
Security earlier because they need the income as opposed to
being able to delay that and getting a full benefit.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the extra round of questions,
and I look forward to sticking around for another one.
The Chairman. Ranking Member Scott, thanks very much.
I was going to move--based upon our Senators now, I was
going to move to close unless, Ranking Member Scott, you had
additional questions.
Senator Tim Scott. No, sir. You go right ahead.
Thank you very much.
The Chairman. Thank you, and I want to thank our witnesses
for both your testimony and your insights today and for
appearing at this hearing. We know that every corner of our
country has been touched by this terrible pandemic and every
family has been affected in some way. We cannot leave older
workers behind as the economy recovers. Indeed, these workers
must play a central role in driving it forward, and many of you
provided insight and testimony about the value of older workers
today in our economy.
The American Rescue Plan made some great strides toward
ensuring that all workers have access to a vaccine and that
they can return to a safe workplace. Now I believe Congress
should enact the American Jobs Plan to spur economic growth and
create millions of good-paying jobs that benefit all Americans.
We also have to remove the obstacles that have long stood
in the way of workers, and one of those big obstacles, one of
those big barriers, of course, is discrimination, age
discrimination. That is why we need to pass the Protecting
Older Workers Against Discrimination Act without delay. It is
bipartisan, and I am grateful for the support that we have.
There is much work to do, but I believe working together we
can meet the moment and protect older workers. I look forward
to the continued work of the Committee, and I will turn to
Ranking Member Scott for his closing remarks.
Senator Tim Scott. Thank you, Chairman, and thank you to
all the witnesses for investing your time and your expertise in
this hearing. We as a Nation benefit when people stand up and
take their place in leadership, and certainly we have seen four
really strong individuals participate in this process today
during the hearing. I would like to give a shout-out to Mr.
Poston and, of course, he being a home-state guy, it is one of
the reasons why I am so thankful that he is articulate and
clear and consistent with the philosophy that our seniors are
where some of the hidden gems, some of the hidden jewels are in
the workforce. More importantly, as the employer sitting here
amongst the panel, he is proving that it can be done
successfully and effectively and, frankly, it actually helps
the bottom line and helps his customers. Thank you for your
participation in the hearing.
To all of the other witnesses, I really enjoyed and learned
during the earlier part of the hearing. While one of you was
giving your opening comments, I thought to myself and I was
telling my staff in the room, these folks are really smart,
very engaging, and powerful. Being a part of this Committee is
highlighted by the number of people who are passionate about
aging gracefully and being included in the most important
workforce in all of the world. I thank you for bringing your
expertise to bear on the issues that we focused on.
I will say that many of the legislative priorities from our
good friends--I sincerely think of Chairman Casey as a friend--
are really focused on making the world and work better. I would
disagree, perhaps even vehemently, on the outcome of those
legislative priorities because I think it would actually harm
our workforce more than help our workforce, but I do not
question the intentions. I certainly am thankful that we live
in a country where we can actually have a civil debate, have
civil discourse around those priorities and issues that face
our Nation and the future of this Nation, and I look forward to
continuing to be a productive member of this Committee.
I want to thank all the Committee members for participating
in some form or fashion. I know that Senator Lee provided
questions for the record. That is very helpful. I look forward
to seeing the response from the witnesses.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I am going to do what rarely
happens and return my time.
The Chairman. Ranking Member Scott, thanks very much. I
want to thank again our witnesses, and the comments of the
Ranking Member about our witnesses were entirely appropriate
about how much they contribute not just to the hearing but to
the larger debate about how we help older workers.
For the record, I want to say that if any Senator has
additional questions for the witnesses or statements to be
added, the hearing record will be kept open for seven days,
until next Thursday, May 6th.
Thank you all for participating in today's hearing.
This concludes our hearing.
[Whereupon, at 10:53 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
=======================================================================
APPENDIX
=======================================================================
Prepared Witness Statements
=======================================================================
Prepared Statement of Elizabeth White, Aging Solutions Advocate and
Author, Washington, DC
Chairman Casey, Ranking Member Scott and honorable
Committee Members, thank you for inviting me to speak today. My
name is Elizabeth White. I am 67 years old and live in
Washington, DC. I am someone who was doing really well until I
wasn't. I have a Harvard MBA, a master's in international
studies from Johns Hopkins, and an undergraduate degree from
Oberlin College.
Until the Great Recession of 2008 to 2009, I'd had a good
run in a career I loved. At 29, I landed my dream job at the
World Bank. In my early forties, I became a retail entrepreneur
and later a senior non-profit executive and consultant.
When the Great Recession hit, I was working two long-term
consultancies that put me solidly in the six figures. In the
downturn, both organizations retrenched, and I lost both jobs
within six months, taking my income to zero. I was not worried
initially given my background and contacts. I was part of a
robust network and accustomed to hearing about jobs before they
were posted. Something was different this time. In my mid-
fifties, I was not getting the traction I was used to; my phone
was not ringing.
My bout of unemployment/underemployment dragged on with
weeks turning into months. The assignments I managed to get
paid a fraction of what I was used to earning. I had used a
chunk of my savings in my retail business and, now that I was
jobless, I was running out of money and scared. I noticed
friends my age, also former high earners, in the same boat. At
a particularly low point, I wrote an essay describing what it
felt like to land here--55, underemployed, and faking normal--
pretending to be okay when I wasn't.
My essay made its way on to the PBS Facebook page where it
went viral with thousands of people responding, ``me too.''
What was happening to me was happening to husbands, wives,
brothers, sisters and friends. Many expressed gratitude that
someone was finally shining a light on it.
I was astonished to hear from so many people. I have the
background to look at the data. I thought my case was an
outlier situation but learned that I was not alone--by a long
shot. Research showed millions of Americans in their fifties
being pushed/aged out of the workforce. Most, 90 percent, never
recovered financially.
When looking for guidance and advice on a way forward, I
found many books on the retirement income crisis, but mainly
written for the trade. I couldn't find what I was looking for--
a survival guide written for people actually living the crisis
now. My self-published book sought to fill that void and was
later picked up by Simon and Schuster. As people learned about
my work I was invited to speak at conferences and other events.
A TEDx talk I gave now has nearly two million views.
Having these opportunities to connect with other older
workers going through similar struggles gave me perspective on
the scale of the challenge. Over the past year, millions of
older workers have gone through experiences during the economic
crisis created by the COVID-19 virus that look exactly like
what I went through. Many lost jobs, lost savings and are
struggling to find work that pays even close to what they
earned before. On top of that, they have also had to worry
about their health and the health of their families.
There are a number of policies that policymakers should
consider to help these older workers and ensure that they are
not left behind in our economic recovery.
Actions Congress Can Take:
Pass the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act
(POWADA) Into Law
Research tells us that over half of working adults in their
fifties will lose their long-term, full-time positions
involuntarily. Only 10 percent will ever find replacement jobs
at the level and pay of the career jobs they left. All these
people did not suddenly become incompetent. Workplace age
discrimination is real and rampant.
Too often to survive, displaced older workers end up taking
low-wage, part-time, or gig economy type jobs to scrape by,
wreaking havoc on their finances and prospects for a secure
future. In an interview with MarketWatch, Teresa Ghilarducci, a
labor economist and nationally recognized expert on retirement
security, estimated that ``about 50 percent of workers over the
age of 55 will be poor or near-poor adults when they reach
65.''
Passage of POWADA would send a powerful message that the
Congress takes seriously the hard evidence and anecdotes that
age discrimination is a major factor in the long-term
unemployment of older workers and is prepared to do something
about it.
Ensure that the needs of older workers are specifically
addressed in The American Jobs Plan
The American Jobs Plan is a bold proposal that would invest
in multiple sectors of the economy to stimulate economic growth
and create jobs. Emphasized in the outline of the plan is the
need to direct investment toward individuals and communities
who would most benefit, and to ensure that nobody is left
behind. As Congress works to fill in that outline, we must
ensure that older Americans are included and that the unique
challenges they face are directly addressed. In the initial
high-level outline of the plan, older adults are mentioned as
``aging relatives'' in the section on the care economy, but we
need to go beyond that. Lawmakers have an opportunity to create
policy that will be inclusive of America's older adults, and
they must take it.
Here is what I would like to see:
That Congress, when it crafts the legislation to implement
the American Jobs Plan, undertakes the deep review and analysis
required to ensure that the needs of older adults--both those
who require care and support and those who can and still need/
want to work and contribute--are fully integrated into the
policy.
We know that everyday ageism renders older adults invisible
and dispensable. This is why strong communication, oversight,
and incentives will be needed to ensure that employers and
employment support service providers prioritize the needs of
older workers as much as younger ones. This is also why it's
important that policies be both targeted and tailored to ensure
that workers age fifty and older get access to the proposed
training and good quality jobs.
On the subject of jobs, please consider older job seekers
and the role of gig work in the future legislation. Many older
adults facing a ``don't want you job market'' are testing out
these ``gig'' jobs. A 2015 study commissioned by Uber, found
that it had more drivers over fifty than under thirty. Airbnb
reports that one in four hosts in the United States are over
the age of fifty and 13 percent of hosts are over the age of
sixty. While these freelance type jobs may offer some
flexibility, many provide grossly inadequate pay, no benefits
and no labor protections like minimum wage, overtime, and
workers compensation. ``Entrepreneurial spirit'' may call some
older workers to the gig economy, but many take these jobs
because they have no other options. If gig work is here to
stay, it is time it provides the same protections under the law
as other work.
Let's also ensure that the legislation's proposed
investments in research and development include assistive
technologies to help older adults with age-related physical
limitations succeed in the workplace.
let's ensure that dollars going to help entrepreneurs,
small business incubators and innovation hubs also benefit
older entrepreneurs. According to Kaufman Foundation about a
quarter (25.5 percent) of all new entrepreneurs are between 55
and 64. While many are ``necessity'' entrepreneurs, some are
high potential growth businesses too--ideal for the small
business incubators and innovations hubs proposed in the plan.
In fact, a study by researchers at Northwestern, MIT, and the
US Census Bureau looked at 2.7 million business owners who
launched companies between 2007 and 2014 and found that a 50
year old is nearly twice as likely to start a top or very
successful business as someone two decades younger.
Finally, I would like to see the government leverage its
purchasing power to fight age-based discrimination in the
workplace. Workplace age discrimination, now compounded by the
health risks of COVID-19, is forcing millions of older
Americans out of their jobs into early involuntary retirement--
an involuntary retirement marked by poverty. Future legislation
can be part of a broader effort to ensure that federal
investments promote the creation of inclusive, age-friendly
workplaces. The federal government has enormous purchasing
power, and policymakers should examine how it can use that
power to encourage employers to invest in and leverage talent
across generations, especially measures to attract and retain
older workers.
Fully fund SCSEP and provide incentives for participating
employers to provide higher quality, higher paying jobs
At current funding levels, the Senior Community Service
Program (SCSEP) can only service a small percentage of eligible
individuals. Also, the profile of today's SCSEP job seeker is
not the same as it was when the program was first enacted some
50-plus years ago, especially post the Great Recession and our
most recent pandemic recession.
In the SCSEP program where I consulted in 2017, some 40
percent of the participants had at least some college. SCSEP is
limited to paying the minimum wage and few jobs offered
advancement opportunities. Participants shared that they were
grateful to be working, but struggled to make ends meet, let
alone save.
The economics of aging is forcing many older Americans to
work beyond traditional retirement age. For SCSEP this means
expanding its services to meet the needs of a broader cross-
section of economically vulnerable older job seekers for higher
skilled employment opportunities spanning more functions and
sectors.
What Congress can do is provide incentives to attract new
private sector companies into the program and strengthen the
participation of existing SCSEP partners in a way that allows
them to offer higher skilled, better paying jobs. Incentives
could include support for training and workplace modifications,
wage offsets and other subsidies. As noted earlier, good
quality jobs could also come from specifically targeting
assistance to older job seekers in The American Jobs Act or
other big federally funded jobs programs.
Appointment of a Presidential Envoy on Aging, Longevity, and
Retirement Security
By 2034, it is estimated that there will be more Americans
over age 65 than under age 18. Extended healthy life expectancy
is a game changer. There is literally no sector of the economy
it does not impact in profound ways--labor markets, financial
markets, education, housing, and transportation. We are already
seeing the consequences. What will it take for America to
become age-ready? In the same way that John Kerry is leading
the way on Climate Change, I would like to see a Presidential
Envoy charged with anticipating the short and long-term
challenges (and opportunities) of aging and longevity and
coordinating an all-of-government response.
Thank you for allowing me to share my story and ideas with
you today. I know, firsthand, what it is like to be an older
woman in financial jeopardy--the uncertainty and fear. It was
stressful enough without having to contend with a pandemic.
This is why it is so important, coming out of this COVID
crisis, to meet the needs of older workers who are struggling
and ensure tomorrow's economy works better for them than
today's.
Prepared Statement of Elise Gould, Ph.D., Senior Economist,
Economic Policy Institute, Takoma Park, Maryland
Thank you, Chairman Casey, Ranking Member Scott, and
members of the committee, for the invitation to participate in
today's important hearing on supporting older workers amid the
COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. My name is Elise Gould, I am a
senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a leading
non-profit non-partisan think tank that analyzes the effects of
U.S. economic policy on working families. Today I would like to
outline the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on older
workers, how it compares to the Great Recession, and how we can
build a stronger, more equitable economy going forward.
Older workers were devastated by the pandemic downturn and
continue to face adverse employment outcomes
In 2020, the U.S. economy took a hit like none other in
recent history. The 2020 recession was driven by a highly
unusual cause--the need to control the pandemic and keep people
safe--its first-round impacts were far different than most
previous recessions in terms of which sectors and workers were
hit hardest and most durably. Workers across the economy,
including older workers, experienced devastating job losses.
Five point seven million workers 55 years old and older lost
their jobs last spring--15 percent of total employment for this
group--and remain over two million jobs short of their
employment levels before the pandemic hit.
Labor market outcomes were far worse for older workers in
this recession as compared to their experience in the Great
Recession. In particular, employment losses were greater for
older workers 55 years and older in the pandemic recession
compared to the Great Recession while the oldest of workers (65
years and older) experienced employment gains in the Great
Recession and losses in the pandemic recession. In particular,
women ages 55 and older were met with a harsher economic
reality in this recession than the prior one. One of the
reasons the economic reality was bleaker for older workers is
that they were less likely to be able to telework coming into
the pandemic. They were also significantly harder hit by the
pandemic itself and therefore may have left employment in
greater numbers because of concerns over their own health. The
economy requires continued assistance from policymakers to
ensure that the economy comes back strong, and the recovery
provides greater economic security and opportunity for all
workers, regardless of age, race/ethnicity, gender, and
educational attainment.
The U.S. economy faced devastating job losses in the pandemic
recession and continues to face a significant employment
shortfall
At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S.
economy experienced losses in March and April of 1.7 million
and 20.7 million jobs, respectively, losses the likes of which
we hadn't experienced in modern history. Figure A shows the
monthly changes in payroll employment between January 2020 and
March 2021. The labor market saw a significant bounce back in
May and June with 2.8 million and 4.8 million jobs added,
respectively. Unfortunately, over the remainder of 2020, job
growth rapidly slowed as vital federal relief expired and the
virus surged. Then, employment fell outright in December 2020,
a loss of 306,000 jobs.
A solid 916,000 jobs were added in March, the strongest job
growth we've seen since the initial bounce back faded last
summer. Even with these gains, the labor market is still down
8.4 million jobs from its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.
In addition, thousands of jobs would have been added each month
over the last year without the pandemic recession. If we count
how many jobs may have been created if the recession hadn't
hit--consider average job growth (202,000) over the 12 months
before the recession--we are now short 11.0 million jobs since
February. Even at this pace, it could take more than a year to
dig out of the total jobs shortfall.
The latest jobs number is certainly a promising sign for
the recovery, especially as vaccinations increase and vital
provisions in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) have continued to
ramp up since the March reference period to today's data. While
the benefits of the ARP will continue to be captured in coming
months, more can be done to continue to keep the economic
recovery on track, invest in the economic infrastructure, and
surpass pre-pandemic benchmarks.
Millions of older workers lost their jobs in the COVID
recession
Older workers were far from spared in the COVID recession.
Figure B charts the monthly employment level for workers 55
years and older between January 2020 and March 2021. Between
March and April 2020, 5.7 million workers ages 55 and up lost
their jobs. This represents a loss of 15 percent of employment
among older workers. As with workers overall, older workers
experienced a bit of a rebound last summer, but unlike most
other workers, older workers lost ground through the fall.
March 2021 was the first month since October 2020 that older
workers saw positive gains in employment. Even with that more
promising gain of 308,000 jobs in March 2021, older workers are
still down 2.1 million jobs since February 2020.
This understates the shortfall in employment for older
workers because it simply calculates what it would take to
return to the February 2020 labor market. A better measure
would take into account the fact that the older population has
grown significantly since then. The 55+ population has
increased by more than 1.5 million since February 2020.
Considering what the employment level could be given the
February 2020 employment rate and recent population growth,
older workers are facing a job shortfall of over 2.7 million
jobs.
Older workers lost employment in greater numbers in the COVID
downturn than in the Great Recession
In the pandemic recession, older workers have faced a more
challenging labor market than they experienced in the last
labor market downturn, also referred to as the Great Recession.
The official Great Recession followed the business cycle peak
in 2007 and ended in 2009, though job losses continued into
2011. Therefore, the depth of the Great Recession is best
measured by comparing 2007 with 2011. Figure C reports full
year data on the share of the population with a job, also known
as the employment-to-population ratio (EPOP), by age group,
comparing changes in EPOPs in the Great Recession (2007-2011)
with changes in the pandemic recession (2019-2020). Comparing
full year data for 2019 with 2020 does not capture the full
extent of the worst of the pandemic recession, but it provides
a sense for how the year as a whole impacts employment across
age groups.
The depth and length of the recession on employment rates
was worse for young workers (16-24 years old) and prime-
working-age workers (25-54 years old) in the Great Recession
than in the pandemic recession. EPOPs fell by 7.7 percentage
points for young workers in the Great Recession and by 5.3
percentage points in the pandemic recession. Prime-working-age
workers experienced less of a difference between the
recessions, but they did see a slightly larger fall in EPOPs in
the former recession than the latter (4.8 ppt decline versus
4.3 ppt decline).
Older workers, on the other hand, experienced far worse
labor market outcomes in the pandemic recession than the Great
Recession. Workers 55-64 years old experienced more mild
employment losses in the prior recession and workers ages 65
and older experienced outright gains in the prior recession.\1\
Job losses may have been lighter among older workers in the
former recession because of where the job losses occurred as
well as the fact that older workers' retirement income may have
been more compromised during the financial crisis than during
the COVID recession and therefore they may have remained in the
labor force longer than they otherwise would have. In addition,
in the current recession, older workers may have left
employment for fear of the pandemic itself.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ While the aging population--namely baby boomers reaching age 65
during the Great Recession--may be a factor in the employment increases
for workers age 65+ in the Great Recession, an examination of the same
data using smaller age groupings confirms that the labor market led to
fewer job losses among this group and the outright gains were
experienced among those 65-69, 70-74, and 75 and older when measured
separately.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure D compares the employment rates of men and women
older workers, separately. Older men ages 55+ experienced
greater employment losses than women in the COVID downturn, but
older women experienced a bigger difference in employment
between the Great Recession and the COVID recession. In
particular, men ages 55-64 only saw a mild difference in their
losses between the Great Recession and the COVID recession (3.0
percentage point changes versus 3.5 percentage point change in
their EPOPs). Women ages 55-64 saw a much larger drop in
employment in the most recent recession, 3.1 percentage points
versus 0.7 percentage points. This could be due in part to
additional caregiving responsibilities for this cohort of older
women. They may have left the labor force to care for elderly
parents who left their nursing home or assisted living
facility, other ill family members, or even grandchildren when
the schools shuttered.
Both men and women ages 65 and older experienced a
significant swing in employment between the Great Recession and
the COVID downturn. In the earlier period, both men and women
saw increases in employment, while in the latter period, both
experienced significant losses.
Older workers were harder hit by the pandemic itself and
therefore may have employment in greater numbers because of
concerns over their own health
The data over the last year have been conclusive that older
workers are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
Figure E shows the disproportionate death toll borne by the
population 55 years old and older. The vast majority--93
percent--of the deaths from COVID-19 were among those 55 years
old and older. Over a half a million deaths were attributed to
this older population. It would be no surprise then that many
older workers may have not only lost their jobs but opted out
of the workforce for fears of their own health and safety. This
may be particularly true for older workers of color who have
been hit harder from both the health and economic aspects of
the pandemic.
Unfortunately, older workers were less likely than many
other age groups to be able to telework before the pandemic
hit. Figure F shows the share of workers who were able to
telework before the pandemic hit, by age group. Nearly three-
fourths of workers ages 65 and older--or over five million
older workers--are unable to telecommute. Over two-thirds of
55-to 64-year-olds cannot telework either; this represents
another 15 million workers. That means that these workers, who
are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 because of
their age, could be putting themselves at risk to earn a
paycheck.
The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows
that only about one-fifth of the current workforce is
teleworking. That means that nearly 80 percent of workers are
physically going to work. Not only does that include many older
workers, but it's likely that millions of younger workers who
cannot telework may be putting older family members at risk by
going to work themselves.
Congress has taken important steps to protect the health
and economic well-being of workers and their families during
the pandemic. However, in order for the economy to grow back
quickly and stronger than before, policymakers should make sure
the recovery hits all corners of the labor market. This means
putting significant investments in policies that meet the
pressing social needs the COVID-19 pandemic made so visible and
that lead to greater economic security and opportunity for
workers, including but not limited to, physical infrastructure,
caregiving needs for young and old, paid leave, and expanded
unemployment insurance.
Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Prepared Statement by David Poston, President and CEO of Palmetto
Synthetics, Kingstree, South Carolina
Good morning Chairman Casey, Ranking Member Scott, and
members of the Committee. My name is David Poston, and I am
President of Palmetto Synthetics in Kingstree, South Carolina.
We are a textile manufacturing company that produces
specialty synthetic fibers for a wide variety of applications
like automotive carpet, military uniforms, performance apparel,
and industrial uses. We ship our fiber all over the world.
We started Palmetto Synthetics in 1998 with five employees
in one 50,000 square foot building with the goal to be the
highest quality specialty fiber producer in the world. It was a
green field startup. Literally in a soybean field.
Today we have 250 employees working in a 375,000 square
foot facility and we produce more specialty fiber, with a wider
variety of applications, than any other company in the world.
We operate our facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I am
blessed and thankful for our success, which is the result of
our talented and dedicated employees.
Today, 50 percent of our production employees are over 50
years old, and 70 percent are over 40. Furthermore, 100 percent
of upper management is over the age of 50, as well as 90
percent of middle management. We employ more managers in their
70's than in their 20's and 30's.
We do this because we found, while tracking attendance
statistics a few years ago, we noticed that employees over the
age of 40 had much better attendance records than our younger
associates. Older workers were late less often, did not leave
before the end of their shift, and were our most reliable
workers.
Since an employee who is late or absent has to be covered
by a full-time person from a different shift, the teams with
older employees translated to less overtime and higher quality
production. We also discovered how older workers are a valuable
asset to mentor and set strong work examples for younger
workers as we build our workforce for the future.
Our production and manufacturing jobs are not strenuous.
The majority of our employees are monitoring the control panels
of the production lines. Without the job requirements being
physically taxing, we made the effort to recruit an older
workforce to improve employee reliability and production.
Over several years, as our workforce has aged, we continued
to increase production and efficiency. We now actively recruit
older production and management employees.
Like other sectors of the economy, the American textile
industry has been especially hard hit by the pandemic. In the
span of just a few weeks last March, we went from 100 percent
capacity utilization to less than 15 percent. In the face of
countless lost orders and idle production lines, and the
growing need for PPE, we retooled our equipment to help with
the COVID response. We retooled to make fiber for COVID testing
swabs as well as antimicrobial fiber for medical gowns. During
this difficult period, we were able to keep 100 percent of our
employees on the payroll because of a PPP loan we received.
I do not know where our company would have been without the
lifeline we received from our PPP loan. PPP saved most if not
all of our jobs. I want to thank Senator Scott for his
leadership on this program to ensure our nation's small
businesses had the resources they needed to weather the storm.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented several social
distancing practices on the production floor, instituted a mask
requirement, and conducted temperature checks at the start of
each shift to ensure our worker's health and safety. In 2020 we
did have four seniors in management and 12 manufacturing
employees choose to retire. We intend, as the economy opens, to
recruit older associates to replace these recent retirees.
Hiring, training, and retaining older workers is the key to
our successful and efficient workforce at Palmetto Synthetics.
Because of modern technology, manufacturing and production jobs
are no longer out of reach of older workers. Meanwhile, more
and more employers are discovering the unique advantages of
older workers in their workforce to mentor younger workers,
retain institutional knowledge, and increase reliability.
Thank you Chairman Casey, Ranking Member Scott, and the
rest of the Committee for inviting me today to share this
testimony. I look forward to answering your questions. Thank
you.
=======================================================================
Questions for the Record
=======================================================================
Questions for the Record To David Poston
From Senator Lee
Question:
According to a report published by the Economic Policy
Institute (EPI), older workers are more likely to be
independent contractors than any other age group, with the
share of workers between the ages 55 to 64 rising from 18.8
percent in 2005 to 22.9 percent in 2017 and workers aged 65 and
older, rising from 8.5 percent to 14.1 percent in the same
timeframe. Allowing for elderly workers to have access to
flexible work arrangements, such as independent contracting,
allows for these workers to pursue employment opportunities
that may better suit their needs than traditional employment.
What can Congress do to ensure that the federal government
does not stand in the way of businesses, like yours, from being
able to provide flexible work opportunities for the elderly
workforce?
Response:
Our manufacturing company operates 24 hours a day, seven
days a week. Our manufacturing process does not allow for
production to start and stop. Once running, our manufacturing
lines need to operates continuously. For us, having full
employment around the clock is extremely important. Our older
workers tend to have be lowest absentee rates, especially on
nights and weekends. We would welcome any change to offer more
flexible schedules to our employees. Especially if the changes
drove more seniors into the workforce.
Question:
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that work flexibility has
become an even more valued benefit than it already was in the
past. However, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the only
option available to private-sector, hourly employees who work
overtime is to receive monetary compensation at 1 1/2 times
their normal pay. These private-sector employers are not
legally able to offer their employees paid time off as an
alternative option. I have legislation, the Working Families
Flexibility Act, that would fix this problem, giving employees
more flexibility on how they use their overtime benefits.
As an employer, would you value being able to have more
flexibility from the federal government regarding the types of
overtime benefits you can offer your employees?
Response:
Absolutely. Being able to offer other options, such as paid
time off, would be a tremendous help in the recruitment and
retention of older workers. We as a company would like to offer
more flexibility to our workers, especially the older ones,
where money earned may not be their sole reason for being in
the workforce. Offering more options other than overtime pay
could help drive more seniors into parts of workforce, like
manufacturing, that are currently desperately needing
additional workers.
=======================================================================
Additional Statements for the Record
=======================================================================
Bonnie Marcus Statement for the Record
I would like to start at the end of my story . . .
I thought that after all of the time that has passed
between the trials and now, I was over the hurt, pain and
loneliness I experienced. I thought I had left behind the
sadness over betrayal by ``friends'', the humiliation of my
situation being known in the industry and the feelings of
failure. Recently in talking to Senator Casey's representatives
about my experience with age discrimination, I felt my
``stomach ache'' come back--that feeling of anger about an
unfairness and the inability to do anything about it. I am
reliving what happened, and I'm still damn mad, sad and upset.
Now to the beginning.
I started at the company in 1994 after being approached at
an international conference by senior managers of the company.
At the time, I was working at an oil company that was doing
very little work in my area of expertise, and I was looking for
other opportunities. I was 50 at the time and had been in the
field since 1981; I went back to school when my son was in
first grade for my longtime dream--a degree in chemistry--and I
got my Masters while working for Union Carbide Corporation in
New York.
I was hired by the company as a Senior Chemist. I was
promoted to Manager, Market Development Zeolites and Custom
later that year and was added to the bonus plan. In 1999 I was
promoted to Manager, Technical Market Development.
In 2005, the privately held company had been sold and a
restructuring was to occur. I was told by a VP privately that
the restructuring was going to target older employees for
layoff and that I would be one. That hit me like a ton of
bricks. I was devastated that after rising so quickly and being
on the path for advancement, I was going to be let go. I was
really surprised since I had gotten the maximum bonus possible,
excellent yearly reviews and was working on projects with other
companies that were designated as our company's next generation
products.
After the layoff, I was hurt by the lack of feeling of the
people running the new company. It was so painful to be thrown
away like something that was used up and not needed. I really
hurt from that, and I felt a profound loneliness because so
many of my thoughts centered around work and how to have my
whole group be successful and now that was gone. I felt
betrayed by my bosses who I thought were friends and respected
my work. It made me so sad and angry to realize that their
attitude was ``take her, not me.''
My feeling of failure was very high when I was told that
all of my projects were being discontinued--it meant that I had
really failed badly. Then when I was told to stay for several
weeks to transition the supposedly canceled projects to others,
I was really angry at being lied to about the reason for the
terminations. I also realized that all of the R&D people who
were laid off were older--all over 55--and that our projects
were being transitioned to younger people who were less skilled
in the science. That's when I decided to fight them. I
approached the others and suggested getting a lawyer which
several of us did.
I was terrified of the legal process. I was really scared
about going ahead with it, but I wanted to be strong in order
to help my co-workers. They were in my group and they depended
on me to be the voice that supported them and kept them going.
I felt like I had a really heavy weight on me.
There were two trials; both of them lasted for more than a
week and had about 20 witnesses. The trials were a nightmare;
going into Philadelphia every day, hearing ``friends''
basically trash all of us and try to prove that age wasn't a
factor. VPs and managers who changed their story several times
as to why we were fired and not younger people even though it
was apparent from the ages of the people let go and those
retained what the reason was. The company kept introducing new
non-age reasons for our being fired . . . it was like playing
wack-a-mole--as their reasons were shot down by facts, they
brought up new ones trying to prove that it wasn't about age.
We constantly had to prove that the non-age reasons were not
true, and yet I felt that they never had to justify why they
had introduced the untrue reasons. All of it felt like the goal
was to humiliate and demean us to justify their decisions to
``get rid of the old farts.'' The appeals the company made that
prolonged the case added more and more stress. I felt like I
was on trial not the company. I hated it.
I'm not a publicly emotional person, and I surprised myself
by bursting into tears at the end of the second trial and
bawling my eyes out. I realized it was letting loose all of the
stress I had. Before I could fully decompress, along came the
company appeal to the next court and the threat of taking it to
the U.S. Supreme Court. I just kept getting hammered and
feeling that I was being punished for suing. We carried on and
finally it was done and we won the appeal--it was the end of
the nightmare.
Thanks to the support of my family and my lawyer and my own
strength, I made it through the nightmare to the end. Several
times I wanted to quit the case because I was so worn out
emotionally, but I knew I was doing the right thing for me and
the others. I know that I can live with being angry about what
happened, but I know that I couldn't live with not having tried
to right an injustice. I hope you can help others to not have
to go through what I did.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
National Council on Aging
May 4, 2021
The Honorable Robert P. Casey. Jr.
Chairman
U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging
Dear Senator Casey,
I am writing to express my appreciation for the opportunity
to testify at last Thursday's hearing, ``A Changing Workforce:
Supporting Older Workers Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic and
Beyond'' on behalf of the National Council on Aging (NCOA).
As mentioned in my testimony, the unfortunate events of the
past year have created an unprecedented opportunity to
transform how we think about the pandemic's toll on older
workers and the workforce at large. Now, more than ever, we
must make every effort to surface the right role for us to play
in changing the landscape to address these challenges. This
includes addressing age discrimination in the workplace,
revitalizing training and re-skilling programs for older
workers, and enhancing retirement and support for career
transitions. We recognize that many of these issues are not new
and have been put forth for many years. This demonstrates that
during times of both economic crisis and economic growth, the
employment barriers facing older workers remain unaddressed.
We appreciate that one of the first outcomes of this
hearing is the joint letter which you and Ranking Member Scott
sent to Labor Secretary Walsh to request information on older
workers and the Federal Government's response to the issues
they face accessing and retaining employment. We hope this will
be the first of many efforts to engage the Administration to
focus on the unique challenges and opportunities of an aging
workforce, both now and into the future.
Thank you again for enlisting NCOA in this important dialog
and the opportunity to raise these issues and solutions with
the Committee, and we look forward to continued collaboration
to support older workers during the pandemic and beyond.
Sincerely,
Ramsey Alwin
President and CEO
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