Page ft-B
Jobs For Senior Citizens
By Walker Make
If you are an older
American looking for a job,
there are a lot of factors
working against you.
In studying some of these
factors, a N. C. State
University psychologist has
devised away for older
Americans to become more
successful job seekers.
Dr. Dennis O. Gray, an
assistant professor of
psychology at NCSU,
initiated a special program
for older job seekers while
working at Michigan State
University, and he now
hopes to set up a similar
program in North Carolina.
Gray is the force behind
Job Club, a group that both
teaches more effective job
seeking techniques and
provides peer support for
those who are looking for
work.
According to Gray, older
people face a set of fairly
unique problems when they
try to enter the work force.
“First, there are some
myths about the older
worker which need to be
dispelled,” he said. “Em
ployers tend to believe that
older people cannot work as
hard, that they are less
skilled, that they need more
supervision and that they
will have higher absentee
rate.”
Nothing could be further
from the truth, Gray stated.
Because they are more
motivated and more
wrapped up in their jobs, the
elderly work better without
supervision, are absent less
often and are generally
better workers than the
average.
“It is rare that finances
are the absolute, exclusive
reason for returning to work
for these people,” he said.
“They certainly can use the
extra money, but also they
want the challenge and
social interaction a job
provides. They like the
sense of accomplishment
and the chance to meet
other people.”
In addition to the myths,
there are some concrete
roadblocks working against
this group.
“Older people tend to
have ‘less credentials
because they often did not
attend college,” Gray said.
“They are most often
looking for unskilled jobs,
where the competition is
toughest. And because they
work so long at a single job
in their youth and often go so
long without working, they
are not experienced at job
seeking.”
That’s where the Job Club
comes into the picture. The
club teaches members who
to take an interview, where
to look for a job and how to
compile a resume.
Equally important, the
club members give each
other the emotional support
that keeps them going in the
long job search.
“The training makes
them better job seekers, and
the support prevents them
from getting discouraged,”
Gray said. '
The peer support is “the
glue of the program,” ac
cording to Gray. The group
itself is attractive to the
members and they enjoy
helping others find a job.
“There is a lot of risk
taking in looking for a job,”
Gray explained. “The
search seems to become less
threatening when they can
look for someone else.”
One thing that Gray had to
watch out «for was the
possibility that the club
would become an end in
itself. To keep the meetings
on track, Gray devised
rituals of goal setting and
goal review -a chance for
members to plan their job
seeking activities and report
on their success.
The gratifying thing about
the club for Gray was that it
worked. In an experimental
comparison, the em
ployment rate for members
of the Job Chib was roughly
75 per cent after 12 weeks,
while nonmembers were
employed at a rate of only 23
per cent.
“After my project was
completed, the state of
Michigan put a half million
dollars into older worker
projects, including the Job
Club program and seven
others,” Gray said.
Other states are beginning
to concentrate on the older
worker as well, he added.
“The area is really
blossoming because there
are more older people than
ever before. We used to
want them out of the work
force to make room for the
young, but now the baby
boom generation is getting
older.”
Add to that the chance
that social security benefits
may be curtailed, and you
have a very good reason to
bring the older American
back into the work force,
Gray said.
In February the
psychologist will travel to
Washington, D.C., for a
meeting of the National
Council on Aging, where he
will train others how to run a
Job Club.
Closer to home, he is
currently working with the
Triangle J Council of
Governments (COG) Task
Force on Older Workers to
plan a Job Club for the
Triangle area.
Business Down
A level of business ac
tivity in North Carolina
declined in December,
according to the Wachovia
Business Index. The Index
registered 153.3, down 0.4
per cent from the November
level.
Employment losses in
both manufacturing and
non-manufacturing in- |
dustries and a shorter
manufacturing workweek
contributed to the decrease
in the Index. Price-adjusted
average hourly earnings for
manufacturing employees
remained unchanged from
November.
Manufacturing em
ployment declined 1 percent
with both durable goods and
non-durable goods in
dustries reporting lower
employment levels. Em
ployment decreases were
spread through all in
dustries in the durable
goods sector. In the non
durable goods sector, gains
in food, tobacco and
chemicals employment
were offset by a slight
decrease in apparel em
ployment and a 1.4 per cent
drop in textiles.
Employment was down
marginally in the non
maufacturing sector.
Contract construction and
government employment
rose, while services em
ployment declined. Trade
employment was 1.5 per
cent below the level for the
previous month.
The seasonally adjusted
unemployment rate for
North Carolina was 6.9 per
cent in December, up 0.3 per
cent from November, 'hie
national rate for December
was 8.9 per cent, up 0.5 per
cent from November. The
unadjusted unemployment
rate in North Carolina was
6.8 per cent in December.
Unit sales of cars and
trucks in 1981 were down 3.7
per cent and 4.1 per cent
respectively compared to
1980.
The Index at the end of
1981 registered 1.2 per cent
below the level at the aid of
1980. Business activity in
North Carolina was stronger
during the first six months,
and the third quarter was
the weakest period during
the year. Comparing year
end data, manufacturing
employment declined 1.7
per cent, reflecting 6,500
fewer employees in durable
goods industries and 7,900
fewer employees in non
durable goods. The average
manufacturing workweek
was 3 per cent or 1.8 hours
below a year ago, and pride
adjusted average hourly
earnings declined 0.6 per
cent. Non-manufacturing
employment was down 0.5
per cent, primarily due to
losses in contract con
s traction.
Carrots, parsnips, sweet po
tatoes and winter squash
can be simply candied with
a tablespoon of honey or
mnlimi and a tablespoon
of matted butter, per cup
of offoltfri vagatabla. Pint
ly heat until coated.
Yrfipjt IF YOU’RE NOT
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a
\ .
\ 8-Pak 16-oz. Coca Cola /
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p e psi \T9M Qt• Store Brand Mayonnaise / n 'F , o o rs ?.49{/
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naise f*&\ Gal. Clorox J W
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UsS* ** &b\ 46-oz. V-8 Vegetable Juice /tu lat 3-i rm H 9^!
18-02. Quaker Oats /fefW ’ W
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V^vvsC \ 18-oz. Post Toasties Corn Flakes / Groc e y 1.4/ u
Y^ree^ eat foO 3_Lb - Bag Yellow Onions r° n ' F^d
y* \al 3 && \ 5-oz. Armour Vienna Sausage /o °° er y ■•*3o
c \ 17-oz. Store Brand Sweet Peas / r °duce 2s 3Dl
AVB\ 1-Lb. Store Brand Saltines r r ° Cer y S9^l
\ 2_Lb - Bag Carrots Gr^ ry
Wet** 1 * TgX 49-oz. Tide Detergent /
Wr tA B ~° z • Morton pot pie .2/
\ r-Htvn eS 22-oz. Ivory Liquid Detergent PerishK? 1 -89 L/
\ CG !Se 17 -° z - Store Brand Corn /
\?*Y \ 1-Lb. Store Brand Whole Hog Sausage Non.t? 13 '129 .43//
Y \at a - s£.l !^ ea t 4351)
IV 4 \ Sa bt ota] .411/
55/
\ v lt)Sa' lsa6 1-23
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★ Price Survey Done On January 6th. Some Prices May Have Changed Since That Time.
THE CHOWAN HERALD
Thursday, February 4. 1982