Tina Chamon has been applying for jobs every day for the past two years. After submitting around 4,000 applications, the 50-year-old found herself unemployed, thousands of pounds in debt to her mortgage lender and facing the possibility of having to move in with her mother.
The rejections kept coming to her inbox, she said, and frustration didn’t begin to describe the struggle that had completely consumed her life.
Ms Chummun, who has an undergraduate degree, two master’s degrees in marketing and psychotherapy and is currently in the third year of a PhD in health and social care, believes her age contributed to the rejection. She said the government must step in to help older people like her facing a job market they feel they no longer belong in.
After losing her job in April 2024, Ms. Chummun had been working part-time selling consulting and marketing services, but the income was not enough to pay the bills.
She hopes to work in digital marketing full-time but has been applying for any position available. She said she had only been interviewed once for a marketing job in the past two years.
After she struggled to pay her bills, her mortgage lender ended up taking her to court. “It’s just one nightmare after another,” Ms. Trumont told us The Independent.
“I love my job and it gives me a sense of purpose and meaning and I don’t want to retire. It’s so frustrating and I’m trying everything… I want to get up and go to work. I don’t want to be on benefits. I can’t be on benefits because I’m self-employed and I don’t want to do that.”
Tina Chummun, 50, says she has applied for around 4,000 positions (Supplied)
Her four-bedroom house in Kettering, Northamptonshire, has now been sold and she plans to move back to London and rent to improve her chances of finding work.
If she can’t find a job in London after a year, she will have to “seriously consider” moving in with her mother, who currently supports her financially.
She is one of many of her peers struggling to find work, with government figures showing some 876,000 people aged 50 to 64 want to work but don’t have one.
On Monday, the government launched a £1 billion youth unemployment scheme aimed at incentivizing employers to hire young people.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden announced new measures including £3,000 for businesses to hire 18 to 24-year-olds who have been out of work for six months or more.
Ms Chummun believes employers want to hire younger people who can pay lower wages, further hurting her chances of finding work. After constantly hearing that she was overqualified or unqualified for the position, she wanted to see a similar effort by the government to encourage older people to return to the workforce.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has unveiled a new £1bn youth unemployment scheme (PA)
Digital marketing is a particularly difficult area for older people because it’s “a fairly young industry and there’s a lot of stigma and stereotypes about older people not being familiar with digital technology,” she said.
A charity is now calling on the government to find similar levels of investment to support workers in their fifties and sixties and address the crisis at both ends of the labor market.
According to the Center for Ageing, every 1% increase in the number of people aged 50 to 64 in the workforce could boost the economy by more than £7 billion.
Dr Andrea Barry, deputy director for work, retirement and transitions at the charity, said: “Government interventions should build on what we have learned to retain older workers and support older job seekers as they return to the labor market.”
She said with nearly half the population expected to be over 50 within 40 years, government investment in older workers was vital.
Dr Andrea Barry calls on the government to help people in their 50s and 60s find work (Ageing Better)
Dr Barry added: “We need the government to increase its ambition for older workers, with the aim of significantly increasing employment rates for workers aged over 50 to close the gap with other age groups. “To do this we need to see employment support services specifically tailored for people in their fifties and sixties, who tend to have the poorest outcomes from these services compared to other age groups.
“For the over-25 age group, the highest levels of poverty are among those aged 60 to 64, who are excluded from the age-discriminatory labor market and await pension benefits.”
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “Our Keep Britain Working reforms will boost employment for all ages by overhauling job centers and delivering personalized work and skills support.
“We provide dedicated support for older workers by delivering mid-life assessments, encouraging people to assess their skills and helping to break down barriers to employment, while our Menopause Employment Ambassadors are working with employers to strengthen workplace support for women experiencing menopausal symptoms.”