{"id":172716,"date":"2025-12-07T22:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T22:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/172716\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T22:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T22:57:11","slug":"older-northland-workers-struggle-to-find-jobs-amid-cost-of-living-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/172716\/","title":{"rendered":"Older Northland workers struggle to find jobs amid cost of living pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Kaipara, people aged 55 and over are the majority.<\/p>\n

Thomas left his previous role as a plumber because it was too stressful, and he was searching for something in a different industry. He hasn\u2019t found it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m on two-minute noodles, basically,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n

Despite having professional CVs and cover letters, he has found it hard to nab even an entry-level position.<\/p>\n

Thomas was unable to move somewhere like Auckland or Australia for work because of financial commitments, and he wanted to stay close to family.<\/p>\n

He had already lived in Australia, where work had been easier to come by.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sent my CV to 15 people and I had about two phone calls within 15 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas found Whang\u0101rei tough by comparison.He recently applied for a role alongside about 88 others.<\/p>\n

Just four people, including himself, were interviewed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just sort of makes you feel a little bit insecure, and it\u2019s quite depressing,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou almost have to take a bit of a break between rejections to bring yourself back a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Focus NZ director Muriel Willem said more than 40% of the clients helped by the career guidance service in the past six months were aged 50 and over.<\/p>\n

They had experienced redundancy, industry decline or needed to transition to less physically demanding work.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome clients have been out of work for months or even years. Despite strong work histories, the path back into the workforce is far from straightforward,\u201d Willem said.<\/p>\n

She said finding work after job loss was \u201charder than ever\u201d for mature workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe longer the job search drags on, the more daunting and isolating it feels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewNew Focus NZ founder and director Muriel Willem says finding work after job loss is \u201charder than ever\u201d for mature workers.<\/p>\n

Digital literacy gaps meant today\u2019s recruitment processes could feel overwhelming, and a change of industry could mean learning new skills.<\/p>\n

Willem said unconscious age bias was also common.<\/p>\n

Employers might assume older workers expected higher wages, were less adaptable, didn\u2019t stay long or would struggle with technology.<\/p>\n

On top of that was the mandatory disclosure of past injuries or health conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis can lead to unfair assumptions about their ability or risk, disadvantaging them despite being fully capable and ready to work,\u201d Willems said.<\/p>\n

Economic pressures could also push businesses to lower-cost, entry-level candidates, she said.<\/p>\n

The human toll was clear \u2013 financial strain.<\/p>\n

Willem said those in the 50-plus age group had mortgages, children entering tertiary study, wh\u0101nau depending on them, and long-term commitments like home maintenance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs candidates approach retirement age, the added pressure of uncertainty around building or maintaining a retirement fund creates extra financial and emotional stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seniors at Work founder Ian Fraser said he had noticed an increase in people aged 50 and over across the country registering as job seekers in the past six months.<\/p>\n

The website was set up as a tool to help people of that age hunt for jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve noticed, for example, the number of people registering as job seekers on our site has gone from 30 to 50 a week to 50 to 100 a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser said superannuation was often not enough for people to live comfortably.<\/p>\n

As people aged, the cost of healthcare went up, and that was on top of the cost of living.<\/p>\n

Fraser said some people had retired only to learn they did not have enough money to live comfortably.<\/p>\n

But those aged over 50 had experience and life skills that were second to none.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve got a valuable older person, they\u2019re worth keeping hold of,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

His message to job seekers was to be positive, resilient and patient.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not easy,\u201d Fraser said. \u201cSadly, there\u2019s no silver bullet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tips for job seekers over 50<\/p>\n

Get support from a careers practitioner. The service is free, and a practitioner can help with support in identifying strengths, financial needs, CV support and interview prep.Highlight transferable skills. Decades of experience, such as customer service, teamwork, communication and leadership, are valuable across a range of industries.Build a modern CV. Tailor each application to the job description, showcase your achievements, keep design simple, focus on the past 10 years of experience and avoid images, icons or complex layouts.Upskill in digital literacy, starting with the basics. Free courses are provided through the Ministry of Social Development.Stay connected. Many jobs can be filled through word of mouth, so spread the word to colleagues, friends and family.Be patient. A good job search is not a quick fix. The more prepared you are, the stronger your chances.<\/p>\n

Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whang\u0101rei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Kaipara, people aged 55 and over are the majority. Thomas left his previous role as a plumber…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[51209,534,138,4187,1866,2949,68199,232,101,4188,111,139,1067,69,1118,24808,21411,35138,1954,7235,113,20110,61,1316,4576,4478,6730],"class_list":["post-172716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-40yearold","tag-amid","tag-business","tag-cost","tag-find","tag-finding","tag-january","tag-jobs","tag-left","tag-living","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-older","tag-pressure","tag-rory","tag-simple","tag-struggle","tag-thomas","tag-thought","tag-to","tag-when","tag-work","tag-workers","tag-would"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}