Catherwood LibraryILR School

With almost 3 million people over the age of thirty-five enrolled in colleges across the country this year, and more and more workers making mid-life career changes, a growing number of forty-somethings are applying for entry level positions---a trend which has accelerated in the economic turmoil of the past months. This has led to an increasing incidence of complaints of age discrimination in hiring, as employers, unsure how to deal with these non-traditional applicants, decide not to hire them because they do not fit the pattern of young entry-level employees willing to work long hours for low pay. Typical of these complaints are those filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination---made public earlier this month---regarding The Atlantic Monthly?s rejection of two applicants, aged forty-one and fifty-four, for an internship program intended to target young college students.