Link to Video: https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/how-workers-over-50-are-reinventing-themselves-in-the-pandemic-1.5146064?fbclid=IwAR1Ah4sPY5TtiZYihwvZsQPNj8ypVARiD_JZhrHHlqL8DqlqchkCgMdsF_A

WINNIPEG -- Canadians of all ages are dealing with the devastating impact of losing their jobs during the pandemic, but changing your career path can be particular challenging when you’re also planning for retirement.

“It was hard,” Carolyn Eyres told CTV News Wednesday. “I made looking for work into a full-time job.”

Eyres was one of around 400 workers laid off from Boeing’s Winnipeg location last spring.

At 51 years old she made a career jump and switched to the non-profit sector. 

Eyres now works with the organization Turning Leaf, which helps people in the community who have intellectual challenges and mental health issues. 

“I had to look at, did I want to go back into the corporate world and eventually get that bigger salary? Or did I want to the change the world I live in?,” she said. 

“Now when I look at my alarm in the morning I say ‘Yay.’”

While Eyres said the job brings her more joy, it does pay less than her previous position. 

CERTAIN JOBS MAY NO LONGER EXIST 

Having to accept lower wages is a reality facing job seekers who are over 50 years old. 

“Some (job seekers) come in hoping to get the same type of jobs they had with maybe the same benefits of pension, but those jobs have really changed and they’re not out there as much as they used to be,” said Kevin Gill, who runs the recruitment agency Staffmax, which is based in Winnipeg and has offices across Canada. 

Gill said he has seen a jump in older job seekers, and his advice in this market is for workers to be flexible.

Gill said those who see the most success are “people who come with the right attitude and use this as an opportunity to embrace change.” 

AGEISM AND HEALTH RISKS PRESENT CHALLENGES 

David Camfield, an associate professor of labour studies and sociology at the University of Manitoba, said ageism can also be a barrier to finding quality employment.

“It may be that employers feel that older workers are less desperate they may not be willing to work as hard or perhaps do exactly what the employers want them to do,” he told CTV News. 

People aged 50-plus are also more vulnerable to the health risks of COVID-19. 

“What’s worrying is that desperation may push people to take jobs because they have to find employment even if it means they’re more likely to be exposed to a virus that could cause them much more serious consequences,” said Camfield. “

"The risks are much greater for older workers.”

While the pandemic may have accelerated job losses in high-paying industries, Camfield said the number of quality positions has been on the decline for years. 

“There should be demands on governments, for example, to create good quality public sector jobs in a recession, rather than hack and slash away,” he said.