‘Discouraged’: Despite labour shortage, it’s tough to get a job if you’re 55 or older

Even as companies scramble to find and retain workers, workplace ageism persists, some say.

There were more than 800,000 open jobs in Canada in July, but Toronto-based Jane Di Biase says she can’t get past the interview stage — if that.

“It’s been really hard,” says Di Biase, whose last job was as a senior manager for client services.

“When (employers) see your photo or your age or your tenure or your education timeframe, I find, like, instantaneously you get an email saying, ‘You have great experience and but we’re going with another candidate.'”

Di Biase is 60 and that, she believes, is hobbling her job search.

Canada is facing a historical labour shortage. In the middle of the summer, employers in accommodation and food services alone were trying to fill 132,800 jobs, accounting for the highest job vacancy rate the industry has ever seen (11.6 per cent).

Retail trade has the second-largest number of job vacancies in July (101,300), and the health-care and social assistance sector was staring at a whopping 97,800 positions, according to Statistics Canada.

But the labour market crunch extends across the economy, according to job recruiters, with companies scrambling to attract or retain workers with perks and steep pay bumps.

And yet, some older workers, like Di Biase, say they can’t get callbacks.