At 62, Howard found himself unemployed after he lost his job of 40 years as a mechanical fitter. During the agonising two years of unemployment he lost count of how many jobs he applied for.
The process took its toll on his mental health. “It got bad enough to contemplate suicide,” he tells Insight.
And Howard is not alone. Research shows older Australians are struggling either to get into the workplace or stay there.
A 2017 study by the University of South Australia found that almost a third of Australians over the age of 45 reported an experience of age discrimination while employed or looking for work.
“He worked out, how many years, days, hours and seconds that he had if he was going to suicide because his life insurance policy was null and void midnight of when he turned 65.”
Age was just one of many factors in Howard’s case. In the last 40 years the job market had evolved leaving Howard feeling left behind.
“The jobs advertised nowadays, it's strictly on-line,” he says. “When we were younger, we'd go to the newspaper, have a read on Saturday and we'd circle the jobs and apply for them. Nowadays you must apply on-line and you must know how to apply on-line.”
Determined to find new employment Howard had to readjust and learn the new way of doing things. He says most of his applications were unsuccessful. “Maybe one out of fifty you'd get a reply.”
Howard’s wife, Marilyn, struggled to reassure him but when he told her he was contemplating suicide she was scared.
“I didn't know how to deal with it and all I could do was try,” she says.
“He worked out, how many years, days, hours and seconds that he had if he was going to suicide because his life insurance policy was null and void midnight of when he turned 65.”
Independently, Marilyn had been researching experiences of unemployment among older workers as part of a documentary project. “I'd talked to a lot of men and women and I read out the men's stories because I wanted him to know that he was not alone.”
Source: Saber Baluch / SBS Insight
When she told him that he is not the only one Howard went silent. “That scared me more than him telling me how long he had before he could suicide,” she says. “Then he just looked at me and he said we've got to help these old buggers.”
That turning point saw Howard and Marilyn create the support group Willing Older Workers. It helps people over the age of 50 back into employment, have a better financial plan and introduces them to government and non-government support organisations.
Now retired Howard has set up his own workshop where he makes wooden toys. “It keeps my insanity going ,” Howard laughs.
If you or anyone you know needs assistance with mental illness please call Lifeline 13 11 14.
