ACC Senior Services is the Sacramento County office for the NAPCA Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), a federally funded program that assists low-income seniors with job training and finding employment.
Last October, we started a job club to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop job search and networking skills, resulting in employment opportunities. There are two groups serving a total of 12 people. Each group meets two hours a week in the ACC Computer Lab.
Our activities include resume-building workshops, mock interviews, and job searching. Since our participants are older adults, we also include discussions about how the pandemic has impacted their lives, discuss ageism in the workplace and provide supplemental technology training. The pandemic has disproportionately affected older adults in the workforce, as they were the first to leave positions, be put on medical leave or furloughed indefinitely due to their high risk of contracting COVID-19. Despite this risk being mitigated with vaccines and improved safety measures, older adults are finding it difficult to reenter the workforce.
Ageism is the root cause of many barriers our participants encounter in their job search. Beliefs about the productivity and skills of older workers are based on outdated views of aging that create negative stereotypes. The most common stereotype is that older workers are not able to use technology. In job club, our participants learn how to navigate the internet and other forms of office software that are needed in the modern job market. Being in a group setting helps motivate program participants and provides much needed networking that can lead to a job opportunity.
We are excited to work with our partners, including American Job Centers, to support our senior job seekers in all possible ways to exit for unsubsidized employment. We are also grateful for the financial support of Bank of America and the RBC Foundation.
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