Lifestyle

Christine, 66, Was Laid Off After More Than 20 Years. Then Employers Stopped Answering: “Is Ageism Alive and Silent?”

By Curtis Jones · November 13, 2026

Christine Sesnon is 66 and does not want to retire. She wants a job.

“I want to be a part of a team, I want to work,” the Butte County, California, woman told Action News Now reporter Bella Barbosa in an August report from Chico. In the station’s video, she adds that she can work weekends and nights.

The trouble started when she was laid off from a job she had held for more than two decades. Now she is back on the job hunt.

“I’ve done some looking for work online for remote jobs across the country, I’ve been ghosted on those,” Sesnon said.

She was careful not to overstate it. “I’m not saying that I’ve applied to five jobs a week,” she told the station, “but I am saying that the jobs that I’ve applied for on a regular basis, I’m getting rejections from, and this is concerning.”

She says she is not the only one. According to Action News Now, Sesnon has watched friends in their 60s, people with years of experience and education, struggle to get hired too.

“They’re door dashing,” she said. “They can’t find jobs, it’s absurd. It’s just bizarre.”

All of those rejections have left her with a question she cannot shake. “Is ageism alive and silent? I ask myself that question,” Sesnon said.

The station pointed to federal numbers that help explain the frustration. Citing the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Action News Now reported that the unemployment rate for workers 55 and older rose from 2.8% to 3.1% in July, even as the rate for all ages dipped to 4.1%. Older workers are less likely to be unemployed overall, but once they are, they tend to stay out of work longer. The station reported that BLS data shows adults 65 and older spend more than 16 weeks longer unemployed than those ages 45 to 54.

Phil Feser of Rush Personnel, a local employment agency, told the station that employers have large pools of candidates to choose from. “It is very tough, it’s hard,” he said. “You have to get out there, and you really have to sell yourself, and companies are being a little picky.”

For Sesnon, this is not about staying busy. “As far as economics are concerned, I need to work,” she said.

Feser suggested removing dates from a resume that could reveal a person’s age or a gap in employment, and leading with skills. “You still have that skill set and have a skills-based resume that shows what you can do versus necessarily where you were and how long you did it,” he said.

Older job seekers also have legal protections. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission explains that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act forbids age discrimination against people 40 or older, in hiring as well as firing, pay, layoffs and benefits. The federal law generally covers employers with 20 or more workers, and some states go further.

Timing matters. The EEOC says a charge generally must be filed within 180 calendar days of the discrimination. For age claims, that deadline stretches to 300 days only when a state law and a state agency also prohibit age discrimination in employment. Anyone who suspects they were passed over because of age can write down dates, job postings and replies, then contact the EEOC or their state’s civil rights agency.

Sesnon told the station she simply wants to start a conversation about “how the community and older workers that have experience can meld and come together.”

This article is for general information and is not financial or legal advice. Details and statistics are from Action News Now’s August 2026 report; the BLS figures are as cited by the station. This article was produced with the assistance of AI and fact-checked against the sources cited by LightWave Reports.