"Mature Workers: Vital to Today's Diverse Labor Force" Webinar Recording Available

SAN JOSE – NOVAworks, Peninsula Family Service and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian hosted a webinar on January 27, 2022 titled “Mature Workers: Vital to Today’s Diverse Labor Force.” The event highlighted the importance of the experience and abilities that mature workers, people over age 50, bring to today’s workforce.

More than 100 people tuned into the live session, which featured a panel of Silicon Valley labor market specialists discussing how to overcome potential age stereotypes, upgrade skill sets, and build confidence to succeed in today’s workforce. A recording of the webinar is available at our mature workers page.

“Misconceptions surrounding older workers—in other words, age discrimination—is a concern for a lot of folks living in Silicon Valley,” said Simitian. “Fortunately, we’ve had some real success with the Mature Worker Job-Coaching Program, helping mature workers up their job search game through individualized coaching, group workshops, and peer support.”

For years, Simitian heard from constituents about the challenges they faced when trying to re-enter the workforce after having taken time to raise a family or having suffered a layoff; or simply changing careers after spending a decade or two in their field.  In 2016, Simitian proposed a County partnership with Peninsula Family Service to launch the Mature Worker Job-Coaching Program, and his Board colleagues agreed.

“There are more than 175,000 mature workers in Santa Clara County who contribute to the livelihood of Silicon Valley; we want to help them remain competitive within the workforce, and continue to be able to live and work in the area they call home,” said Susan Houston, Vice President of Older Adult Services at Peninsula Family Service.

The Mature Worker Job-Coaching Program is a collaborative service of Peninsula Family Service and NOVAworks, which supports more than 350 mature workers per year to gain employment.

“Now is a great time for people to examine their relationship to work and go after what is important or meaningful to them,” said Jen Cheyer, Program Manager at NOVAworks. “We’re here to help them with career advising and job search services.”

“If you choose to work, we want to make sure you can do that without discrimination,” said Simitian. “If working is a necessity, these folks want to make sure you have the best shot possible at success. We can’t afford to let anyone’s talent go to waste.”

The Mature Worker Job-Coaching program is available free of cost to any resident of Santa Clara County who is age of 50 and over, needs employment, and has a legal right to work in the U.S. Program services include one-on-one career advising, workshops on topics customized for the older job seeker, and facilitated discussion groups with other program members. For more information, email [email protected] or view the webinar at at our mature workers page.