Mayors in Pittsfield and North Adams this week are recognizing older workers and the organizations that help them find jobs.Elliott Hunnewell is 57 years old and interns with Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. She logs at least 20 hours a week as the downtown coordinator working with some of the organization’s roughly 210 members.
“Being able to network is so important when one is job hunting so as I start to take my job hunt much more seriously, which I am doing now that I have landed, knowing people is making all the difference,” said Hunnewell.
Hunnewell, who has an undergraduate and master’s degree from Clark University in Worcester, moved to the Berkshires about a year ago partly because her daughter was accepted into the Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School in Adams. Having worked as a grant administrator for much of her career, Hunnewell got involved with Berkshire Works, which led her to the organization Downtown Pittsfield. The position has helped her get a home loan while looking for more permanent work.
“I’m sure that it will work out,” she said. “Meanwhile, at least I’m very busy looking for work. I’m getting paid a little bit, but it doesn’t pay the bills. So I still need to be careful about spending down all my savings before I can find somebody that wants a mature worker who doesn’t feel all that mature.”
According to the Berkshire County Regional Employment Board there are roughly 1,800 job openings in the county. With 43 percent of its population 55 and older, the Board’s executive director Heather Boulger says older workers can fill those spots.
“Those over the age of 55 bring enthusiasm, experience and knowledge to the workplace,” Boulger said. “Many employers have discovered that their work ethic is an asset and an inspiration. These qualities, coupled with their good, old-fashioned employer loyalty, make older workers an attractive resource for employers seeking workers and possible mentors for younger workers.”
On Monday, North Adams Mayor Richard Alcombright and Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer signed proclamations recognizing National Employ Older Workers Week to highlight efforts like the Senior Community Service Employment Program. It’s administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. Participants are placed in paid positions for a maximum of 20 hours per work with the hope they will gain the necessary experience to obtain unsubsidized employment. About 20 people are part of the program in Pittsfield and other areas of Berkshire County. Melanie Gelaznik of BerkshireWorks Career Center says the organization offers many workshops for older people looking for a job.
“We just started an intro to computer workshop for people who have basically no computer skills,” Gelaznik said. “It starts very introductory – ‘how do you maneuver a mouse and what is the toolbar?’ Those are all things that people struggle with especially now that unemployment is done online. We have a lot of people on unemployment coming in and they can’t maneuver the system to file their claim. We do an online job application workshop so we walk you through that step by step.”
To compare, 33 percent of Massachusetts’ population is 55 and older while in Berkshire County that figure is 43 percent, as mentioned earlier. Meanwhile, more than 28 percent of the county’s population is at least 65 years old. The state mark is less than 21 percent.
