Corinne’s story is sadly banal, the banality of a life that collapses following an economic redundancy. After seventeen years in the same company, this executive assistant (who wished to remain anonymous) finds herself unemployed at the age of 47. Once the shock is over, she thinks she will bounce back quickly: “Everyone told me: ‘With your experience and your skills, you will easily find a job.’ It was complete disappointment. »
Months pass, then years. Despite a well-filled CV and training to get up to speed, Corinne cannot find a job: “In the interview, I was told that I matched the position, but they never called me back. I figured there must be a problem somewhere. »
The candidate is the first to justify the behavior of recruiters: in her words, they would prefer profiles ” Fresher “, “out of school” and “that they can train themselves”. Corinne plays the game, tries to underline the ” benefits “ to be a woman in her fifties: “In the interview, I argued that I no longer had sick children to look after. »
She ended up finding work in 2019, through Géa’Tion, a group of timeshare employers. Profiles like Corinne, Audrey Lefebvre, administrator of Géa’Tion, sees a lot of them: “Two-thirds of the seniors who come to see us or who are referred to us are women. »
The rate of men and women aged 55 to 64 officially registered as unemployed was equivalent in 2020 (5.8%), according to the statistics service of the Ministry of Labour, but at this age, women arriving on the labor market work in the 1980s evaporated. Their employment rate (51.8%) remains well below that of their male counterparts (56%). “Women end up finding and/or accepting a small job, more often than men, or else fall into inactivity”put forward a report by the Higher Council for Professional Equality between Women and Men (CSEP) on older women in employment, published in 2019.
The risk of closetization
Women nearing the end of their career face the “snowball” effect of inequalities, which begin at the start of their professional career. According to the Association for Executive Employment (APEC), the pay gap between male and female executives stands at 4%, for an equivalent profile, at the start of their careers, to reach 12% for executives in 55 and over. Added to this, for women, are more uneven paths and an over-representation in part-time or less well-paid positions. At the end of the day, direct right pensions are 42% lower on average than those of men, notes the CSEP report.
You have 56.25% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.